The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has changed its name to the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science) as of 1 July 2025. The website address is now www.phfscience.nz. Visitors are automatically redirected to the new address. Please check and update any links and bookmarks.

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Social systems

We work across PHF Science's focus areas to understand complex societal and environmental problems and identify solutions using systems-thinking tools.

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About

PHF Science's social systems team partners with researchers and organisations to understand complex societal and environmental problems, and identify solutions using systems thinking tools that have positive benefits for communities. The team works across the areas of environment, public health, justice and social policy, within bicultural and multidisciplinary teams.

The Lab

The Lab

The Social Systems Lab supports collaborative working to understand and act on complex social and environmental problems. The Lab is also a space for innovation in methods and supports the application of systems thinking approaches.

We work in partnership with community organisations, iwi and hapū, government, and scientists across PHF Science and other research organisations.

Topics range from culturally appropriate biowaste management, public health equity issues, to implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improving the health of our waterways.

Our approaches to problem solving prioritise bicultural research methods and systems thinking.

Social Systems Lab Learning Report 2020-2023

01 Dec, 2023

The Social Systems Lab at ESR integrates systems thinking and social science to collaboratively address complex challenges. This initiative explores applied social systems methods to foster innovation, and guides partners in practical systems thinking. Initially funded through the ESR Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the Social Systems Lab remains the focal point for the Social Systems team's work, advocating for the widespread use of systems approaches within and beyond ESR.

The team

PHF Science's Social
Systems Team

Work with us

Work
with us

Projects

Do you have a project that would benefit from systems thinking but need to know more about the tools? The Social Systems team have physical offices in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, and we work across Aotearoa New Zealand both in person and using online tools.

We would love to hear from you about how you would like to work collaboratively with us. Please contact us here.

Current projects

Moving the middle

Ōhanga āmiomio

Contemporary justice issues for wāhine Māori 1990-2020

Iwi ora: restoring iwi historical wellbeing knowledge

Pou kōrero: speaking for our ancestors

Local scale wastewater-based epidemiology

Whakahā o te pā harakeke: realising the vision for a smokefree future

Te hau o te whau: the essence of the whau awa

Past projects

Innovation in forensic medical examination response to sexual assault

Co-search: equity in COVID-19 response

Beyond behaviour change for waste minimisation

A critical collaboration model for public and environmental health

Compass evaluation

Our land and water collaborative thinking

Māori community development with Hauora Hokianga

Measuring the effectiveness of whole-of-system response to prevent family violence

Unravelling the mysteries of Yersiniosis