Systems Education at Bergen

Abstract

Abstract:At the University of Bergen in Norway, educating students to use computer models and to think systemically about social and economic problems began in the 1970s. The International Masters Program in System Dynamics was established in 1995, and a Ph.D. program began a few years later. Student enrolment doubled in 2010 with the establishment of the European Master Program in System Dynamics. International diversity has been a hallmark of the Bergen program; each year, students come from about 30 different countries and more than 95% of the degrees have been awarded to students from outside of Norway. However, a Bergen systems education is not confined to a classroom in Norway. Projects in developing countries, emerging economies, and developed countries have taken the systems perspective and modeling tools on the road and, increasingly, online. Whatever the delivery mode, the goal is the same: capacity building among international students, planners and managers, and local stakeholders. This paper describes the Bergen program and its impact on systems thinking and modeling throughout the world.

Overview and Insights from ‘Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet’

“…As Davidsen et al [4] comment, there is a need to adapt teaching methods to meet the dynamic and increasing complexity of educational challenges. One response is to use hands-on teaching approaches.…”

“…The Systems Science Program at Portland State University has recently been relocated in the School of the Environment within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a move that will enhance the scope for students to shift in the direction of environmental concerns and sustainability-related topics [6]. The home of the European Master Program in System Dynamics at the University of Bergen is the Department of Geography [4]. At the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the systems program is housed in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies [5].…”

“…Since 2010, an on-campus European Master Program in System Dynamics has been provided (along with 3 other European universities). System dynamics educators at the University of Bergen also run concentrated short-term courses tailored for government officials from developing countries, teach in different countries, provide on-line courses, and undertake project work that involves applying system dynamics in practice [4].…”

“…For example, the central importance of the word 'systems' can be clearly seen, together with the other high frequency words such as education, learning, system, dynamics, thinking, design, systemic, management, sustainability, etc. The material provided by the authors for the special issue [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] discusses the current status of systems education and the extent to which the systems community is delivering on the ambition to provide a systems education for a sustainable planet. For the purposes of this paper, the 14 special issue papers have been classified into five distinct themes, as illustrated in Figure 2.…”

“…Different learning approaches are used, but the message is the same-we need to educate people to work with complexity and uncertainty if we are to progress the goal of a sustainable planet [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”