Only systems thinking approaches can address the complex systemic challenges that surround us. As the professional body for Systems Thinking Practitioners, SCiO is unique for its focus on systems practice through the breadth and depth of the systems approaches we use. We support this with free resources, professional courses on systems practice and intervention skills, professional qualifications, and communities that support practitioners. Our chapters operate in several countries and languages.
What is SCiO?
Professional Body
Acknowledged by Skills England within UK government, as the professional body for Systems Thinking Practitioners, SCiO is dedicated to the advancement of the awareness and knowledge of Systems Thinking, and its recognition as a profession.
SCiO has three main goals:
- Developing practice in applying systems ideas to a range of organisational and institutional issues,
- Disseminating the use of systems approaches in dealing with complex situations,
- Supporting practitioners in their professional practice.
SCiO develops, supports, and promotes systems thinking practice for technical and ethical competence, and provides professional development training, events and networking opportunities. SCiO also maintains working relationships with partner bodies internationally and the UK, to support its goals, and complimentary goals of those federations and societies.
Competency Framework
SCiO has created a framework of competencies for practitioners of systems thinking, based on our Systems Thinking Body of Knowledge (SysBoK) and the systems laws, and this is aligned to the Institute for Apprenticeship (IfA) Systems Thinking Practitioner L7 accreditation and their framework of Knowledge, Skills & Behaviours.
This framework gives the details of competencies, in the fields of..
- Systems Knowledge and Skills
- Systems Thinking Knowledge and Skills
- Intervention Skills
The CF resource guide provides references & links for each item in the competency framework.
Professional Development
Professional development through learning is a key objective for SCiO. To further this aim we have been heavily involved in the development of the Systems Thinking in Practice L7 apprenticeship.
The modules from this apprenticeship , closely linked to the topics in the Competency Framework, provide the basis for a substantial set of professional courses that are now available online (or as webinars or face to face by arrangement).
Professional Accreditation
Systems Practitioner Assessment Ltd (SPA) is a company that has been set up by SCiO - the professional body for systems practitioners - to carry out End Point Assessment of the Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship qualification.
SPA also assesses professional qualifications, on SCiO's behalf, using SCiO’s professional grading structure based on the Competency Framework (see above).
Resources
SCiO has hundreds of recordings of speakers at systems events (in several languages) and has also created a list of most of the systems books currently in print.
English
Introducing OrgLens, a systems-based health check for organisations
Most organisations I work with know something isn’t quite right. The same problems keep coming back, people in different parts of the organisation describe them differently, and there’s no budget for a consultant to tell them what they already half know. So I’ve built OrgLens: a free, open source health check for your organisation. OrgLens is a tool which asks several people in an organisation...
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English
Introducing OrgLens, a systems-based health check for organisations
Most organisations I work with know something isn’t quite right. The same problems keep coming back, people in different parts of the organisation describe them differently, and there’s no budget for a consultant to tell them what they already half know. So I’ve built OrgLens: a free, open source health check for your organisation. OrgLens is a tool which asks several people in an organisation...
German
1:12
Internalisierte Verbindlichkeiten - gegenwärtig aber unsichtbar
Internalisierte Verbindlichkeiten entstehen, wenn keine Rückstellungen für zukünftige Verpflichtungen einer Organisation gebildet werden dürfen. Sie sind "gegenwärtig" und eine gute Erklärung für Reibungsverluste und Transformationsprobleme von Organisationen - aber "unsichtbar" in gängigen Bilanzen und nur mit Verspätung in den Kosten erkennbar. Der Vortrag stellt deshalb eine minimale, aber...
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Use with Accreditation
German
1:12
Internalisierte Verbindlichkeiten - gegenwärtig aber unsichtbar
Internalisierte Verbindlichkeiten entstehen, wenn keine Rückstellungen für zukünftige Verpflichtungen einer Organisation gebildet werden dürfen. Sie sind "gegenwärtig" und eine gute Erklärung für Reibungsverluste und Transformationsprobleme von Organisationen - aber "unsichtbar" in gängigen Bilanzen und nur mit Verspätung in den Kosten erkennbar. Der Vortrag stellt deshalb eine minimale, aber...
Use with Accreditation
English
From Complexity Theory to Interaction Design: Designing for Emergence with Liberating Structures
How do we design interactions that invite emergence instead of trying to control outcomes? This interactive workshop explores one possible answer: viewing Liberating Structures not simply as facilitation techniques, but as a practical vocabulary for designing interactions by creating enabling rather than controlling constraints. Through experiencing and reflecting on a selection of Liberating...
Read more
Use with Accreditation
English
From Complexity Theory to Interaction Design: Designing for Emergence with Liberating Structures
How do we design interactions that invite emergence instead of trying to control outcomes? This interactive workshop explores one possible answer: viewing Liberating Structures not simply as facilitation techniques, but as a practical vocabulary for designing interactions by creating enabling rather than controlling constraints. Through experiencing and reflecting on a selection of Liberating...
Use with Accreditation
English
System Dynamics (SD)
In this session you will build with a friend a working system dynamics of a real-world issue — policing strategy to reduce a rising crime rate. You will get to keep your model, and the app you will use to do it is free for building any other models you want. You will need either a laptop, or a friend with a laptop. We will set up how a crime rate is growing and how we would like it to decline; see...
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Confidential – Members Only
English
System Dynamics (SD)
In this session you will build with a friend a working system dynamics of a real-world issue — policing strategy to reduce a rising crime rate. You will get to keep your model, and the app you will use to do it is free for building any other models you want. You will need either a laptop, or a friend with a laptop. We will set up how a crime rate is growing and how we would like it to decline; see...
Confidential – Members Only