Dr Martin Reynolds

Professional biography

Martin joined the Open University in 2001.  He co-steered development of, and became Qualifications Lead for, Open University postgraduate programmes (i) Systems Thinking in Practice (STiP); and (ii) Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship (STPA). Professional backdrop can be summarised:

• (1978) BSc Liberal Studies in Science ( University of Manchester)
• (1980) Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Kings College, University of London)
• (- 1992) teaching Science in senior secondary schools in London and (10 years) in Botswana
• (1994) Masters in Development Administration (Institute for International Development Policy and Management (IDPM) at the University of Manchester)
• (1998) PhD International Development – Natural resource use appraisal in Botswana (IDPM)

In 1999 Martin worked with Gerald Midgley on a postdoctoral research project at Hull University exploring the use of systems thinking for environmental management before joining the OU in 2001.
                     

Research interests

Martin is a co-founding member of, and lead academic liaison for, the Applied Systems Thinking in Practice (ASTiP) Group at the Open University. Research and scholarship activities are primarily focused on developing and applying ideas from the tradition of critical systems thinking (CST) and more generic systems thinking in practice (STiP)  to evaluation, environmental management, organisational management, health practice, and international development. Since 2013 Martin has been Principle Investigator for a series of 3 action research projects involving funded research with ASTiP colleagues developing an alternative pedagogy based on a capabilities approach for systems thinking in practice. One output from this action research work with STiP alumni and colleagues from professional bodies associated with systems thinking,  was securing the approval for a Systems Thinking Practitioner Apprenticeship (STP-A) from the UK Government in 2020; providing official recognition of a professional occupational role for a Systems Thinking Practitioner (STP).

Past research activities include involvement with US AID support for collaboration with partners in southern Africa to explore cooperative wetland management in Limpopo Basin; European funding to support  Parliamentary involvement with developmental evaluation; ESRC – supported work in using critical systems heuristics for community wetland management in Guyana; EPSRC - supported work on critical systems thinking for energy security; and EU funding for supporting Social Learning in Water Management (SLIM).  

Martin regularly takes on advisory responsibilities as a systems thinking practitioner for external consultancies, particularly with respect to developmental evaluation.  He has published extensively in the fields of STiP and evaluation. 

Teaching interests

Principle author (/Co-author) and Production Chair on following modules (with OU codes):

Systems thinking in practice (STiP) - Postgraduate

• Qualification Lead for STiP (Masters, Diploma, and Certificate)
• Making strategy with STiP (TB871) 
• Evidencing STiP (TBXY874) - Apprenticeship 2-year portfolio module.
• Management Beyond the Mainstream (BB847) - elective for OU MBA programme

Environmental management - Postgraduate

• Environmental Responsibility: ethics, policy and action (TD866)
• Making Environmental Decisions (T891)

International development - Postgraduate

• Institutional Development: conflicts, values and meanings (TU872)
• ...Residential school for TU872 (TUXY872)

Systems practice (SP) - Undergraduate Diploma

• Qualification Lead for Systems Practice Undergraduate Diploma
• Managing Complexity: A systems approach (T306), and the
• Systems Practice Summer School (TXR248)  

Impact and engagement

Martin promotes continual professional development with Systems thinking and evaluation - designing and facilitating a series of workshops through auspices of American Evaluation Association and European Evaluation Society, including work with GIZ (in Germany) SDC (in Switzerland) and SLeVA (in Sri Lanka) and UKES (in UK). Martin has also provided regular workshop support in systems thinking for policy impact for the PhD programme at the University of Zurich, Plant Sciences.

External collaborations

Martin  has been actively involved with UN initiatives in developing systems for supporting the implementation of SDGs (sustainable development goals), and collaborated with colleagues from Social Enterprise Impact Hubs in developing learning systems for effective monitoring and evaluation.  He has worked with colleagues from Health Systems Global (HSG) and Save the Children in writing guidance on systems thinking for health practice. Martin is an Advisory Group member for two international initiatives: first, the Systems Thinking Africa (STA) group led by Samuel Ngenga for systems thinking support in sub-Saharan Africa; second, the UN-Women Evaluation initiative, resulting in the 2016 production of a field handbook ‘Inclusive Systemic Evaluation (ISE) for GEMs (gender, environments, and marginalized groups).  Martin is also an active and founding member of the Silwood Group (SG) - a transdisciplinary international grouping of experts in the fields of conservation biology, evaluation, and systems thinking.  The aim of the group is to progress purposeful systems design of innovative evaluation for conservation interventions (coordinated by the Silwood Park campus of Imperial College London). 

International links

Aside from international links associated with research and scholarship activities Martin is a member of the European Evaluation Society and the International Society for Systems Science (ISSS), and leads on ASTiP institutional affiliation with International Federation of Systems Research (IFSR).