arcs of impact
October 15–18
Why arcs of impact?
October 15–18, 2025 | OCADU, 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Canada
Arcs of Impact celebrates the stories and builds on learnings from initiatives across diverse fields of practice and transdisciplinary research. Returning to OCAD University for the first time since 2016 (RSD5), the symposium has earned a reputation as a high-quality academic forum for discussing the significant impacts and outcomes of research. However, systemic design has also evolved as a praxeology, and the programme reflects the many practices, cases, and lived experiences from which to learn.
RSD14 CO-CHAIRS:
Peter Jones & Greg Van Alystyne
Keynote speakers
–Confirmed as of July 10
THURSDAY: OCT 16
Melanie Goodchild
Melanie Goodchild is Anishinaabe (Ojibway), moose clan, from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg and Ketegaunseebee First Nations. She is a design and innovation strategist with over 30 years’ experience working with First Nations communities across Turtle Island. Her work bridges applied sociology and Anishinaabe, decolonial and participatory approaches to address complex systems challenges through culturally grounded, relational practices.
Melanie is a contributing faculty member with the u-school for Transformation by the Presencing Institute at MIT and with the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning. She combines complexity-aware tools with Anishinaabe gikendaasowin (our original ways of knowing) to foster deep systems awareness and transformative systems change.
She currently serves as Systems Changer in Residence with the Canadian Association of Science Centres and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change. She is a member of the Measuring Systems Practice Development Group at Social Impact Exchange (New York), the Pathways to Planetary Health advisory group at the Garrison Institute, and Policy Horizons Canada’s Deputy Minister Steering Committee. In 2024, she served as an advisor to the Edge Finance Accelerator at Solvable and as a Systems Coach with the Centre for Care Innovations (California). She is also a certified Three Horizons facilitator.
Melanie holds a PhD in Social and Ecological Sustainability from the University of Waterloo and an MA and HBA in Sociology from Lakehead University. She is an alumna of the International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellows Program, sponsored by Harvard Business School and INSEAD.
FRIDAY: OCT 17
Gerald Midgley
Gerald Midgley is an Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull, UK. He is an independent consultant, and also holds Visiting Professorships at the Birmingham Leadership Institute, University of Birmingham (UK); the School of Cybernetics, College of Systems and Society, Australian National University; and the Department of Informatics, Linnaeus University (Sweden).
Gerald has held research leadership roles in academia and government, including fourteen years as Director of the Centre for Systems Studies at Hull and seven years as a Senior Science Leader in the Institute for Environmental Science and Research (ESR), New Zealand. He has written almost 400 papers for academics and practitioners on systems thinking, systemic leadership and community operational research, and has been involved in a wide variety of public policy, health service, natural resource management, community development and technology foresight projects. While most of these have been in the UK or New Zealand, he has also led or collaborated with systemic interventions on every continent worldwide.
Gerald was the 2013/14 President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, and has written or edited twelve books, including Systemic Intervention: Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice (Kluwer, 2000); Systems Thinking, Volumes I-IV (Sage, 2003); Community Operational Research: OR and Systems Thinking for Community Development (Kluwer, 2004); The Handbook of Systems Thinking (Open Science, 2023); and Systems of Marginalization and Identity (Routledge, 2026, forthcoming).
RSD14-TORONTO
- In addition to the four-day Toronto in-person event, inclusive of refreshments and lunches, the RSD14-TORONTO ticket includes all ONLINE sessions (October 3 to 21 inclusive). This is a non-profit, professional gathering hosted by OCAD University and the Systemic Design Association.
tickets
RSD14-TORONTO is held on the OCADU campus. There are three tickeet options.
- The suggested rate is 400 CAD
- A self-funded option is available at 250 CAD
- To reduce financial barriers, there is a concession ticket at 100 CAD
- This ticket does not include the Systems(ic) Leadership Retreat on Sunday, October 19
*Please note workshops have limited capacity—registration will be circulated to ticket holders.
The entire RSD14-ONLINE programme is included with this ticket. You will be sent a link to access all sessions on Zoom Events.
just like there are many worlds of design, identity is also pluriversal, and a systemic approach supports my leadership, practice, and research
Lesley-Ann Noel
Pluriversal Arcs of Impact
while systemic design is research-driven, RSD is about the “relating,” and this year at RSD14, we celebrate the relating
Peter Jones
The RSD Movement | Moment
intro
overview
RSD14 returns to OCAD University in Toronto, Canada and will be held at the downtown Toronto campus. Paper Talks precede the on-campus programme and are held online from October 8 to 10. Speakers, panels, and dialogues will take place from October 15 to 18. Activities include social events around Toronto and a day dedicated to reflection and connection.
OCTOBER 15
in-person workshops
Workshops are a popular RSD feature and fill up fast. Please note that they have limited capacity. Ticket holders are sent links to register.
Photo: RSD5 in 2016 at OCADU.
OCTOBER 16–18
four days @OCADU
A four-day gathering of keynotes, panels, studios, and workshops exploring arcs of impact in leadership, regeneration, flourishing, health, and education—and the relationality that connects them across systems and scales.
Photo: Lesley Ann Noel, OCADU’s Dean of Design.
RSD14 team
SDA members are linked to their profiles in the Directory of Systemic Designers.
RSD14 CHAIR
Peter Jones
OCADU | Tecnológico de Monterrey | Systemic Design Association
DEAN’S CHAIR
Lesley-Ann Noel | OCAD U | Dean, Faculty of Design
RD14-TORONTO CHAIR
Greg Van Alstyne, OCADU | Faculty of Design
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Peter Coppin
OCADU | Inclusive Design
David Ing
OCADU | Systems Thinking Ontario | Creative Systemic Research Platform Institute
Cheryl May
London South Bank University | Systemic Design Association | | OCADU SFI MDes
Ryan Murphy
Memorial University of Newfoundland | Systemic Design Association | OCADU SFI MDes
Perin Ruttonsha
University of Waterloo | Waterloo Institute for Complexity & Innovation
David Sanchez
Tec de Monterrey | School of Architecture, Art and Design
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
DESIGN & COMMUNICATIONS
Anupama Krishnan
Raul Valenzuela
Hannah Weider
PARTNERSHIPS
Nadia Tabassum
SDA MEMBER LIAISON
RSDX
RSD14-TORONTO LEADS
Mursal Ashrafi
Morgan Bath
Travis Erickson
Negar Farazmand
Anupama Krishnan
Su Lynn Myat
Pan Xie
RSD14-TORONTO Event Support
Ro Bwanga
Michelle Blanchard
John Freire
Zarah Hassan
Alanis Huang
Yaya Ibrahim
Masha Jalali
Ugochi Imoka
Minjeong Ju
Kato McKiernan
Mica McCurdy
Mobina Moghadasi
Valen Qiu
Sarvin Sadeghian
Yaw Sarkodie
Nelia Teixeira
Giuliana Stephanie Treñas
Yuhan Xia
ticket pricing explainer
3 ticket types
RSD14 ONLINE: Pay what you can, includes all online sessions (RSDX, Paper Talks, special events. Starts at $1, with a suggested minimum of $40 (Canadian dollars).
RSD14-TORONTO @OCADU: Supporter $400, Self-Funded* $250, Concession* $100. Includes all online sessions.
*Limited availability—for people who face financial barriers to attending.
RSD14-SYSTEMS(IC) LEADERSHIP RETREAT: $200 Toronto Island retreat includes lunch and refreshments. This ticket also includes all online sessions.
about SDA
SDA is a non-profit scholarly association leading the research and practice of design for complex systems.
The Systemic Design Association (SDA) was founded as a membership association on October 23, 2018, and registered with the Brønnøysund Register Centre in Norway. The Statutes for the Systemic Design Association guide the work of the association.
Aspirations
- to be a cohort of scholar-practitioners
- to promote shared and collaborative inquiry into the nature and potential of systemic design and designers
- to function as a centre for the integration of systems and design
- to reflect a systemically designed social system that can influence other traditions of inquiry in science and design
- to pose well-formed questions that affect inquiry into the stance and approach of systemic design; to present case studies of successful systemic designs to a broad professional and public audience
- to maintain a diverse approach to collegial inquiry while developing methods for evaluating systemic design inquiry
- to facilitate the design of systemic design inquiring systems
- to serve as a crucible for individual creative thinking, ranging across methods, practices and philosophy
Reference: § 0 About the Systemic Design Association