The collaboration between Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Healthy Families South Auckland (HFSA) has seen a new wave of students understand the power of systems thinking.
Using a systems change approach and design thinking strategies, AUT students from the Design for Sustainability programme have developed ideas and suggested initiatives to strengthen local food resilience, guided by the Good Food Road Map as a strategic framework.
The two initiatives are:
Restbite: a project that creates a university-based communal space where tertiary students can prepare nourishing and affordable meals, facilitating peer-to-peer learning and cross-cultural sharing of recipes to promote healthier food choices on campus.
Fuelling Futures: a community-led strategy where local retirees prepare healthy school lunches with the help of student volunteers, using ingredients sourced from school gardens and excess produce from homes, to reduce dependency on government programmes and store-bought foods.
The students shared their thoughts after the programme was completed with AUT professor Lisa McEwan and HFSA’s Julio Bin. Several key points were identified:
Deeper Understanding: Students appreciated gaining tools to critically analyse and address systemic issues, moving beyond surface-level understanding.
Enhanced Problem-Solving: Systems thinking empowered students to tackle problems by examining interconnected factors and seeking inclusive solutions.
Practical Applications: Students saw the relevance of systems thinking in various fields, from environmental and spatial design to sustainable fashion.
Effective Frameworks: The Good Food Road Map was highly valuable, though some suggested improving its visual presentation for better clarity.
Broad Impact: The course inspired students to apply insights both locally and globally, recognising systemic barriers and the need for innovative approaches
Lisa says that while many students initially approached systemic issues with simplistic solutions, their mindset evolved as they progressed with the initiatives.
“I noticed a distinct shift from students wanting to create solutions for reported at-risk groups, to understanding that focusing on food sovereignty and security could prevent issues like type 2 diabetes at the outset.”
Through this collaboration, HFSA introduced students to the Good Food Road Map (GFRM), a framework designed to guide transformational shifts in local food systems.
The GFRM emphasises making good food “the best and easiest choice” by addressing systemic barriers and enabling community-driven solutions. HFSA’s use of the Six Conditions of Systems Change challenged students to analyse and address policy, power dynamics, and mental models alongside practices and resource flows.
“Being part of this partnership from the outset has been a privilege,” says HFSA Lead Systems Innovator Julio Bin.
“Helping to craft the course brief, facilitate the learning process, and see the students engage with these concepts has been incredibly rewarding. It’s exciting to see how their ideas evolve and contribute to systems change.”
For eight years, HFSA has partnered with AUT to embed systems thinking and innovation into academic curricula.
Through this collaboration, students worked on projects with direct relevance to local communities and such projects demonstrate how systemic approaches can generate practical outcomes that are scalable to other contexts.
“The students’ ability to tackle real-world challenges with innovative yet grounded solutions are inspiring. Their projects show the potential of systems thinking to transform communities and create lasting change,” says Julio.
Julio says that by sharing and integrating frameworks like the GFRM into university curricula, HFSA can amplify its efforts to create sustainable, resilient food systems while fostering a pipeline of future leaders with the knowledge of systems change.
“One of the students summed up the impact perfectly by saying: ‘This course was a turning point for me. I feel more confident in my ability to tackle complex problems and contribute meaningfully to the communities I’ll work with.’”
