Fabiana Rovera, Mariapaola Puglielli, Alessandro Campanella, and Silvia Barbero
Systemic Design has established itself as a structured, holistic approach for addressing complex socio-technical challenges, integrating systems thinking with design thinking to foster sustainable, zero-emission circular networks. In the approach developed by the Turin School (Politecnico di Torino) through the foundational work of Luigi Bistagnino, the discipline has traditionally relied on a structured, six-phase linear methodology that has proven highly effective across academic, industrial, and policy-making applications. As the discipline matures to address increasingly intricate contemporary “wicked problems,” this canonical framework serves as a starting point for further procedural growth. Rather than replacing the traditional model, there is a natural opportunity to evolve its sequential architecture to explicitly mirror the non-linear, emergent, and dynamic behaviour inherent to complex adaptive systems. This paper traces the methodological evolution of Systemic Design from its established roots to its current formalization. The study begins by clarifying the terminological hierarchy and anchoring the theoretical principles within a multi-scalar architecture composed of contextual, relational, and emergent levels. Building directly upon the core strengths and pedagogical clarity of the traditional methodology, the paper introduces an evolved framework structured into four four interdependent and recursively connected phases: Understanding Complexity, Tackling Challenges, Designing the System, and Boosting the System. The evolved formulation enhances the original methodology by explicitly embedding an iterative logic and introducing dedicated outputs, such as Complexity Maps and Selection Maps, thereby formalizing and supporting steps that previously relied on practitioners’ intuition. Furthermore, it introduces a clear distinction between quantifiable results and unpredictable, qualitative impacts, reinforcing the epistemological rigour of the design process. Ultimately, this structural development expands the agency of the modern systemic designer, transforming their role into a “relation-reader” equipped with a robust, transferable method for navigating and acting responsibly within the irreducible uncertainty of contemporary sustainable transitions.
Keywords: systemic design, design methodology, sustainable transition, complex systems