idea

Why just travel as a classic tourist, for leisure only, as a guest? Why not become part of a joint journey into a liveable future? To combine enjoyment and the useful?

Systemic Cycles is joyfully exploring new areas with engagement; with content, learning about local, circular, sustainable interventions and practices in the region where we travel, we move within nature, relax, enjoy local food and drinks, and interact with local people. To connect with place, to learn with each other, to enact in (visual) dialogue, and to co-design more resilient regenerative systems.

concept

We are exploring places, people, companies, organisations and places acting in the fields of circularity, sustainability and systemic design in a given region.

We use the bicycle as a tool to explore and connect these players, learn what they do, analyse their processes and supply chains, sum up our findings and try to figure out future opportunities for a sustainable local development of people, companies, and areas.

goal

Openly interact and exchange with people in the region we explore.

Understand peoples’ motivation, learn about their inspirations, ideas, achievements, and future goals.

Capture the current state of practices, map and visualise the findings, develop possible future steps with and for these actors, and reflect such learnings ourselves.

Weave people and processes across the regional scale to exchange knowledge and experience, and to co-design resilient regenerative systems.

systemic

We travel with a systemic mindset: what is active in the region where we cycle? What are actors’ product and process supply chains? How linear are those systems, and where are potential synergies and circularities to be designed in? What is the net impact of their work in a bio-regional context?

What can we learn from these encounters - and how can we support regional actors to build a better future?

We are conscious about the quality of the unplanned, the surprise, the emergence in systems. Transformation might happen where and when it is not expected. To allow the unexpected to happen is part of the systemic design approach.

cycles

Cycling is a tool to explore places and connect with people; and it is a tool to connect with, explore and develop yourself.

The bicycle allows us to travel independently, efficiently, sustainably and with "human speed". Slow travel, so that we recognize details, smells, moods, and change.

The term “cycles” symbolises iterations, the will and ability to act and to improve, trial and potential failure, cycles in nature, cycles in the life of things, products, services. And for circularity.

cycle

No matter what bike we use, from a road bike for day trips to a gravel bike equipped for bike packing on multiple day itineraries, to electric bicycles that are super inclusive so anyone can cycle (together): cycling moves body and mind. It is the best way of slow travel, of connecting with place and people, of being flexible and spontaneous to stop anywhere and follow opportunities arising along the route. Cycling is hard and strengthens; cycling is joyful and effortless flow; and cycling is very social.

explore

It is about exploring. Being curious about what's coming, gaining distance to workday life. Experience yourself and new regions and places by cycling with like-minded people.

connect

Cyclists are globally appreciated for their honest way to travel fair; we are slow enough to stop anywhere and talk to people; people on the way talk to us and wonder where we come from and go to. Cycling is the ideal way to connect - with place, with people, and with oneself.

map

Planning your route, visiting a place, understanding supply chains of production processes, mapping linear and designing-in circular opportunities, connecting across economic sectors. Maps are representations of reality, they help to navigate, and they are tools of visual dialogue. We learn to develop gigamaps from the information we gather, as dialogic tools to represent current and future complexities.

weave

Weaving is the active, conscious process to find and curate synergies between people, processes, places, materials. It is about nudging new circularities, new ideas and interventions, new social networks, with the aim to contribute to more resilient regenerative systems. Part of weaving is also interbeing - the conscious act of being part of a process, a journey, a region, a community, by simply showing interest, spending time, and asking questions.

transfer

Cycling builds personal trust in our own capabilities, physically, mentally and technically. We learn about supply chain processes, about linear flows and circular opportunities, in very different economic sectors. We explore what bio-regional economies may look like, we understand terms like resilience and regeneration, we train our visual dialogue skills, we become systemic designers and weavers. And we make new friends. All of this has potential to enrich our daily life back home, with multiple transfer opportunities for our own personal journey through life.

enjoy

While we travel, we get in contact with regional characteristics in food and language culture, geographical, historical, natural and current sights and places of interest.

We cycle to sit back, relax, enjoy, share our own experience with others. To interbe. To experience flow on the uphill and the downhill.

excel / grow

Cycling is a tool to deal with your mind: another hill, can I deal with it?

Cycling is a tool to reconnect with your own body: everything working fine so far? What do I feel? What can I improve, optimise, release?

Cycling is a tool to reach meditative states quite easily, to experience flow. For sure it is a great tool to improve your breathing, fitness and overall health.

Slowly you may reach another mental state, get creative at a sudden, and excel while dealing with mountains shrinking to hills.

learn - analyse - resume

The systemic character of a Systemic Cycles entails to actively meet local actors in the fields of sustainable innovation, systemic design, circular economy, regenerative tourism, land use, conservation, politics, renewable energies, food systems, the arts, and other aspects of a positive future development.

We gain insights and learn what they do, understand their processes, and figure out circular opportunities, mutual social synergies, new connections.

interact - weave - cycle

An important part of Systemic Cycles is to not just pass by a local spot as a “classic” tourist, but to start a relation with our partnering actors, with residents and other visitors too, to learn more about place, culture, opportunities. And to interact with ourselves, with our physical and mental abilities and boundaries.

Weaving is the active part of interconnecting participants, partners, processes and places to share experiences, get surprised through unexpected relations, and co-design new opportunities.

Cycle stands for iteration, repetition, to improve by prototyping and learning by doing. It is a designerly way of acting. Cycle stands for changing habits: come as a participant, then become an active partner - or vice versa. And cycle is about closed loops, about circular opportunities, about design as nature where no waste exists. Nothing is linear, but all processes are cycles.

develop - optimize - create

We engage in a Systemic Cycles tour as a journey into ourselves - our strengths and weaknesses, our beliefs, our values, our worldviews. And as a journey into place, a bio-region, and its potential to regenerate.

We develop deeper inner and outer connections. We thrive to optimise relations, and create new ones. Development as of self development, and local sustainable development.

Creating new opportunities, new synergies, new circularities, new networks, new friendships, new insights.

What did I take out of my own Systemic Cycles and what is my next step (or a pedal stroke)?

tourism and sports

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agriculture (food, drinks, fibres)

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local crafts and products

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energy, water, waste

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integrated mobility and transports

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architecture, regional development, infrastructure

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people, players, innovators

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local administration, science, organisations

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sites of interest (historical, current, geographical, cultural)

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