Dr Rupesh Shah
Senior Lecturer And Staff Tutor In Engineering And Innovation
School of Engineering & Innovation
Biography
Professional biography
Dr Rupesh Shah is a Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor in Engineering and Innovation at the Open University, managing teaching on postgraduate modules in Systems Thinking in Practice and undergraduate modules in environment
Rupesh has supported learning about systems thinking at the OU for over 20 years; initially as a research fellow on the PersSyst Project and then as an Associate Lecturer on an undergraduate and postgraduate modules in systems thinking. He has been a staff tutor with the OU since 2018.
Rupesh recieved his BSc (Hons) from the University of Bath in Business Administration in 1997. He gained his PhD from the University of Bath in the Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice in the School of Management. Rupesh has worked as a participatory development practitioner and community educator, in a range of interrnational and local settings in the UK, India, Argentina and Nigeria.
Research interests
Curret research interests include developing capability in systems thinking in practice, practice-based inquiry in management practice, and making systems thinking accessible as a practice for those situated on the margins.
He is currently working on a Guide to Key Theories for Systems Thinking in Practice for Elgar Publishers.
Previous research includes work on
- NGO-business collaboration and sustainable development
- inter-organisational learning and development for climate adaptation
- the challenges of corporate responsibility movement
- late diagnosis of cancer in East London
- community engagement for genetics and health studies
Teaching interests
In his role as a staff tutor, Rupesh manages teams Associate Lecturers in Environment and in Systems Thinking. He chaired production of and co-authored TBX873, Co-designing Interventions with Systems Thinking in Practice and has worked as an author and critical reviewer for several modules in Systems Thinking. He leads the OU’s delivery of Commonwealth Scholarships in Environmental Management in Kenya
Rupesh is actively involved in supporting professional development in the AL community. He is lead for STEM-ByALs-ForALs, an online professional development community for over 500 tutors across the STEM faculty.
Publications
Book Chapter
Reynolds, M., Blackmore, C., Ison, R., Shah, R., & Wedlock, E. (2017). The role of systems thinking in the practice of implementing sustainable development goals. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), Handbook of Sustainability Science and Research (pp. 677-698). Springer.
Journal Article
Owen-Boukra, E., Abrams, R., Cohen, T., Goodman, C., Henry, C., Ingle, L., Mahtani, K., Ogden, M., Roberts, N. W., Shah, R., Thomas, J., Wong, G., & Park, S. (2026). Understanding and improving compound pressures in general practice: a realist review protocol. BJGP Open, 2025, 0073.
Bell, S., Morse, S., & Shah, R. (2012). Understanding stakeholder participation as part of sustainable development. Journal of Environmental Management, 101(1), 13-22.
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Champion, E., Robson, L., & Shah, R. (2023, July 4-6). Alternative approaches in academic development: Delivering between a rock and a hard place. Teaching and Learning Conference 2023: Shaping the future of HE.
Reynolds, M., Ison, R., Shah, R., & Wilding, H. (2020, March 11). Beyond employability: a more radical role for Higher Education in developing workplace capabilities. Employability Conference 2020 Expanding the narrative for a rapidly changing world.
Reynolds, M., & Shah, R. (2018, June 12). Researching capability development: developing systems thinking in practice capabilities. Symposium on Governing Complexity: developing appropriate praxis with citizens and organisations.
Reynolds, M., Shah, R., Wedlock, E., Ison, R. L., & Blackmore, C. (2017, April 25-26). From competence to capability: learning laboratories in postgraduate pedagogy. 6th eSTEeM Annual Conference 2017: STEM Futures: Supporting Students to Succeed.
Report
Reynolds, M., Shah, R., & van Ameijde, J. (2018, June 1). Framing professional competencies for systems thinking in practice: final report of an action research eSTEeM inquiry. The Open University.
Shah, R., & Reynolds, M. (2017, June 1). Developing professional recognition of systems thinking in practice: an interim report. The Open University.
Reynolds, M., Shah, R., & van Ameijde, J. (2017, January 1). Framing systems thinking in practice competencies: report on systems thinking in practice competencies workshop 10 June 2017. The Open University.
Reynolds, M., Shah, R., Wedlock, E., Ison, R., & Blackmore, C. (2016, August 1). Enhancing Systems Thinking in Practice at the Workplace: eSTEeM final report. The OU Centre for STEM Pedagogy.
