Building a system-based Theory of Change using Participatory Systems Mapping

Wilkinson, Helen; Hills, Dione; Penn, Alexandra S.; Barbrook-Johnson, Pete

doi:10.1177/1356389020980493

Cited by 37 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Participatory systems mapping has been seen as a strong tool to bring stakeholders together in an inclusive exercise related to a specific policy, program, or urban planning initative [ 10 ]. Participatory systems mapping provides an understanding of the perspective of various stakeholders, and empowers them to produce feasible and viable solutions [ 11 ]. This particular version of applied systems mapping was designed by Engaging Inquiry (EI) and adapted for BHC.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Sectors Together in Da Nang, Vietnam: Participatory Systems Mapping

et al. 2022

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The USAID-funded Building Healthy Cities (BHC) work in Da Nang, Vietnam, engaged 108 multi-sector stakeholders to gather qualitative data across two workshops and three citizen town halls from 2019 to 2021. These data were synthesized with the results from BHC’s seven other activities in Da Nang to build systems maps. Contextual findings showed that multi-sector, multi-level participation and collaboration have been the key to moving the city toward their smart and livable city goals. Currently, citizen, nongovernmental organization, and private sector collaboration are low for many government sectors, which results in policy and programs that are mismatched to actual needs and therefore have less powerful impacts. When these policies and programs are implemented, they struggle to demonstrate strong benefits to these stakeholder groups, further decreasing participation. This is central to the systems map that BHC developed, and is expanded upon through additional patterns that fall within four main areas: management quality; vision and leadership; workforce capacity; and community engagement. Stakeholders found four key leverage points within this context that, if included in every action, could help overcome barriers. These leverage opportunities are: (1) investing at all levels; (2) improving function and innovation of information technology; (3) increasing participation and feedback; and (4) creating more responsive policy. As BHC concludes activities in Da Nang, local university students will be trained on systems mapping techniques to embed systems thinking skills into the next generation of workforce, and a set of recommendations will be developed to share with the government to act on these findings.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Sectors Together in Da Nang, Vietnam: Participatory Systems Mapping

et al. 2022

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“…Systems maps such as causal loop diagrams can be generated using qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods approaches (Coyle, 2000;Dhirasasna & Sahin, 2019;Wolstenholme, 1999). Qualitatively derived systems maps are valued in policy decisionmaking, particularly when existing data may be incomplete to sustain quantitative simulation models and the issue under consideration needs to take account of the views of multiple with very different experiences of the system (Allender et al, 2015;Sedlacko et al, 2014;Wilkinson et al, 2021).…”

Section: Participatory Approaches To Systems Mappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decarbonising Existing Homes in Wales: A Participatory Behavioural Systems Mapping Approach

Hale

Jofeh

Chadwick

2022

Preprint

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Background: To reduce carbon emissions, urgent change is needed to high-carbon human behaviours including home energy use. Previous policy failures point to insufficient use and integration of systemic and behavioural approaches to bring about change. A novel behavioural systems mapping approach was used to inform national policy recommendations for energy-saving retrofit of homes in Wales. Method: Three participatory workshops were held with the independent Welsh residential decarbonisation advisory group (‘the Advisory Group’) to (1) map relationships between actors, behaviours and influences on behaviour within the home retrofit system, (2) provide training in the Behaviour Change Wheel framework (3) use these to develop policy recommendations for interventions. Recommendations were analysed using the COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation) model of behaviour to assess whether they addressed these factors. Results: Two behavioural systems maps were produced, representing privately rented and owner-occupied housing tenures. The main causal pathways and feedback loops in each map are described. Necessary interventions to achieve national-scale retrofit included: government-led investment, campaigns and awareness-building, financial-sector funding mechanisms, enforcement of regulations, and creating more streamlined and trusted supply chain services. Of 27 final policy recommendations, 6 addressed capability, 22 opportunity, and 12 motivation. Conclusions: Participatory behavioural systems mapping can be used in conjunction with behaviour change frameworks to develop policy recommendations that address the behavioural determinants of complex environmental problems. Research is underway to refine and extend the approach through application to other sustainability challenges and methods of constructing systems maps.

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“…In its origins, the motivations to use the method in a whole-systems and complexity-appropriate manner were present (though the language of systems and complexity were not used), but these have often been lost in its application (see the pressures to create narrow ToCs we describe above), likely due to its sheer popularity and use in many different domains. In turn, and somewhat ironically, there have been many criticisms, often around ToC being too linear and not considering wider contexts (Wilkinson et al, 2021). This is now one of the main sites for innovation in the method, with efforts to make ToC more systems or complexity-appropriate coming from many places (full disclosure, this is an effort that we have contributed to).…”

Section: Common Issues and 'Tricks Of The Trade'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory of Change Diagrams

Barbrook-Johnson

Penn

2022

Systems Mapping

Self Cite

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This chapter introduces Theory of Change diagrams, a popular approach to mapping the causal logic between interventions, their impacts, and the assumptions they rely upon. Despite a wide variety in practice, we attempt to outline what Theory of Change diagrams are, how you can use them, and where they sit in the wider Theory of Change approach. We describe their strengths, weaknesses, and a brief history, and point readers to useful resources, as well as offer some tips for getting started.

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Building a system-based Theory of Change using Participatory Systems Mapping

Cited by 37 publications

References 18 publications

Bringing Sectors Together in Da Nang, Vietnam: Participatory Systems Mapping

Bringing Sectors Together in Da Nang, Vietnam: Participatory Systems Mapping

Decarbonising Existing Homes in Wales: A Participatory Behavioural Systems Mapping Approach

Theory of Change Diagrams

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