What this publication covers
Presents a systemic design method for diagnosing complex scenarios and guiding sustainability research. Holistic Diagnosis organizes an iterative process of assessment, inquiry, data collection, visualization, and interpretation, applicable to contexts such as industrial production, local communities, and policymaking.
How this reference can help
Use it to turn knowledge about systems, ecosystems, and interdependencies into a concrete activity or decision.
Curated by Ricardo Martins
View the original abstract 🇺🇸 🇬🇧
This article aims to frame the role of Systemic Design (SD) as an alternative design model for the future of design for sustainability, by defining and assessing a structured process to execute Holistic Diagnosis (HD), an innovative context framework. Taking as its background a deep understanding of the design for sustainability and systems thinking concepts that frame SD as a field where HD is rooted, multiple case-study analyses were performed. HD demonstrates its ability to overcome the design boundaries in different fields such as industrial production, local communities, and policy-making, thereby providing a more in-depth understanding of complex environments with an iterative process: assess, research, collect, visualize, and interpret. This framework is a relevant tool for designers to address problem framing in complex scenarios to obtain future sustainable solutions with an innovative and transdisciplinary approach, thereby promoting a horizontal dialogue among all involved components.