Systemic design has emerged through a community of scholars and practices addressing complex social, organisational, and ecological challenges through systems theory and design inquiry. Spanning discourses from multispecies to strategic leadership and organisational transformation, it operates as an open-system participatory inquiry combining systems knowledge, design practice, and futures methods. Facilitated processes such as mapping, dialogue, and organisational methods guide participants in the design of their desired futures. This paper proposes the value position and repertoire of systemic design as a framework for strategic design, adaptable under conditions of system ambiguity and societal uncertainty. A significant question remains the future viability of design. As AI marginalises many disciplines requiring intellectual skills, design must hone its most valuable skills if it is to remain an economically viable profession. The paper also reconsiders forecasting-oriented futures practice by examining how advances in social complexity science contribute to systemic foresight. It concludes that systemic design’s distinctive contribution lies in its capacity to provide adaptive, ethically-grounded processes for leading inquiries into complex systems and organisations, making it an essential practice for leadership and governance in uncertain futures.
Peter Jones (Wed,) studied this question.