We make the dynamics of complex systems visible. Using participatory mapping methods, we help organisations see how factors interact, where feedback loops create unintended consequences, and where the best opportunities for change sit.
Our mapping work is always in service of action. We map systems to inform strategy, guide investment, and help teams work more effectively within the complexity they face.
Talk to us about mapping your system
Most complex challenges involve dozens of interacting factors, feedback loops, and competing priorities that are difficult to hold in view at once. Systems mapping gives organisations a structured way to make those dynamics visible, so they can see how their system actually works rather than how they assume it works.
We use a range of mapping methods depending on the context. Sometimes that means causal loop diagrams developed through facilitated workshops. Sometimes it means our System Effects methodology, which centres lived experience in the mapping process. And sometimes it means simpler approaches like rich pictures or influence diagrams that help a team build shared understanding quickly.
System Effects is a structured approach to systems mapping based on fuzzy logic, cognitive mind mapping, and graph theory. It centres lived experience in the mapping process. Individuals identify the factors that influence a particular issue from their own perspective, which are then coded and aggregated to produce a systems-level view. This means the resulting map reflects the real experiences of people within the system, not just expert assumptions.
We've used System Effects across a wide range of contexts: from mapping systemic barriers to lawyer wellbeing across Victoria's legal profession (engaging over 1,100 legal professionals), to understanding barriers to physical activity in school settings, to mapping the drivers of electronic waste behaviour in the UK. The methodology is particularly well-suited to situations where you need to understand a complex issue from the perspective of the people experiencing it.
Beyond System Effects, we regularly design and facilitate participatory mapping workshops that bring diverse stakeholders together to build a shared picture of how their system operates. These workshops use causal loop diagrams, systems maps, and other visual tools to surface assumptions, identify leverage points, and build collective ownership of the model. The process of mapping together is often as valuable as the map itself.
We choose and combine methods based on the questions that need answering and the context we're working in.
A methodology we apply extensively. Centres lived experience using fuzzy logic and graph theory to map systemic barriers and enablers from the perspective of people within the system. Produces quantitative models from qualitative data.
Visual maps of cause-and-effect relationships within a system, showing reinforcing and balancing feedback loops. Developed through facilitated workshops, they help teams identify where interventions are most likely to create lasting change.
Bringing diverse stakeholders together to collectively build a picture of how their system operates. The process builds shared understanding and ownership, while the outputs identify leverage points and areas for coordinated action.
Once a system is mapped, we work with stakeholders to identify where small changes could produce disproportionate effects. This analysis translates systems maps into practical guidance for strategy and investment decisions.
Using System Effects or other methods at multiple time points to track how a system changes in response to an intervention. This turns systems mapping into a rigorous evaluation tool, not just a planning exercise.
We support teams to design and implement their own systems mapping processes, building internal capability through mentoring, training, and co-facilitation so the approach can be sustained over time.
A selection of our systems mapping work across different sectors and applications.
Alcohol and Drug Foundation
We're working with the ADF and a network of local providers in Geelong to map the system of issues contributing to social disadvantage. Through a series of participatory systems mapping workshops, the project builds systems thinking capability among providers while producing an evolving systems map that illustrates how the system shifts over time.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK)
We designed and delivered a mentoring program for DEFRA staff to implement System Effects themselves, mapping the barriers and enablers to seeking repair of small electronic goods. Through a series of tutorials and training sessions, the team built the capability to apply the methodology independently within their policy work.
Feed Opportunity (Ontario, Canada)
Using the System Effects approach to understand non-economic barriers to food security in Ontario and identify key leverage points for change in priority populations.
McAuley Community Services for Women
Mapping the systemic barriers to an effective Safe at Home approach for family violence in Victoria, drawing on consultations with agencies across the family violence system to identify seven core areas of change. McAuley is now running a pilot that builds directly on our systems map.
Visit Safe at Home
City of Casey
Facilitating a half-day workshop with 20 community service organisations to develop a systems map of barriers and enablers to integrated service delivery, including identification of key leverage points.
Read the preprint
ACT Health
Using System Effects as a pre- and post-measurement tool to evaluate systemic barriers to physical activity in a school setting, revealing how barrier dynamics shifted following an infrastructure intervention.
City of Greater Bendigo
Facilitating a multi-stakeholder workshop with the City of Greater Bendigo and North Central CMA to apply causal loop diagrams to the complex challenges of regional land use planning.
Read the paper
World Wellness Group
Designing and implementing System Effects across a three-year collaborative program supporting children exposed to domestic and family violence. We're training staff across three partner agencies to collect data and providing ongoing analysis to understand the systemic drivers of child wellbeing.
Systems mapping is one part of our broader systems capability. See how we combine it with other methods.
Whether you're facing a complex policy challenge, designing a new program, or trying to understand why change isn't happening, systems mapping can help make the dynamics visible.
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Alcohol and Drug Foundation
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation is piloting an approach to supporting local networks and services addressing disadvantage in Geelong. By using a collaborative systems thinking approach, the aim is to map the system of issues contributing to social disadvantage and to identify those working to address it.
We've been engaged to undertake a series of systems mapping workshops with a network of providers in Geelong. The project has twin aims: to build systems thinking capability among the providers themselves, and to produce an evolving systems map that captures how the system shifts over time as collaborative action takes hold.
The workshops are co-facilitated with "systems champions" within the network, supporting long-term ownership of the approach. As the project progresses, the systems map will illustrate not just a static picture of the system, but how collaborative effort is producing real shifts in how disadvantage is addressed locally.
The project spans a wide range of interconnected issues, including alcohol and other drugs, housing, disability, domestic and family violence, and broader community health and wellbeing.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK)
Electronic and electrical waste is a massive environmental issue in the UK. DEFRA, wanting to explore alternative approaches to understanding how to drive behaviour change around e-waste, engaged us to design and deliver a mentoring program to implement the System Effects methodology within their team.
Through a series of tutorials and training sessions, DEFRA staff designed and implemented the System Effects method themselves to map the barriers and enablers to seeking repair of small electronic goods. Rather than producing a report for DEFRA, we built the capability within their team to apply systems mapping to their own policy challenges.
This project demonstrated that System Effects can be effectively taught and applied by policy teams who are new to systems methods, and that the methodology translates well across international contexts. The resulting systems map gave DEFRA new insights into the behavioural and systemic factors that influence whether people repair or replace small electronics.
