Abstract for: Evaluating long-term impact of qualitative system dynamics workshops on participant mental models

Several studies that describe group model building interventions assert that these interventions can produce new insight. No previous study has examined whether these new insights are enduring. This paper reports on evaluation of four qualitative system dynamics interventions conducted 12 months after the interventions. The interventions each consisted of a three hour workshop followed by a two-hour workshop one week later, to plan strategy implementation initiatives in a government department. A change of circumstances meant that the workshop conclusions were not implemented. Statistical comparison of work samples from immediately before and after the workshop, and twelve months later, suggest that participants views on the workshop topic changed through the workshop process, and that these changes were enduring even in the absence of reinforcing activities.