Systems thinking entails asking fundamental questions: "Where does it come from?" and "Where is it going?" The overarching objective is to encourage students to adopt a perspective focused on relationships and connections, rather than isolating individual components.
Participants are guided to contemplate a specific product, such as a chocolate bar or a cell phone, and trace its pathways meticulously. This process may be visually represented through a systems map or causal loop diagram (CLD). Students are prompted to contemplate how the product's journey pauses for some time in their possession and identify precise paths and processes that brought it to them, whether it be a farm, mine, or factory. Furthermore, they assess the product's lifespan – for instance, a chocolate bar's ephemeral existence compared to a cell phone's longevity. This exploration culminates with a parallel exercise inquiring about the product's fate after they've concluded its use. The objective is to instill a perpetual mindset, urging students to consistently scrutinize their interactions with the world around them.
