Planners as Collaboration Designers: A Systems Thinking Lens on Tackling Complex Problems

Planners spend their days dealing with complex problems: from designing place-based communities, to creating effective transportation systems, to creating housing opportunities for all. Planners must be the champions of collaboration with fellow professionals to tackle these interdisciplinary and multi-faceted projects. This session will explore the use of design thinking tools and techniques to identify complex problems, use systems thinking methods for building consensus and work on developing collaborative engagements to solve problems together.

 

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding how to find and frame complex social and planning problems.

• Gaining knowledge about design thinking and systems thinking tools. 

• Understanding how to foster collaboration across multi-stakeholder groups.