Systems & complexity

A systems thinking perspective on guns at school

On 14 February 2018, the world was shocked when 14 students and three staff members were killed in a school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. The Parkland shooting has been described as one of the world’s deadliest school massacres, and appears to be finally catalyzing change after a long history of school shootings in the United States.

Last weekend, thousands of people turned out for “March for Our Lives” marches in Washington and many other cities across the United States, and what to do to address school and wider gun violence is being hotly debated by politicians and the community.

But what actions can really lead to change?

We’ve seen from the RealKM Magazine systems thinking and modeling series that systems thinking can gives us good insights into complex issues, and we’ve also seen systems thinking used to gain a better understanding of the risk of global conflict.

Now, with thanks to Barry Richmond, you can gain a systems thinking perspective on guns at school.

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Bruce Boyes

Bruce Boyes is a knowledge management (KM), environmental management, and education thought leader with more than 40 years of experience. As editor and lead writer of the award-winning RealKM Magazine, he has personally written more than 500 articles and published more than 2,000 articles overall, resulting in more than 2 million reader views. With a demonstrated ability to identify and implement innovative solutions to social and ecological complexity, Bruce has successfully completed more than 40 programs, projects, and initiatives including leading complex major programs. His many other career highlights include: leading the KM community KM and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative, using agile approaches to oversee the on time and under budget implementation of an award-winning $77.4 million recovery program for one of Australia's most iconic river systems, leading a knowledge strategy process for Australia’s 56 natural resource management (NRM) regional organisations, pioneering collaborative learning and governance approaches to empower communities to sustainably manage landscapes and catchments in the face of complexity, being one of the first to join a new landmark aviation complexity initiative, initiating and teaching two new knowledge management subjects at Shanxi University in China, and writing numerous notable environmental strategies, reports, and other works. Bruce is currently a PhD candidate in the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group at Wageningen University and Research, and holds a Master of Environmental Management with Distinction and a Certificate of Technology (Electronics). As well as his work for RealKM Magazine, Bruce currently also teaches in the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) Certified High-school Pathway (CHP) program in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China.

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