UPDATE: We have already hit our maxium of 20 registrants. Please sign up for the wait list, and we will notify you immediately if a spot opens up. If there is enough interest, we may be able to schedule a second workshop. Thank you!

Join us for systems thinking workshop with Journalism + Design

Renaissance Journalism invites Bay Area journalists to a workshop led by the New School’s Journalism + Design program on how systems thinking can help you approach complex problems through reporting. The free, one-day workshop will be held Thursday, July 19 in Oakland.

We are especially excited to introduce the Journalism + Design approach as it will offer new tools for journalists involved in Renaissance Journalism’s Bay Area Media Collaborative’s investigation into the region’s housing crisis.

Using systems thinking to untangle the Bay Area's housing crisis

The world is full of seemingly intractable problems. The Bay Area's housing crisis is a prime example. But by looking at these thorny issues as a complex system full of interconnected forces, journalists can take a step back and examine the bigger picture, identifying unique opportunities to tell stories that empower their communities and help spark change.

The New School's Journalism + Design program has developed a series of workshops and resources to help journalists unpack complex problems through a practice called systems thinking. The goal is to equip local journalists with new tools and approaches to report on knotty issues in creative ways, find underreported stories, and develop new opportunities for collaboration.

J+D is partnering with Renaissance Journalism and the Bay Area Media Collaborative to offer a hands-on workshop that will help attendees dig deeper into the ideas we've been exploring around housing and surface new ideas for reporting that help Bay Area residents understand and act on the forces that are shaping the crisis.

This daylong workshop will introduce the tenets of systems thinking and help attendees apply them to our collaborative reporting on housing. This session will build on the ideas we've been generating, identify new possibilities to unpack this challenging topic, and offer flexible tools that you can take back to your newsroom to address problems beyond housing. We'll offer a practical space for both learning and brainstorming new possibilities that we can run with after the workshop.

Details: The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 19. Check-in will be at 9:30 am. We'll have coffee and snacks in the morning and lunch will be provided. After the workshop, we'll host an informal happy hour and social. Renaissance Journalism expresses gratitude to Studiotobe, 906 Washington Street, Oakland, for opening its new collaborative workspace for this event.

This invitation is extended to Bay Area journalists. Due to the hands-on nature of the workshop, participation is limited to 20 participants. We will maintain a wait list in case spots open up. Depending on demand, Renaissance Journalism and Journalism + Design may be able to schedule a second workshop.

If you have any questions, email Jon Funabiki: funabiki@sfsu.edu and Cole Goins: cole.goins@gmail.com

Systems thinking workshop with Journalism + Design July 19