This summer was a busy one for Conferences and the CLE. First of all, our 13th biennial ST/DM Conference was held again at the Babson Conference Center. The keynotes were inspiring and the sessions enjoyable and fun. We heard from Anne LaVigne and George Richardson describing their collaborative relationship over the years, with learning and friendship on both sides. The panel from Milton School District, Innovation Academy Charter School and the Korean initiative pointed the way for innovation from a single very committed school, a district introducing systems thinking throughout the organization and now moving forward into the classroom, to a broad country, even regional approach. The final keynote with Saras Chung and Brad Morrison allowed us to spend the morning using group modeling and Systems Tools to unpack complex educational problems.

Conference breakout sessions included interactive games and experienced educators sharing their stories and practical tips on how to implement ST/DM into K-12 classrooms and administration.

Of course the big news at the conference was the debut of Splash!, our new interactive, intuitive app for mobile devices that facilitates learning for beginning modeling. It is available as a free download from the App stores. Learn more...

We had a lively and interesting group of participants who enjoyed the collegial atmosphere, as well as the wonderful food and ambience of the Babson Center. For more information about the conference, visit the conference website

The International Conference was held in Reykjavik, Iceland this summer. It was a chance for participants to hear from the very best system dynamics minds in the world as well as enjoy the spectacular scenery of this unique country. K-12 education made quite a splash at the conference. Not only did we showcase our new App, Splash!, but Anne LaVigne and Lees Stuntz gave a keynote presentation and the new Pre-College Special Interest Group was formed.

For more information about the conference, visit the conference website

The OR Society’s 60th anniversary conference was held at Lancaster University, 11-13 September. For the first time there was be a Systems Thinking Stream. Kerry Turner had two papers accepted: (1) Systems Thinking in Schools; and (2) Lessons from Grenfell. This second paper was aimed at raising public awareness of the value of systems thinking.

A workshop immediately after the ORS conference at Lancaster was organized on 14 September. This was by invitation only and free of charge. The purpose was to explore why systemic thought is an important skill for children (the benefits), how best to develop these skills in children, and how to evaluate and measure these impacts. Participants included: John Foley; Stefano Armenia; Mike Bazett (tbc); Rob Eastaway (tbc); Stephen Goodridge; Nick Hateley (tbc); Sarah Lampkin; Sally Lampkin; Sophie Parker (tbc); John Raven.

Kerry Turner is partnering with the ORS OR in Schools Programme (run by Sophie Parker). The first Systems Thinking for Children workshop took place on Saturday, 15 September, at the ATM/MA Maths Festival at York University.