Gina Belle, Angela Meyer, Tim Tompson, and Cameron Tonkinwise
In 2010, systemic design was a nascent concept in Australia—but for a small handful of strategists, its principles were already integrated into their practice. Strategic consultancy Second Road and leading Australian financial institution Suncorp Group were home to some of Australia’s trailblazing practices in systems practice in organisations, forging a close-knit community of enthusiasts who remain close collaborators.
The emerging practices of these organisations at this time were well documented in academic and popular business books, journals and conference proceedings, and still hold uniqueness and utility today. These practices were recognised as some of the first concerted efforts to make an explicit and commercial practice of ‘4th Order Designing’ in Richard Buchanan’s schema.
Cameron Tonkinwise sits down with Gina Belle and Angela Meyer, formerly with Second Road and Suncorp Group, and Tim Tompson, formerly with Second Road, to discuss the last 15 years in systems-oriented, sustainable, and transition design. Together, they will explore the changing role of design in facilitating societal transitions and the preparedness of designers to address complex, systemic issues. Was Australia a late adopter or at the forefront? Does systemic design offer a new perspective or another design and strategy fad? With decade-long friendships and some war stories behind them, they share a buoyant enthusiasm for the growth and change of the field.
This session invites informative learning about the practices and methods that underlie systems work and the realities of building for emergence in organisational contexts. The session will be thought-provoking and enriching for anyone interested in achieving organisational outcomes through systemic design.
Acknowledgement of Country
We pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live and work and to the traditional custodians of the lands and waters which we may visit in our work. We acknowledge their elders past and present. Indigenous sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was, and always will be Aboriginal land.
Acknowledgement of Crisis
We acknowledge the context within which we work, a time when humanity is having an unprecedented impact on the planet. Our work, the decisions and actions we take will have consequences for other people and species—both those living now as well as future generations.
Profiles
Gina Belle is deeply curious about how personal and organisational growth can work together to create transformative spaces beyond traditional innovation frameworks. As the CEO of CHÔRA, Gina oversees the company’s vision and strategy, specialising in strategic risk and private sector innovation. With a diverse background spanning strategy consulting, design, facilitation and leadership across public and private sectors, Gina has over a decade of experience in developing and implementing CHÔRA’s System Transformation Framework. She has led projects across Europe, Africa, North America, and the Asia Pacific, contributing to globally recognized protocols for managing development and impact portfolios. Her strategic and creative work has played a crucial role in establishing internationally recognised protocols for dynamically managing business and impact portfolios. Additionally, she has designed various capabilities, roles, and organisational blueprints that supported the development and implementation of international innovation pilots and place-based Deep Demonstrations for CHÔRA’s partners. Before joining CHÔRA, Gina managed Strategic Risk and Strategic Innovation programs for organisations like Axilo, where she collaborated with companies such as Insurance Australia Group and UNDP. At Suncorp Personal Insurance, she led a division focused on Strategic Risk management through innovative options. Earlier in her career at Second Road, Gina specialised in user-based design, business, and strategy, working with diverse sectors, including impact investment, health, insurance, social services, banking, and commercial property. LinkedIn. Adapted from www.chora.design/gina-belle
Angela Meyer is an Australian design leader with expertise in strategic innovation, strategy and planning, service design, portfolio management, and building organisational capability. Her past work experience spans all four of Richard Buchanan’s orders of design framework but with a strong focus on third and fourth-order design challenges. She has worked across many sectors, including financial services, healthcare, social and government services, and higher education. Angela has a deep interest in the connections between systems thinking and complexity and the disposition for design to equip people to engage effectively with change. She has been fortunate to take part in numerous teams where experimental design approaches and commitment to collaborative and distributed leadership have enabled significant shifts in outcomes and impacts. She completed a Master’s of Design at Carnegie Mellon University and has lectured at the Darden School of Business, the University of Sydney Business School, The Australian Graduate School of Management, and Swinburne University of Technology. LinkedIn
Tim Tompson is co-founder of Snowmelt, a consultancy that helps to build the capabilities, relationships, and practices needed to start and sustain change. Tim brings people together in new ways to enable better conversations. His impact lies in bridging the gap between complexity and simplicity, helping to shape effective pathways in challenging contexts. He has honed unique expertise in employing design-led and systems-based approaches to complex challenges—from his work with several consultancies since 2010 and his years of education, which includes a PhD in Planning & Urban Development from UNSW and Industrial Design and Arts International Studies at UTS. Tim is dedicated to educating emerging practitioners, lecturing in design and engineering management at UTS, and previously UNSW. He coaches new entrants into Sydney’s local startup ecosystem and stretches his curiosities through many side projects. Tim spends a lot of time in Australian bushland, a familiar context from his childhood, where he learned first hand how systems work. LinkedIn
Cameron Tonkinwise is an international expert in design studies and transition design and the Research Director of the Design Innovation Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney. He writes and speaks extensively on the power of design to drive systems-level change to achieve more sustainable and equitable futures. Cameron has long advocated for the field of Design Studies and its importance in ensuring the social responsibility of design professionals. His expertise has reshaped traditional thinking around how designers should be educated, and he has established Design Studies programs at the Parsons The New School for Design (New York), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and UTS, among others, that have transformed international design curricula. He has written a number of influential articles on design thinking, design ethics, design research and speculative design. More recently, Cameron has emerged as a leading voice in the field of transition design as part of his long-standing research and teaching around sustainable design. He was an early champion of the sharing economy while taking over the leadership of the EcoDesign Foundation from its founders, Tony Fry and Anne-Marie Willis. LinkedIn. Adapted from profiles.uts.edu.au/Cameron.Tonkinwise