Sies Overbeek

Team Leader Systems Engineering at ADSE.

Expanding the System of Interest: Integrating Regenerative
Systems Thinking into Systems Engineering

Bio.
Sies Overbeek is an integral sustainability advisor, trainer, and former Systems Engineer at Dutch Boosting Group. He combines his background in ecology, ecosystems thinking and integrated sustainability with Systems Engineering to help make complex societal challenges more future-proof. His work focuses strongly on regenerative systems thinking, in which the ecosystem within which we build and operate systems is always considered as an integral part of the whole.

Abstract.

Problem definitionThe evidence is becoming clearer and the challenges moreurgent; humanity is disrupting the planet’s ecosystem tosuch an extent that the long-term resilience of oursocieties and the systems we depend on are increasingly atrisk. At its core, this challenge can be brought down toone simple conclusion: we have been unable to integrate ourhuman-developed systems within the balance of our naturalecosystem. Climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss andthe crossing of other planetary boundaries demonstrate thatsocietal, ecological and economic risks are increasingworldwide. While Systems Engineering has become highlyeffective in developing complex technical systems, afundamental approach for integrating ecological systemsinto our system boundaries is still largely absent.Our proposalWith this presentation, I want to address this challenge bycombining regenerative systems thinking with SystemsEngineering. I introduce a conceptual framework that buildson the fundamental principles of systems thinking andregenerative thinking, showing how ecological, human andtechnical systems interact. This framework forms afundamental starting point for developing future-proofsystems that create long-term value for both society andthe ecosystem.A deeper explanationDuring this 15-minute presentation, we explore howexpanding the boundaries of the system of interest enablesSystems Engineers to explicitly consider the ecologicalsystems on which every engineered system ultimatelydepends. I demonstrate how regenerative systems thinkingcomplements Systems Engineering by providing a practicalperspective for understanding the interactions betweenecological, human and technical systems. Rather thandesigning systems that do less harm to the environment,this approach supports the development of systems thatactually create value for ecological resilience and humanwellbeing.The speakerSies Overbeek, an integral sustainability expert andSystems Engineer at Dutch Boosting Group. I have workedtogether with Bart van Luling (Technical Director ofINCOSE-NL and Systems Engineering expert) on translatingthe principles of regenerative systems thinking into apractical perspective that helps System Engineers betterunderstand the relationship between ecological, social andtechnical systems and how to make this practical. We haveput this into practice within our Systems EngineeringDevelopment Program.The core takeawaysThe audience will have a clearer understanding of howecological, human and economic/technical systems interact,and why this interaction is essential for developingresilient and future-proof systems. They will leave with aconceptual framework and visual models that help expandsystem boundaries, improve interdisciplinary collaborationand support better-informed engineering decisions thatcreate value across multiple systems.ConclusionFuture-proof Systems Engineering requires us to broaden oursystems perspective and explicitly consider the ecosystemsin which our systems operate. This presentation offers apractical foundation for making that transition andprovides Systems Engineers with a framework thatcontributes to more resilient, sustainable and future-proofsystems.