1. A 101 (or 100.5) on Systems
Approaches to Capacity Building for
Community Health”
Eric Sarriot*+, Ilona Varallyay+, Ligia Paina**
with thanks to Tanvi Monga*
*Name-TBD Project / Community Health and Civil Society Engagement Team
** Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
+ ICF Center for Design and Research in Sustainability (CEDARS)

2. Agenda
• Expose participants to first concepts in systems
thinking related to capacity building in
community health
Hidden Agenda
• Hear some experiences and perspectives of
participants on their experience with systems
thinking – whether explicit or implicit.

3. Agenda (other meaning)
• Less than satisfactory introduction
• Group exercises (2 or 3)
• Networks
– Feedback from Groups A-B, Discussion
– Short Presentation: (Ilona Varallyay)
• Causal Loop Analysis
– Feedback from Group C, Discussion
– Short Presentation (Ligia Paina Ph.D.)
• Wrap Up (your servant)

4. Cynefin: Classification of Cause and
Effect Relationships in a Given Context

5. Community Health Systems Display Different Levels of
Complexity Based on Context and Intervention

8. Case Study

9. Conclusion 1: Systems Thinking in
Community Health
• You’ve done this before; you’re doing it already.
“What has been will be again.”
(Ecclesiastes 1:9 ; Starship Galactica Season 2)
• The development of development
(Robert Chambers is still with us!)

10. Conclusion 2: Systems Thinking in
Community Health
• Avoid ‘all or nothing’ thinking.
“There is just more to learn.”
(Dr Who, Season 9)
• New tools, new approaches, new language (some
from the 1970’s) can help us:
– Understand better
– Study better
– Achieve more
• Interest in more about systems thinking? Tell us!!!

11. RESOURCES