Turin, Italy

Systemic Design Lab

A design vision combined with interest in the analysis, exploration, and development of complex systems in response to wicked problems

The Methodology

The Sys Lab team has developed a methodology over the years that combines a design vision with an interest in the analysis, exploration, and development of complex systems in response to wicked problems.

Building on well-established Systemic Design models, the Sys Lab methodology delivers practical tools to approach complex scenarios with a holistic perspective while supporting active cooperation among involved stakeholders. Starting from a broad analysis of the existing system, all possible solutions are explored to converge towards a systemic project that is then developed and finally implemented into the real system. Within the methodological framework of Sys Lab, there are five steps for a successful research project:

1. The holistic diagnosis of the current scenario, considering both the surrounding context and the flows of energy and matter
2. The identification of challenges and opportunities of the current scenario and its flows
3. The design of a new systemic model based on relationships between processes and actors, which optimizes information, energy and material flows and gives value to waste as resources
4. The identification and the study of the new outcomes generated by the new systemic model
5. The validation of the system by demonstrating its feasibility and by implementing the project in the specific context

Sys Lab Team

Directors & Co-Founders

Silvia Barbero and Amina Pereno

Researchers

Asja Aulisio, Alessandro Campanella, Eliana Ferrulli, Wen Lu, Davide Montaquila, Davide Nonis, Cecilia Padula, Mariapaola Puglielli, Fabiana Rovera, and Martina Spinelli

RSD15 (2026)—Shades of systemic design

Systemic design integrates systems thinking with design practice to address complex societal and ecological challenges. It draws from a wide range of methodological traditions, each rooted in distinct epistemologies, values, and contexts. As the field matures and expands globally, designers and researchers increasingly work with overlapping aims but different vocabularies, frameworks, and ways of knowing, raising vital questions about coherence, legitimacy, and inclusivity. This diversity is a source of richness, but also practical and methodological tension. The absence of consensus can create uncertainty about what constitutes rigorous or legitimate practice, particularly in high-stakes contexts like sustainability transitions, where approaches must be both inclusive and actionable.

RSD12 (2023)—Systemic design for territorial enhance­ment and industrial innovation

Upheavals in geopolitical tensions, climate change, and technology advancements radically affect networks and value chains. In Italy, these macro-trends, and the resulting transformations, are being met with strategic innovation and design-led approaches—with the aim of bringing value back to the territories, preserving their cultures and creating resilient ecosystems. Systemic design, as a framework capable of holding geospatial economic development with locality, can be the key to localising systemic change within the driving context of regional economics. Systemic design can provide an answer to creating eco-innovation and environmental, social and economic sustainability, especially at the local level. (Battistoni & Barbero, 2018)

RSD7 (2018)—Challenging Complexity by Systemic Design towards Sustainability

The RSD7 symposium, Challenging Complexity by Systemic Design towards Sustainability, was held at the Politecnico di Torino, 23rd-28th October 2018, for the first time in Italy, defining an important collaboration among the institutions that founded the Systemic Design Research Network (SDRN) in 2012. Not by chance, this symposium has seen the official establishment of the Systemic Design Association (SDA), with a public announcement on the first day. A new phase of the association of the RSD symposiums started by proposing an inclusive approach to expand the membership and engage different systems- and design-oriented professionals and researchers while looking after a strong identity of systemic design as a discipline. Full introduction

RESOURCES

Aulisio, A., Barbero, S., Barreca, A., Malavasi, G., & Rolando, D. (2024). From Data Collection to a Cross-Cutting Analysis Visualisation: Territorial Complexity Overview to Foster Responsible Tourism in Rural Areas (pp. 33–50). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65282-0_3

Battistoni, C., Giraldo Nohra, C., & Barbero, S. (2019). A systemic design method to approach future complex scenarios and research towards sustainability: A holistic diagnosis tool. Sustainability, 11(16), 4458. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164458

Barbero, S., & Ferrulli, E. (2023). ECOLOGICAL AND DIGITAL TRANSITION Systemic Design in SMEs open innovation processes. Agathon, 13, 269–280. https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/13232023

Giraldo Nohra, C., Pereno, A., & Barbero, S. (2020). Systemic Design for Policy-Making: Towards the Next Circular Regions. Sustainability, 12(11), 4494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114494

Padula, C., & Barbero, S. (2023). Gigamaps as enabling tools for envisioning futures. Academic Quarter | Akademisk Kvarter, 26, 77–95. https://doi.org/10.54337/academicquarter.vi26.8251

Pereno, A., & Barbero, S. (2020). Systemic design for territorial enhancement: An overview on design tools supporting sociotechnical system innovation. Strategic Design Research Journal, 13(2). https://dx.doi.org/10.4013/sdrj.2020.132.02