SDApublish

RSD proceedings have often been further developed as peer-reviewed articles with special issues in design journals FORMakademisk, She Ji, and several edited volumes and collections. In the spirit of the RSD Publishing Ladder that was encouraged over our first decade, the SDA continues with a cyclic, non-hierarchical approach to advance scholarship, which we call the Scholars Spiral. The Spiral is meant to indicate the continuous process of development of research and its mobilization, represented by a spiral that expands outward rather than the conventional “upward” ladder metaphor. However the spiral should be seen as a way for scholars to also start anywhere with their work, to expand or to pause publishing according to interest and collaboration.

1-RSD symposium abstracts
2-Presentation and dialogue at RSD Symposium
3-RSD proceedings paper
4-Development for other conferences
5-Refereed publication of work in progress: case brief or relevant journal
6-Refereed publication of research in Contexts – The Systemic Design Journal

Publications

systemic design

noun / si-ˈste-mik di-ˈzīn /

: an interdiscipline that joins systems thinking to design methodology

Community

Theory

Practice

Publishing

SDAJournal

Contexts is an open-access, peer-reviewed research journal published by the Systemic Design Association. It is the first journal dedicated to scholarly reporting and research studies in the interdisciplinary field of systemic design. The journal welcomes novel submissions in systemic design, design for social complexity, system innovation, design methods, and systems-oriented design theory. Volume 2 is complete, with six articles in the collection. Contexts is accepting submissions for Volume 3.

CONTEXTS JOURNAL

Peter Hayward Jones’ editorial, Contexts of Design Research, Clarifying Complexity, describes the emerging voices, complex challenges, and inventive approaches evident in the second volume.

RSDSYMPOSIUM

This October 2025, OCAD University hosts RSD14: Arcs of Impact in Toronto, Canada. RSD14-ONLINE’s Paper Talks will feature authors in discussions about their work, and RSD14-Toronto will convene systemic designers around a programme of speakers, panels, and workshops. The Systemic Design Association maintains the Proceedings of the Relating Systems Thinking and Design Symposium as a continuously updated repository of peer-reviewed papers, descriptions, and recordings of talks, panels, workshops, maps, and exhibits.

RSD14 HOMEPAGE

The RSD14 Call for Papers is now open. Register your intent before March 15 and complete your paper by April 30. Maps & Exhibits accepted until August 30.

SDACOMMUNITY

The Systemic Design Association convenes and promotes a wide range of designers and scholars leading emerging practices, design-led systems research, and advanced design methods that are gaining attention in academic circles and design fields. The basic infrastructure needed to keep the systemic design community networked and visible comes from SDA membership fees and is supported by an international cohort of engaged volunteers and partners.

SDA MEMBERSHIP

In 2024, SDA partner-member Snowmelt received the Good Design Award, one of the highest design accolades available in Australia.

SDAPRACTICE

Systemic design has moved toward pragmatic practice. The annual RSD symposia and proceedings contribute to a repository of systemic design, representing an extensive searchable resource of work shared by practitioners and academics. SDA also aims to create opportunities for dialogue that contribute to guiding principles for systemic design practice.

RSD13-PRAXIS SESSIONS

Videos from the 2024 series Mapping Mondays feature researchers discussing their approaches and praxis across 31 projects.

SDATHEORY

The SDA was formed to convene educators, practitioners, and researchers to co-evolve an interdisciplinary field over the long term. The field emerging as systemic design has jumped ahead to engage societal issues now recognised as ever more important for designers to address, ranging from design for health and well-being, quality of life, socioeconomics, urbanization, policy design, and cultural development.

COURSES & DEGREES

Harold Nelson’s article, Systemic Design as Born from the Berkeley Bubble Matrix, is an account of the people involed and their influences on the world today.

SDAauthors

SDA activities embrace scholarship as a cyclic, spiral process that supports a vital emergence of supportive opportunities for scholars. The spiral approach also encourages scholarships to take their own path, recognizing the development of the field takes shape through studies in adjacent field journals and through partner societies, with conferences and journals in design research, systems sciences, interdisciplinary studies, and relevant fields.

FOR AUTHORS

Peer reviewed: the SDA journal, Contexts, follows a continuous publishing model, while RSDsymposium.org publishes annual peer-reviewed proceedings.

RSD14symposium

RSD14: Arcs of Impact considers relationality in complexity as a pathway to evolving systemic design practice and thinking globally and within Canada’s dynamic design ecosystem. Paper Talks precede the on-campus programme and are held online from October 8–10. Speakers, panels, and dialogues follow from October 15–18, hosted at OCAD University’s downtown Toronto campus. Activities include social events around Toronto and a day dedicated to reflection and connection.

ARCS of IMPACT

OCADU’s Faculty of Design encourages designers to consider the impact of their design and works closely with the School of Graduate Studies.