A worldwide online systemic design symposium
Hosted by Georgetown University | October 6–20, 2023 | ONLINE | RSD12 on Zoom Events
This is more than an online event—RSD12-ONLINE is a ticket to sessions featuring over 100 papers and broadcasts from 14 partnered hubs—a two-week virtual programme of papers, presentations, emergent sessions, and online workshops. The programme will include keynote speakers, plenaries and panels live-streamed from hubs worldwide. The RSD12-ONLINE pass works as a standalone experience or can augment your in-person experience at a hub. Either way, you will be able to jump into a world of systemic design every day from October 6 to October 20.
The sessions are scheduled over two weeks to avoid online fatigue, and you can follow several focus areas on your virtual journey. The Programme Committee is working to avoid concurrent sessions and schedule RSD12-HUBS consecutively.
Call for Contributions | Deadline for abstracts May 31 | Complete submissions due June 15 | Registration coming soon
RSD12-Online Setting
RSD12-ONLINE runs daily from October 6 to 20, 2023. The programme centres on research papers and presentations/emergent work in sessions of 2–5 articles grouped around a focus area. The standard format for paper tracks is an opening segment for authors to present their work, followed by the facilitator’s comments and an open segment for participant comments and questions. The papers track can accommodate up to 104 papers, which will be announced following the peer-review period this summer.
The online programme will also offer online workshops and exhibition talks to discuss systems maps and exhibits. Each location will live-stream selected sessions via the Georgetown Zoom Events platform. Therefore, in addition to more than 100 papers, approximately 30 speakers or panels are expected to be included with the RSD12-ONLINE pass.
- Papers and emergent work will be scheduled every day from October 6 to October 20. The support team is based at Georgetown University, so this track runs from 8:00 to 12:00 EDT/UTC-4. Hub time zones are below, and you can convert other time zones using the timeanddate.com tool and GMT/UTC start time, 12:00.
- Online workshops, panels, interactives, and exhibition talks will be scheduled between October 6–20 based on time zones and alignment with the focus areas and entanglements.
- The online programme includes sessions from hubs in Canada, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US.
- Partners will also share what’s happening at their hub, such as workshops, dialogues, interactives, and other formats that are being held in person and unplugged.
- Systems maps and exhibits are encouraged—in addition to being catalogued in the repository, submissions will be forwarded to regional organisers for on-site exhibitions.
- All sessions include an open segment for questions and comments from online participants.
Papers, workshops, special sessions
The RSD12 call for contributions is now open and accepting submissions for papers and workshops.
The Programme Committee will group sessions by focus areas and consider in them in light of the entanglements.
For detailed descriptions of the focus areas, visit the focus page or individual hub profiles.
CONTACTS
RSD12 Programme Committee
Chair: Evan Barba, Evan.Barba@georgetown.edu
Members: Silvia Barbero, Sine Celik, Marie Davidová, Palak Dudani, Peter Jones, Cheryl May, Gordon Rowland
PROGRAMME
The programme and schedule are in development. We are currently accepting submissions for four tracks: papers, presentations, workshops, and systems maps and exhibits. The papers and presentations will run every day from 8:00–12:00 UTC-4. Other sessions will be programmed as hubs finalise their agendas.
100+ papers
Plus online workshops
13 hubs
live-streaming keynotes, panels, and special sessions
4 entanglements
13 focus areas
Fees
RSD12-ONLINE all-access $50 USD.
This fee provides access to the full RSD12-ONLINE programme and is independent of any fees charged for attendance at any hub.
RSD12 offers reduced fees on request for residents of low to middle-income countries (see World Bank) and those who face other financial constraints. Contact cheryl@systemic-design.org
Sessions offer captions, camera control, and chat options. The registration form will include a place to let us know if there’s anything that will help improve your RSD12-ONLINE experience.
About RSD12-ONLINE
RSD12-ONLINE is managed by Georgetown University and is an initiative of the Communication, Culture and Technology Program and the Technology Design Studio, a multidisciplinary laboratory for the design and analysis of sociotechnical systems.
RSD12 Hub Partners
RSD12-ONLINE
Papers & emergent work are scheduled at the same time every day.
The core programme consists of four one-hour daily sessions devoted to papers and emergent work (paper track). Keynotes and plenaries will be broadcast from the hubs according to their schedule. Online workshops will be offered based on the facilitators’ preference.
Below are the local times using RSD12-HUBS as examples. You can convert other time zones using the timeanddate.com tool and GMT/UTC start time, 12:00.
UTC-7
5:00–9:00
RSD-Vancouver, CAN
UTC-6
6:00–10:00
RSD-Edmonton, CAN
RSD-Monterrey, MEX
UTC-5
7:00–11:00
Bogotá, COL
UTC-4
8:00–12:00
Pittsburgh, USA
Toronto, CAN
Washington, DC, USA
UTC+1
13:00–17:00
Loughborough-GBR
UTC+2
14:00–18:00
Amsterdam, NLD
Nordmarka Forest, NOR
Turin, ITA
UTC+5.5
17:30–20:30
Ahmedabad, IND
Entanglements of Interest
Technological Entanglements
Artificial Intelligence is on everyone’s mind, and the disruptions it portends justify that attention. However, AI, in all its manifestations, is just one of a collection of emerging technologies (quantum computing, nanotechnologies, CRISPR, etc.) that will have profound and destabilising effects on humanity. We aim to further discussions about technologies that are on the horizon and what futures they make possible — or impossible. Where should we place boundaries around technological development and adoption? What limits do we need to redefine? What processes should we use to set these boundaries?
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology and Ethics, Citizen Science, Data Science
Natural Entanglements
Climate change has been with us for generations, but its long-anticipated consequences are finally being felt. While optimism about the possibility of mitigating the worst impacts of climate change should be a foundation of all work in this area, we also need to reckon with the reality that our world still lacks the structures and will to undo the damage we have already done to our planet and to acknowledge that the worst of those impacts are being felt by those least responsible. For these reasons, we are particularly interested in work that addresses the short- and medium-term impacts of climate change at local scales (household, neighbourhood, region), identifies and empowers communities that face the worst impacts, and offers transposable solutions for sustaining life amid profound environmental disruptions.
Keywords: Climate Justice, Adaptation, Resilience, Indigenous Knowledge
Entanglements of Policy and Power
No discussion of emergence in systems is complete without an understanding of the regulatory apparatus that shapes it — both from the external environment and from internal constraints. The power to influence emergence is not evenly distributed, but aggregated in localities of control. These leverage points have outsized effects, and deserve particular attention. What rules and regulations are having the most impact? Which need to be replaced and what should replace them? How do we identify leverage points, excavate their influence, and demonstrate their potential? How can the balance of power be shifted?
Keywords: Social Justice, Ethics, Leverage Points, Representation, Policy Metrics
Foundational Entanglements
As systemic design continues to emerge from the interaction of theories and methods in systems thinking and design, we must pay special attention to how these theories and methods shape our understanding of the world, the development of the field, and systemic design’s relationship to other disciplines. Submissions in this track should address some aspect of a foundational or fundamental element of systemic design. Examples include: interrogating a concept or method from a new perspective, introducing a concept or method from another discipline, exposing the limits or possibilities of existing theories and methods.
Keywords: Co-Design, Futuring, Reflexivity, Diffractive Methodologies, Systems Science, Design Science
RSD12-Washington DC | OCT 18–20
Technological Entanglements
Mothilal Loganathan, Pavan Kalyan, and Vishruth Kumar (2022). Blockchain for Socio-Economic Impact: Financial inclusion by environment-centric service design. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/blockchain-for-socio-economic-impact-financial-inclusion-by-environment-centric-service-design/
Olaf Adan, Dan Lockton, and Steven Houben (2022). Participatory Sensemaking Through Visualising Conversations. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/participatory-sensemaking-through-visualising-conversations/.
Natural Entanglements
Ben Sweeting (2022). Architectural Roots of Ecological Crisis. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/architectural-roots-of-ecological-crisis/.
Kristin Stoeren Wigum (2022). A Systemic Approach to Traps and Opportunities for Sustainable Value Chains in Norwegian Forestry. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/a-systemic-approach-to-traps-and-opportunities-for-sustainable-value-chains-in-norwegian-forestry/.
Entanglements of Policy and Power
Danielle Lake (2022). Reconsidering Power and Place in Systemic Design: Strategies for scaling scree and scaling deep. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/reconsidering-power-and-place-in-systemic-design-strategies-for-scaling-scree-and-scaling-deep/
Natalija Vojno (2022). Braiding Knowledge Systems as Environmental Peacebuilding: A four-dimensional analysis for co-applying Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/environmental-peacebuilding/
Foundational Entanglements
Ingrid Mulder, Maria Belén Buckenmayer, and Ryan J.A. Murphy (2022). A Call for Scaling Literacy. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/a-call-for-scaling-literacy/
Adeline Hvidsten and Anna Kirah (2022). Relics and Resources: Representing complexity in service and systemic design. Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD11) Symposium. https://rsdsymposium.org/relics-and-resources-representing-complexity-in-service-and-systemic-design/
