Conference Agenda

Systemic design addresses complex, transdisciplinary challenges by integrating systems thinking and design methods. Yet, academic discourse remains limited to formal research and institutional methods, “invisibilizing” the rich, plural, and grounded practices of grassroots non-designer practitioners such as social workers, indigenous knowledge practitioners, and community facilitators. This paper challenges that narrow epistemology, and advocates restoring practice-centricity and incorporating plurality & pluriversality as essential ethical and political commitments to advancing the field. Mashing up the metaphors of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” and “The Elephant in the Room”, it highlights the need to proactively accommodate multiple perspectives for better reflexivity. The article critiques systemic theory’s limits, urges restoring practitioner wisdom to the centre, and legitimizing embodied, tacit, and cultural knowledges. Drawing on case studies and pluriversal principles, it calls for democratizing systemic design to foster epistemic justice and inclusivity, making it more relevant to and effective in real-world systemic transformations.