Abstract for: Helping non-SD professionals and students gain the benefits of system dynamics, easily and quickly

System dynamics has long struggled to be adopted by non-specialists, so modelling is rarely attempted by people without extensive SD training, even though they would gain considerable value from doing so. To show more people the benefits of SD, we need approaches and tools that connect with what they do, and make it easy for them to get started - both with the thought-process and basic model-building. This workshop will take participants through a process for achieving this. Starting with information on a real-world case, we will practice a mapping and modelling process that shows the logical relationships in the system, the insights that users can gain from that picture, and simple model- building they can do. The process will show how simulation must (and can) be set alongside real-world information on the actual history and forecast future behaviour of situations - exactly the type of problem that non-SD-specialists want to understand and manage better. It will also show how easily this can be taught, both to students and working professionals, and outline facilities available to help instructors achieve this.