-9 There are different traditions of applying systemic thinking to problemsolving and organizational development. The systemic approach and, in particular, the tools that we present in this dossier are primarily based on systemic consulting practice that has developed in the German-speaking world,3 where we have undergone professional education and training with a view to applying it to human rights practice.4 This document applies systems thinking to preventive human rights monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty and thus to the work of NPMs. References to a “holistic approach”5 or the “search for systemic weaknesses”;6 used in relevant practical manuals, show an awareness within the preventive monitoring community that systemic approaches are relevant to NPMs. In our comprehensive research on follow up to recommendations of NPMs in the EU, NPMs have clearly and strongly recognised the importance of a holistic follow-up strategy in order to effect sustainable change.7 Indeed, the very idea of OPCAT can be seen as systemic. OPCAT bodies explicitly do not focus on individual cases and remedies, but at their underlying root causes and risk factors. From a systemic perspective, the mandate and functions of NPMs can be expressed in the following way: • To identify systemic and structural fault-lines where torture, ill-treatment and violations of human rights can occur as well as the factors which favour human rights abiding practice. • To take all effective measures to create structural and systemic change in places of deprivation of liberty, with a view to creating and upholding a culture of human dignity and human rights. 3. See e.g. Roswitha Königswieser and Martin Hillebrand, Systemic Consultancy in Organisations (Carl-Auer Verlag 2016) [hereinafter: Königswieser/Hillebrand]; Ruth Seliger, The Jungle Book of Leadership: A Navigation System for Leaders (Carl-Auer Verlag 2014) [hereinafter: Seliger]. 4. Moritz Birk and Walter Suntinger, ‘A Systemic Approach to Human Rights Practice’ in Patricia Hladschik and Fiona Steinert (eds), Making Human Rights Work (Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag 2019) 649-675 [hereinafter: Birk/Suntinger]. 5. Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and Inter-American Institute for Human Rights (IIHR), ‘Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture: Implementation Manual’ (rev edn, 2010) <https:// www.apt.ch/en/resources/publications/optional-protocol-implementation-manual-2010> 232 [hereinafter: APT/IIHR]. 6. Ibid, 68. 7. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM) and Human Rights Implementation Center at the University of Bristol (HRIC), ‘Enhancing Impact of National Preventive Mechanisms. Strengthening the Follow-Up on NPM Recommendations in the EU: Strategic Development, Current Practices and the Way Forward’ (BIM 2015) < https://bim.lbg.ac.at/sites/files/bim/anhang/publikationen/enhancing_impact_ of_national_preventive_mechanisms_0.pdf > 92 [hereinafter: LBI-GMR/HRIC]. Systemic Thinking in Preventive Human Rights Monitoring