Center for Next System Studies

At the Center for Next System Studies, we are working to make possible the formation of a Next System Studies Association, a global association of academic and community-based next system practitioners and scholars. 

To this end, we are building overlapping global community and campus networks through workshops, conferences, teach-ins, publications and media productions. We are committed to practical research on, and building of, new systems and movements for system change. 

Some of this work is happening through multiple waves of Next System Teach-Ins and Next System Convergences. We are also building a cooperative digital library and map of next system learning and action. And we have a few new projects on the way! 

Join us in making possible a global field of next system scholarship, a movement for system change, and the building of a better next world system. Register at NextSystem.org

The Call to the Next System Teach-Ins

The Call to the Next System Teach-Ins

"As the world collapses around us: Can we build the next system? Another world is possible. A next system is necessary. This work is in your hands."

Can the academy meet the moment?

Can the academy meet the moment?

As the economic, social, and ecological systems we live in collapse, new systems are beginning to emerge. What can be done to produce ways of life we desire for ourselves, others, and future generations?

Video: "The Next System and the Academy"

Video: "The Next System and the Academy"

On Wednesday, April 21st, 2021, hundreds of leading policymakers, innovators, community organizers, and academics came together to take up the challenge of preparing our society for a transition to a system that provides the best outcomes for all. "The Next System and the Academy: Systemic Crises, Movements, and Change in the 2020s," featured keynote speaker U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (2nd CD, WI), Kali Akuno (Cooperation Jackson), Dr. Gar Alperovitz (Democracy Collaborative), Dr. Amy Best (George Mason University), Dr. Diane Fujino (UC Santa Barbara), Peter Knowlton (UE General President, retired), Dr. Ben Manski (George Mason University), and Mike Strode (U.S. Solidarity Economy Network).

Participants in "The Promise of Next System Studies," a 3 day workshop hosted at Mason in the Spring of 2023.
Participants in "The Promise of Next System Studies," a 3 day workshop hosted at Mason in the Spring of 2023.

Credit: Emma Lesley Wright Vetter