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Leverage Points: Place to Intervene in a System
... This is necessary to increase our potential as a project to design for transformational change in Work Packages to follow. We report on our testing of Meadows' (1999) leverage points framework (LPF) as a potential shared conceptual language for transformational change across the places, actors and theories that situate both placebased and sectoral case studies in the project. We report on the opportunities and limitations of the LPF in connecting to (i) theories of change used by research partners in their cases, as well as (ii) bridging conceptually to other "integrating analytical approaches" where PLANET4B has partner expertise; namely "intersectionality analysis", "discourse analysis" and "reflexivity-contextualisation of interventions". ...
... The process of understanding and applying Meadows' (1999) leverage points framework achieved some shared language and understanding across research disciplines. It helped us to compare assumptions about transformative change across our different case studies. ...
... Central to the discussion on systems thinking are the works of the system analyst, Donella Meadows. In her original work she depicts an instrumental framing of a system as a realist object consisting of actors connected through flows of materials and information (Meadows, 1999). Within a systems thinking perspective and using the leverage points framework, Meadows emphasises that systems are not merely linear cause-and-effect chains, but are composed of interconnected elements with feedback loops and nonlinear dynamics. ...
This deliverable describes the process of developing a transdisciplinary diagnostic
framework for biodiversity decision-making carried out in Work Package 1 (WP1) of
the EU funded research project PLANET4B. The aim of the process was to help
researchers and practitioners in our project become more conscious of the theoretical approaches and languages that may condition the interventions we study and the policy and additional recommendations that we make to societal actors.
The starting proposition for this work was that we as PLANET4B partners come from
a wide range of different disciplines and practices. Therefore, we needed a shared
learning process of our different theoretical and practical lenses and languages. This
is necessary to increase our potential as a project to design for transformational
change in Work Packages to follow. We report on our testing of Meadows’ (1999)
leverage points framework (LPF) as a potential shared conceptual language for
transformational change across the places, actors and theories that situate both place-based and sectoral case studies in the project. We report on the opportunities and limitations of the LPF in connecting to (i) theories of change used by research partners in their cases, as well as (ii) bridging conceptually to other “integrating analytical approaches” where PLANET4B has partner expertise; namely “intersectionality analysis”, “discourse analysis” and “reflexivity-contextualisation of interventions”. The report recognises that these integrating approaches are but a subset of possible systems analysis tools in transformative change research.
The process of understanding and applying Meadows’ (1999) leverage points
framework achieved some shared language and understanding across research
disciplines. It helped us to compare assumptions about transformative change across our different case studies. As such, we think we achieved the “process objective” of this initial stage of PLANET4B of using a common framework to diagnose our case studies. However, case studies and experts on other integrating analytical approaches identified several limitations of the LPF. Limitations include the LPF itself being a particular theoretical systems analysis lens which in some cases could exclude practitioners through its unfamiliar concepts. Furthermore, the LPF was identified as being ‘structuralist’ or ‘mechanistic’ in the particular way we tested it in our case studies, not addressing concepts such as agency, power and decision-making. It was critiqued for not being specific to decisions about biodiversity and the related nature values.
To achieve the deliverable objective of a transdisciplinary diagnostic framework for
biodiversity decision-making, the above critiques inspired us to review additional
frameworks. We reviewed several frameworks developed by the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to address
decision-making in the context of plural values of nature, and transformational
leadership frameworks to address agency. We conclude that the PLANET4B suite of
tools and frameworks – “leverage points”, “intersectionality analysis”, “discourse
analysis” and “reflexivity-contextualisation” – have complementary purposes. We
illustrate how a “conscious full spectrum response” (Sharma, 2017) can provide a
conceptual framing for a transdisciplinary diagnostic framework for biodiversity
decision-making, without being exclusive of other frameworks. Complex systems
require analytical lenses and practices working together to lay the foundations for
transformative change.
... Therefore, in determining the systemic mechanisms that perpetuate the unsustainable behaviour of the world's wealthy, this research utilises Donella Meadows (2008) Iceberg Model as the fundamental structure of enquiry. Arguing that the events we witness are merely symptoms of the patterns, structures, and mental models that underpin them, Meadows (1999) concluded that the most effective point of intervention in a system is located at the deepest level of the iceberg. To elucidate, Figure 3 (below) illustrates how extreme wealth leads to overconsumption and disproportionate emissions , driven by investment and consumer patterns underwritten by a market economy structure that commodifies all aspects of life (Piketty, 2014). ...
... Numerous attempts have already been made to subdue climate change triggers (particularly CO2 emissions); however it is apparent that many interventions generally only target one aspect of the behavioural system that drives the wealthconsumption-emissions phenomenon. Moreover, Meadows (1999) advocates that interventions targeting observable outputs, such as extreme wealth, overconsumption, and disproportionate emissions, would likely fail to have any significant impact, as these tangible outcomes are merely products of the system's underlying drivers and would, therefore, be akin to treating the symptoms rather than the disease. To alter systemic goals and enable paradigm shifts, interventions must challenge deeper leverage points, such as the foundational structures or mental models that drive behavioural patterns and events (Meadows, 1999;Birney, 2021). ...
... Moreover, Meadows (1999) advocates that interventions targeting observable outputs, such as extreme wealth, overconsumption, and disproportionate emissions, would likely fail to have any significant impact, as these tangible outcomes are merely products of the system's underlying drivers and would, therefore, be akin to treating the symptoms rather than the disease. To alter systemic goals and enable paradigm shifts, interventions must challenge deeper leverage points, such as the foundational structures or mental models that drive behavioural patterns and events (Meadows, 1999;Birney, 2021). Categorising a sample of existing sustainability interventions according to the drivers revealed in Figure 3, Table 1 shows that most interventions to date have focused on addressing singular elements at the system's upper levels. ...
This research examines the systemic enablers that perpetuate the wealth-consumption-emissions phenomenon, seeking to develop a financial intervention capable of reorienting these forces toward socio-ecological wellbeing. Grounded in systems thinking, the study employs behavioural psychology and economic modelling to propose a scaled investment levy mechanism that links investment outcomes, both financially and cognitively, with the social and environmental consequences they facilitate. By integrating a doughnut economy framework with operant conditioning principles, the investment levy aims to redirect capital flows toward sustainable market practices while fostering a regenerative and equitable economic system that cultivates socio-ecological accountability.
Through conceptual models, scenario development, and cross-impact balance (CIB) analysis, the research conceptualises the investment levy as a dynamic tool for addressing socio-ecological imbalance and fostering sustainable market behaviour. Findings reveal that the neoliberal economic paradigm, which prioritises wealth accumulation and profit maximisation, is deeply entrenched, perpetuating environmental degradation and social inequity. However, the proposed financial intervention offers a viable pathway to catalyse systemic change by incentivising high-compliance behaviours, funding reparative activities, and cognitively reinforcing the connection between wealth generation and socio-ecological wellbeing.
This study theoretically demonstrates the transformative potential of the investment levy to operationalise doughnut economics and achieve socio-ecological balance, providing actionable insights for policymakers, investors, market operators, and scholars committed to sustainable transformation. While acknowledging critical challenges, including regulatory enforcement, avoidance strategies, and the need for significant stakeholder engagement, the research underscores the importance of embedding financial and cognitive accountability into systemic transformation efforts. By targeting the structural drivers of socio-ecological imbalance, the proposed intervention aspires to facilitate a sustainable and reparative wellbeing economy that prioritises human and planetary wellbeing over wealth goals.
... Kestävyysmurroksen vipuvaikutuskohdiksi (leverage points) tunnistetaan monimutkaisten järjestelmien kohtia, joissa pienetkin muutokset voivat saada aikaan kertautuvia vaikutuksia (KorhonenKurki & Horn, 2022;Meadows, 1999). Teoria perustuu dynamiikkaan, jossa vipuvarsi mahdollistaa suuren vaikutuksen pienellä muutosvoimalla (Meadows, 1999). ...
... Kestävyysmurroksen vipuvaikutuskohdiksi (leverage points) tunnistetaan monimutkaisten järjestelmien kohtia, joissa pienetkin muutokset voivat saada aikaan kertautuvia vaikutuksia (KorhonenKurki & Horn, 2022;Meadows, 1999). Teoria perustuu dynamiikkaan, jossa vipuvarsi mahdollistaa suuren vaikutuksen pienellä muutosvoimalla (Meadows, 1999). Muutokset ajatusmalleissa, kuten maailmankatsomuksissa ja yhteiskunnan perimmäisissä tavoitteissa, mielletään voimakkaiksi vipuvaikutuskohdiksi (Meadows, 1999). ...
... Teoria perustuu dynamiikkaan, jossa vipuvarsi mahdollistaa suuren vaikutuksen pienellä muutosvoimalla (Meadows, 1999). Muutokset ajatusmalleissa, kuten maailmankatsomuksissa ja yhteiskunnan perimmäisissä tavoitteissa, mielletään voimakkaiksi vipuvaikutuskohdiksi (Meadows, 1999). Siivosen ym. ...
Ympäristökriisien myötä kestävyysorientaatio on suunnannut kasvatuksen tavoitteita: tiedostamista, ongelmaratkaisutaitoja ja kohtuullisuutta. Kuvataide on yksi koulujen oppiaineista, jolla pyritään kestävyysmurrokseen. Lapin yliopiston taiteiden tiedekunnan kuvataidekasvatuksen tieteenalalla kestävyyteen liittyvää tutkimusta on tehty 1990-luvulta lähtien. Tutkimuksellisena lähestymistapana on usein ollut taideperustainen toimintatutkimus, jossa kehitetään kuvataidekasvatuksen strategioita ja käytäntöjä erityisesti pohjoisessa toimintaympäristössä. Systeemiajattelu ja paikkakasvatus ovat toimineet teoreettisena viitekehyksenä pedagogiikan kehittämisessä. Tässä artikkelissa arvioidaan tehtyä toimintaa ja tutkimusta 2000-luvulla. Artikkeli nostaa esille kestävyysmurrokseen, systeemiseen muutokseen, ekososiaaliseen sivistykseen ja ekokulttuuriin painottuvia käytäntöjä tarkastellen niiden kytköksiä ja solmeutumisia. Kuvataidekasvatuksella on potentiaalia merkittäväksi tekijäksi ja katalyytiksi ympäristömyönteisten arvojen sekä systeemisen ajattelun, kestävyyttä edistävien aloitteiden ja ekokulttuurisen kestävyyden
... To analyse supportive conditions, we examined the decision contexts, or systems of values, rules and knowledge (Gorddard et al. 2016) underpinning the development of these sustainability innovations. To analyse the outcomes, we assessed the transformative potential of the sustainability innovations through, (1) the impacts they produced according to a leverage points perspective (Meadows 1999;Abson et al. 2017), and (2) the amplifying strategies they implemented to increase their impacts . This allows us to compare the specific decision contexts underlying sustainability innovations archetypes of different transformative potential (i.e. ...
... Feola (2015), Hölscher et al. (2018), Fisher et al. (2022. In this article, we focus specifically on sustainability innovations and we build on the frameworks of leverage points (Meadows 1999;Abson et al. 2017), amplifying strategies , and value-rules-knowledge (Gorddard et al. 2016;Colloff et al. 2017) to guide our empirical work. ...
... In this study, to assess transformative potential, we build on a leverage points perspective to categorise outcomes (Meadows 1999;Abson et al. 2017), and on a typology of amplifying strategies . First, the leverage points perspective characterises interventions according to their capacity to shift a problematic system-from shallow leverage points that are easy to implement but with limited impact (for example slightly adapting how a system functions), to deep leverage points that are difficult to operationalise but have the capacity to shift systems (for example changing the underlying values and goals of a system) (Abson et al. 2017). ...
To respond to global sustainability challenges with transformative solutions, there is a need to pinpoint the necessary and sufficient conditions that enhance the transformative potential of sustainability innovations. To this end, we examined 129 sustainability innovations in two European Biosphere Reserves, and analysed (1) their transformative potential, assessed based on a leverage points perspective, and (2) their supportive conditions (i.e. decision contexts, or constellations of values, rules and knowledge). Specifically, we used social network analyses to characterise different rules, or governance arrangements in the two Biosphere Reserves. By comparing the decision contexts of transformative and incremental innovations, we provide empirical evidence that plural values, coproduction and networks that are diverse, collaborative and influential, enable transformative innovations. Shallow leverage points seem insufficient but necessary to operationalise transformative change. Future research should explore the co-evolution of decision contexts and transformative potential, to better understand how to shift incremental to transformative innovations.
... Leverage points for transformative research: In the context of transdisciplinary marine research, leverage points (LP) can be defined as strategic interventions in a complex social-ecological system where relatively small changes may lead to significant transformations in the entire system (Meadows, 2015). LP can be classified into four categories based on the system features they address: (1) intent, (2) design, (3) parameters and (4) feedbacks (Abson et al., 2017) (Table 2). ...
... Changes in system intent require interventions that reshape mindsets and affect the way the system behaves, generating emergent goals that result in a paradigm shift (Meadows, 2015). For instance, moving from extractive research models that impose external agendas and extract information, to cooperative research approaches between different stakeholders. ...
... For example, although less frequent in the reviewed articles, at the intent level, stakeholder perceptions are key processes as people make decisions based on their own perspectives and expectations of what is possible (e.g., Mejías-Balsalobre et al., 2021;Partelow et al., 2021;Sánchez-Jiménez et al., 2014;Villalobos-Cubero et al., 2023). The same is true for other less frequent topics Table 2 Twelve leverage points (Meadows, 2015) classified into four system characteristics according to the leverage for systemic change (Abson et al., 2017;Riechers et al., 2021a). ...
Transformative transdisciplinary research (TTDR) aims to address complex sustainability issues of our times by engaging researchers from different disciplines, practitioners, individuals, and policymakers. This literature review is a first structured effort to understand how marine-coastal research published in English and Spanish can drive transformative change towards sustainability in Costa Rica (n = 30 articles) and is expected to foster critical reflection on the role of scientific systems in the design, production, and use of knowledge. The results show that in Costa Rica, knowledge production remains largely unidirectional, with stake-holder consultation prevailing over co-production. It highlights the need to foster collaborative research that includes historically underrepresented groups, such as women. Power and funding dynamics determine research priorities, with efforts concentrated in the North Pacific, while the Caribbean region remains underrepresented. Furthermore, we highlight ways forward to transformative research: a focus on leverage points such as co-production of knowledge, creation of safe spaces for inclusive dialogue, and reform of funding models to support long-term interdisciplinary collaboration. As Costa Rica will co-host the upcoming Ocean Conference in France, this moment presents an opportunity to align national research efforts with global transformative trends, ensuring that marine research evolves towards more inclusive and action-oriented frameworks.
... According to Meadows [23,24], there exist 12 places to intervene in a system, each acting as a leverage point with varying degrees of leverage ( Figure 4). A detailed explanation of Figure 4 can be found in Abson et al. [25]. ...
... A detailed explanation of Figure 4 can be found in Abson et al. [25]. The authors expand on Meadows's [24] paper by highlighting the propensity for leverage points to represent shallow and deeper leverage points, and links these with the characteristics of systems. Here, we would like to emphasize that Points 1-6 represent deep leverage points that are more powerful at influencing system change than the other six leverage points (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). ...
... When considering One Health, WAI Wānaka understood that by addressing the rules of the system (Point 5), breaking them down into digestible chunks, and establishing new feedback loops with the community and other actors, there could result an alternative A detailed explanation of Figure 4 can be found in Abson et al. [25]. The authors expand on Meadows's [24] paper by highlighting the propensity for leverage points to represent shallow and deeper leverage points, and links these with the characteristics of systems. Here, we would like to emphasize that Points 1-6 represent deep leverage points that are more powerful at influencing system change than the other six leverage points (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). ...
Across the globe, ecosystems are degraded and humanity is impacting the biosphere amongst multiple domains, exceeding sustainability boundaries, in, for example, biodiversity loss and air pollution. To address this issue, people are calling for a socio-ecological systems approach. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how we used our experience to develop a catchment approach to planning and on-ground intervention, using the Upper Clutha catchment in the South Island of Aotearoa/New Zealand to demonstrate and report the importance of collaboration in achieving coordinated catchment management. This experience can be represented by the culmination of multiple workstreams that make up the Wānaka Way Framework—a prototype in action of how we work as a community to pursue One Health. Here, we demonstrate that this is achieved through trusted relationships, the co-design of tools, and knowledge creation and sharing. We highlight how the learnings from this catchment management approach can be applied more broadly.
... But our current polycrisis cannot be solved by a single lever or two (Meadows 1999) . In 1972, as the environmental movement took off, the scientist Donella Meadows formally introduced systems thinking. ...
... In 1972, as the environmental movement took off, the scientist Donella Meadows formally introduced systems thinking. In Limits to Growth (Meadows et al. 1972) , she and her colleagues illustrated how systems-"set[s] of things … interconnected in such a way that they produce their own patterns of behavior over time" (Meadows 2008) -can be transformed to improve lives and the world we love. In doing so, Meadows and her colleagues asked how we can imagine a better kind of economic growth, an entirely different way to track human progress on our planet. ...
How can systemic changes in the international financial architecture accelerate the world's transition to clean energy and address the urgent challenges of the polycrisis? Building on extensive conversations within the Beyond Bretton Woods network, we present a series of causal relationships to diagnose the impairment if not hijacking of modern capitalism. Based on recent discourse about planetary boundaries and on sound applications of economics, we then detail six high-impact recommendations whose time has come: placing ecocentrism at the center of international finance reform; implementing an instantaneous global carbon price; establishing a new debt restructuring mechanism; incorporating the polycrisis into monetary policy; designing a novel nature-based currency; and creating new global governance entities. We conclude with a brief discussion of the means by which civil society can be rallied in support of these systemic changes.
... Our starting point is that attention to defossilization reveals a petrochemical complex that stretches across key sectors of the economy, from energy and agriculture to transport, health, and the military. This brings into focus a wider set of incumbent actors and strategies of state and corporate power, complicating and magnifying the challenge of transition, and pointing to the need to employ different 'leverage points' across multiple levels to effect change (Meadows, 1999). ...
... The hydra-headed nature of the industry means intervention points are dispersed, presenting a challenge for coordinated multi-level action and the building of political coalitions and alliances to contest displacement, dispossession and externalization. But ecosystems of transformation, where changes in one part of the system can lead to disruption elsewhere (Newell, Twena, et al., 2021), lend themselves to the activation of multiple leverage points (Meadows, 1999) and the possibility of 'ripple' and boomerang effects, as interventions in one part of the lifecycle of petrochemical production and consumption can yield change elsewhere. This perspective builds on accounts of multiscalar activism (Mah, 2023), affording a multi-sited, but interconnected, fluid, and relational, account of power that seeks to read dominant landscapes of power for cracks, vulnerabilities, and openings to contest petrochemical hegemony and open up alternatives. ...
... Potential implications of this are that a narrow focus on technical knowledge to the exclusion of other knowledge and expertise might have resulted in models perceived as inherently credible by many decision makers, but which could lead to policies narrowly tailored to the outputs of the models to the exclusion of other possible solutions (e.g., policies in Australia that are focused on soil carbon but do not address structural problems of climate change, or policies that fail to have impact at the local level due to poor communication). In other words, the models may encourage policies focused on tweaking parameter values within the system, rather than more effective leverage points for system transformation (e.g., Abson et al., 2017;Meadows, 1999). ...
In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on including humans when modelling socio-environmental systems. However, it is crucial that we remain mindful of the impacts that the decisions made during model development or analysis can have on people or nature as modelling is not an impartial process. Responsible modelling requires us to consider the broader societal implications of our work, therefore, modellers should consider a range of ethical concerns, often found beyond those prescribed through institutionally mandated ethical approval processes. Herein we examine the ethical dimensions of six socio-environmental case studies using the principles of credibility, legitimacy, and salience, encompassing the modelling process from conception to delivery and beyond. We also discuss the results from an interdisciplinary workshop held with experienced modellers to co-produce a list of ethical dimensions that modellers would ideally engage with when conducting a modelling project. Based on our findings, we have developed a set of recommendations to: i) support modellers in ensuring their modelling practice is underpinned by ethical reflection, ii) guide end-users of model outputs when selecting and repurposing those outputs, and iii) identify means by which institutions can support responsible modelling practices. Engaging with ethical dimensions in the process of modelling is critical for building trust with stakeholders, therefore enhancing the credibility, legitimacy, and salience of the models and research.
... Twelve leverage points(Meadows 1999) summarized into four broad system characteristics, numbered in order of their effectiveness in bringing about system change(Abson et al. 2016). ...
The field of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is intimately connected with issues of power. Power is exercised in choices regarding what is monitored and evaluated; by, for, and with whom this is done; how data are collected; which criteria are used to indicate success; with whom results are shared and for what purpose; and who learns what in the process. M&E findings play a crucial role in determining whether funding and support for initiatives and organizations are continued or stopped. Therefore, the way in which M&E is practiced can profoundly influence whether it promotes equity and resilience or, conversely, dominance, exclusion, and dependency. This paper presents four insights into how M&E practice can contribute to building equity and resilience. These insights are drawn from the authors’ reflections on their experiences as practitioners, facilitated through participation in a Southern African Resilience Academy M&E working group. The working group provided an opportunity to shift practice into knowledge, contrasting with the more commonly used concept of shifting knowledge into practice. Six case studies were used to reflect on successful and unsuccessful aspects within the often messy, contested, and resource-limited contexts of organizations and projects. The paper identifies possible systemic leverage points for building transformative equity and resilience through M&E.
... Diese Relevanzsetzungen wie auch jeweilige strukturelle Vorgaben gründen auch in Annahmen, Mindsets, Paradigmen, die schwer veränderbar sind, da sie uns Welt (oft nicht bewusst) auf besondere Weise wahrnehmen und bestimmte Handlungen und Interpretationen priorisieren lassen (vgl. Singer-Brodowski et al., 2019, S. 15-48;Meadows, 1999;Meadows & Wright, 2010;Wamsler et al., 2021), -z.B. Fleisch als Ware oder totes Lebewesen. ...
Der vorliegende Sammelband basiert auf der Tagung der Kommission Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft am Heidelberger Zentrum Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung im Jahr 2023.
Dieser Band setzt sich mit drängenden Fragen im Forschungsfeld Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung auseinander: Wie lassen sich normative Zielsetzungen und die Ergebnisoffenheit von Bildungsprozessen in Einklang bringen? Welche neuen Perspektiven eröffnen sich für die berufliche Professionalität im Kontext von BNE? Wie kann mit Herausforderungen, wie negativen Emotionen angesichts globaler Krisendiagnosen, umgegangen werden? Die Beiträge widmen sich konkreten Ansätzen und interdisziplinären Schnittstellen und greifen dabei zentrale Kontroversen und Debatten im Forschungsfeld auf.
... The use of systems tools allows to carry out actions intending to improve the system from the understanding of patterns, structures and mental models driving the behaviour of the system that we see, instead of from how we perceive that the system works. This is relevant in order to identify the leverage points of the system; those parts in which a small shift can produce strong changes-differently to other points in which big changes could have no effect- (Meadows, 1999;Senge, 2006). ...
Background: Systems Thinking (ST) is the new paradigm in Evaluation. It represents a significant mind-set shift for the evaluation field and it is a powerful tool to tackle complex environments. Heir to the systems concepts of the engineering field, and especially regarding the hard systems tools, ST in evaluation uses the same visual tools that were created many years ago. All these tools already incorporate data visualization features: they depict ideas, relationships and concepts relying in shapes and figures more than a textual explanation. Revisiting these tools and applying the latest data visualization principles, they could be optimised in order to provide with more information within the same concept. Purpose: To provide ST practitioners with more informative tools in order to facilitate: - ST experts and users can optimise the application of the tools to real life models beyond the initial set up of their visual representations. - Audiences of evaluations using ST as part of the toolkit can find the outputs more apprehensible and easy to understand. Setting: Not applicable. Intervention: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: Not applicable. Findings: Improving ST representations of reality and systems can help both enhance ST applications and make it more accessible and comprehensible for evaluation practitioners' and users. Six ways for improving the understanding of the current stock and flow diagrams were identified. The tools proposed consist of: customizing the colours and shape of the variables and their relationships to make them more informative; highlighting the existing subsystems within the model; and providing the specific sequence for reading the main causal chains.
... В последние десятилетия системное мышление широко применялось в изучении глобальных вызовов, включая изменение климата и кризисы в области общественного здравоохранения. Работа Донеллы Медоуз (Donella Meadows) по системной динамике акцентировала необходимость системных подходов в разработке политики для решения сложных социальных проблем (Meadows, 1999). C начала 2000-х гг. ...
Форсайт-исследователи, как и другие профессиональные сообщества, эволюционируя, совершают переходы к более сложным теориям и практикам, позволяющим решать комплексные задачи на новых уровнях, требующих целостного охвата в работе со сложными социальными, экономическими, технологическими и экологическими системами. Возникает необходимость понимания природы сложных систем для формирования соответствующего мышления, выходящего за рамки устоявшихся представлений о природе возможностей. Неоднородная способность к освоению новых знаний привела к появлению в кругах Форсайт-исследователей философского разделения между относительно узким (в логике корпоративных стратегий) и более целостным, трансформативным взглядами на будущее. В статье оценивается степень такого разделения и динамика его изменения посредством выборочного анализа практик ведущих мировых Форсайт-центров. Представлен обзор их философий, концепций и практик, оценена степень готовности к системному подходу сквозь призму пяти измерений Форсайта. Исследование выявило не столь очевидный тренд — многие центры понимают ценность и действенность теории систем для решения современных проблем в усложняющемся контексте и вводят «системность» в свою философию. Однако возникают трудности с синтезом рациональных и иррациональных аспектов в стратегическом мышлении, которые заложены историческими и когнитивными аспектами. Преодоление этой когнитивной дитохомии позволяет специалистам по Форсайту «видеть будущее далеко, глубоко и всеохватно в целостности» и получать более точное представление о том, что приближается и как к этому превентивно подготовиться.
... Yet this result-paltry results from the investment of enormous resources-is not surprising to a systems scientist. Donatella Meadows warned explicitly of this problem in 1999, 59 as did John McKinlay in 1975. 8 In a complex system with multiple feedback loops and path dependence, intervening even forcefully on one part of the system will produce minimal results. ...
... These activities span all lifestyle levels and will require partnerships across societal actors (Oliveira et al., 2022). In other words, an LCSS needs to provide multilevel governance through co-creational approaches together with their customers and community members and through active 'positive lobbying' to deliver behaviour change at scale and to activate 'deep leverage points' (Meadows, 1999). It also needs to serve as a model, providing trans-sectoral leadership and adding pressure to laggard businesses. ...
Marketing sustainable lifestyles requires a rapid reorientation away from perpetuating unsustainable behaviours and lifestyles with far-reaching implications for people and the planet. This chapter thus sets out to circumscribe how the enormous potential of the marketing discipline can be used as a positive force for sustainability. As a first step, this chapter defines sustainable lifestyles and differentiates them from specific sustainable behaviours before it delves into the principles of marketing sustainable lifestyles. It then outlines how marketing can evolve to accommodate and promote alternative ways of living within planetary boundaries by conceptualising a sustainable marketing mix tailored explicitly for sustainable lifestyles. Next, this chapter explores the motivations driving companies to market these lifestyles, the strategies that can be employed to promote sustainability, and the challenges or ‘lock-in’ factors businesses encounter in this endeavour. This chapter introduces the notion of a Lifestyle Change Support System as a vision and conceptual Northstar to provide businesses with a direction of travel. The concluding section summarises the key insights, underscoring the potential of marketing to foster sustainable behaviour and consumption.
... To achieve sustainable change, it is necessary to address key elements such as beliefs, norms, values, practices, and rules, including procedures and laws, as well as the flow and distribution of resources, authority, and power within social systems (Moore et al. 2014). Civil society can influence and shape certain infrastructures, supporting policies and rules (Abson et al. 2017;Meadows 1999). ...
Understanding the other's point of view is key to expanding sustainable agriculture beyond its current niche status in the context of climate change mitigation. This paper aims to identify societal groups based on their understanding of the agriculturally shaped environment and investigates associations between sociodemographic characteristics and understanding among these groups. The empirical data stem from a large-scale population survey in Western Pomerania, Germany, a prime example of a region with manifold land use conflicts. Cluster and regression analyses were applied. Three understanding profiles are identified: alienated from the agriculturally shaped environment, knowledge about sustainable land use, and conventional agriculture. Significant associations between sociodemographic characteristics and understanding profiles exist and are discussed, as well as the trans-formational potential between the understanding profiles. In conclusion, understanding profiles can serve as a basis for creating appropriate actions to overcome barriers to sustainable development and enable the transformative potential at the societal level.
... Causal loop diagrams (CLDs), a qualitative tool within SD, are especially valuable for visualising and mapping the relationships and feedback effects among system components. This visual representation helps stakeholders grasp intricate cause-and-effect relationships, enabling them to identify leverage points-small changes in variables, rules of a system, or even prevailing mindsets (Meadows, 2015)-that can have a significant and lasting impact on the system' behaviour, ultimately leading to more informed decision-making in managing complex systems. ...
... But how can we change paradigms? Donella Meadows [138] reminds us that "you keep pointing at the anomalies and failures in the old paradigm, you keep speaking louder, and with assurance from the new one, you insert people with the new paradigm in place of public visibility and power. You don't waste time with reactionaries; rather, you work with active change agents with the vast middle ground of people who are open-minded. ...
Researchers in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) have studied the design and use of technologies for sustainability and development , contributing to the subfields of Sustainable HCI and HCI for Development. Increasingly, there have been calls within and outside HCI for a more integrated approach to sustainable development. To identify the potential of such an approach, we present a comprehensive review of HCI scholarship on sustainability and development, combined with an analysis of interviews with researchers working in and across both subfields. Using the lens of political economy, we uncover understandings, critiques, tensions, and considerations toward advancing scholarship at the intersections of sustainability, development, and HCI. We conclude by inviting the larger Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) community to join us in collectively devising pathways for technology-mediated sustainable development.
... Cabe aclarar que estas tendencias tienen un período de amplitudde aproximadamente veinte años, pero en los últimos diez es que han tenido su apogeo. Las categorías que son las bases para desarrollar las comparaciones se ha asumido con respecto a las Tecnologías de las lámparas utilizadas desde Ganslandt y Hofmann, (1992), Voorspoels (2017), White (2016), los Criterios de ubicación/posición del artefacto lumínico desde Sirlin (2016) y por último los Criterios de eficiencia energética y contexto actual según Meadows (1999), Deschères (2009), y Yoshi (2004). ...
Los diseñadores de iluminación, una nueva área de estudio que cada vez se introduce con más fuerza en el mundo entero, tienen los conocimientos y pueden manejar las herramientas necesarias para resolver la visibilidad de los diferentes componentes de un conjunto arquitectónico durante la noche.
... Encouraging a more holistic approach to the circular built environment, the insights this paper provides open up several strands that could be interesting to look into. For instance, as the CE has repeatedly been referred to as a new paradigm in itself [e.g., 58,108], it might be worthwhile to follow the systems thinking point of view further, including the leverage points concept [111][112][113] which indicates transcending a society's paradigms as the highest leverage point in a system. Moreover, to follow up on this research, empirical investigation of SI under real world conditions is recommended and intended to determine the influence of spatial, contextual, and social contexts and derive drivers and barriers from them for selected promising examples. ...
In the face of climate change and resource scarcity, the built environment’s transition towards circular practices is thought to be inevitable. To foster a transition of any system, not only technological, but also social innovations are needed. Based on a literature review including both scientific and grey literature, this paper thus sheds light on the social component of existing innovations for a circular built environment. A heuristic framework is designed to classify and identify social innovations in the built environment, their similarities and patterns as well as the dynamics that arise from them. It finds that the majority of social innovations for a circular built environment under study tend to focus on the use of materials and buildings, thus narrowing or slowing resource flows, whereas the closing of resource flows seems to be left outside of social structures. The research underscores the need for a holistic approach to drive sustainable, resource-efficient practices in construction. Future research will empirically examine SI’s impact in real-world settings, aiming to uncover contextual drivers and barriers. By focusing on the social aspects of circularity, this study offers new insights into BE innovations, supporting a paradigm shift toward a sustainable and circular built environment.
... The model draws on these theoretical explanations to explore the interplay between floods, vulnerability and socio-political transformations in a city characterised by highly uneven development (Fig. 14.2). While models often assume economic growth as a leverage point for addressing poverty, unemployment, and urban decline (see Meadows, 1999 for a critique), this model acknowledges both the costs of growth and their uneven distribution. To reflect the uneven development of the city (Assumption 1 and 2), the model simulates 1000 neighbourhoods that have different socio-economic characteristics. ...
Despite ongoing debates about its origins, the Anthropocene—a new epoch characterized by significant human impact on the Earth's geology and ecosystems—is widely acknowledged. Our environment is increasingly a product of interacting biophysical and social forces, shaped by climate change, colonial legacies, gender norms, hydrological processes, and more. Understanding these intricate interactions requires a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative, biophysical and social research.
However, mixed-methods environmental research remains rare, hindered by academic boundaries, limited training, and the challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration. Time, funding, and the integration of diverse data further complicate this research, whilst the dynamics and ethics of interdisciplinary teams add another layer of complexity.
Despite these challenges, mixed-methods research offers a more robust and ultimately transformative understanding of environmental questions. This Field Guide aims to inspire and equip researchers to undertake such studies. Organized like a recipe book, it assists researchers in the preparation of their field work, as well as offering entry points to key methods and providing examples of successful mixed-methods projects.
This book will be of interest to scholars wishing to tackle environmental research in a more holistic manner, spanning ‘sister’ disciplines such as anthropology, statistics, political science, public health, archaeology, geography, history, ecology, and Earth science.
... However, the examples provided indicate that post-growth considerations are not entirely inconceivable within dominant institutional arrangements and can sometimes even be facilitated by existing mechanisms. For instance, while representatives from selected London housing authorities became receptive to post-growth alternatives only after Pagani and colleagues (2025) introduced a quote by Meadows (1999) during their focus group discussion, the development of noncommercial investment collectives around schools in London was signifi cantly driven by the government-initiated School Superzones project, as demonstrated by Natarajan (2025). Similarly, Walton illustrates how elements of post-growth thinking permeate formal decision-making at various levels, sometimes failing to actualize concrete decisions while, in other instances, gaining signifi cant leverage in planning deliberations (Walton, 2025). ...
We introduce this issue at a critical time, not only for readers of Built Environment, but in our relationship with the earth systems that support the form of life we have developed on this planet. As the empirical evidence that our current form of growth is incompatible with attempts to live within planetary boundaries builds, so too do the questions about what we do with that knowledge. Debates on how to produce a more equitable, convivial, and sustainable built environment have often sought to direct economic growth or to ameliorate its negative consequences. In contrast the papers in this special issue go to the heart of the matter. They engage with the question of whether growth itself is the problem and if so, then how should the built environment be governed, managed and produced? Thus, we introduce readers to what is a fast-growing body of literature that engages with this question. However, before concluding this introduction with an outline of the individual contributions, we draw out two themes within the debates on the normative response to the evidence that growth is pushing us beyond planetary boundaries and, that cut across the papers. These are critical not only to the debates on economic growth but more importantly to the role it plays in the built environment. First, there is the significance of institutions. Given the way institutions generate the critical path dependencies that have set us on the current trajectory, we introduce readers to debates around the institutional transformations required by the situation we face. Second, we show how the knowledge generated within both the professions and academia will be central to this project.
... This underpins the organizational and structural characteristics of the agri-fresh produce supply chain. It is also important that two primary causative barriers with high value of (R-C), 'Absence of proper demand forecasting and demandsupply imbalance' and 'Lack of coordination and communication between supply chain members' should also be addressed at the earliest along with 'The scattered nature of the farmers with many intermediaries' to reduce the systemic inefficiency and to leverage the point as per the Leverage point framework [45]. ...
... Practically speaking, no silver bullet can reverse the selfdestructive trends that have culminated in the proclamation of the Anthropocene (Fischer and Riechers 2019 ). Nonetheless, drawing on systems theory (Meadows 1999 ), we can identify leverage points as strategic positions within complex systems where small shifts can trigger significant, cascading transformative changes. These leverage points range from adjusting system parameters to transforming paradigms, with interventions becoming more effective as they target deeper changes in narratives and worldviews. ...
Since 1985, conservation science has been unquestioningly described as a crisis discipline. This narrative entails prioritizing immediate responses to threats despite limited knowledge. Although crisis interventions have grown significantly, biodiversity loss has continued unabated, and those working or living alongside declining ecosystems report increasing levels of emotional distress. Ecological grief is particularly on the rise and is claimed by some as a necessary process to fuel the urgent lifesaving changes. However, I argue that both narratives—the emerging ecological grief and the established crisis approach—can synergically reinforce a loop of resignation, where ecological decline is either passively accepted or inadvertently perpetuated. Such resignation ultimately leads to harmful adaptation to ongoing ecological degradation. Finally, I propose a shift toward a transformative conservation narrative, moving away from the primary focus on crisis thinking to embrace proactive futures. Reframing the underlying narratives is essential, because they can influence the broader conservation agenda.
Industry 5.0 cutting-edge technologies must be utilized with increasing emphasis on human society's role in cyber physical systems for progress. Digital transformation with social empowerment aligns gracefully with industry competitiveness. Policy-driven transformation of Industry 4.0 era moving towards a more holistic customer and human-centric environment of Industry 5.0 is leading society to an energy-efficient and social technology-driven better world.
Compassionate Systems Leadership (CSL) is a multi-level, multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary approach to human service work (such as teaching) that seeks to work within and between systems to support learners. With robust connections to positive education and Indigenous principles of learning, CSL is a promising approach for integrating positive education pedagogy in schools. This chapter will describe how incorporating CSL into pre-service teacher training is a particularly rich opportunity to embed the intended outcomes of positive education into education. By nurturing, promoting, and helping to sustain the conditions for well-being to be supported, CSL represents a viable approach to supporting good mental health, life satisfaction, and social responsibility; it provides a framework for ways in which people who are themselves embedded and invested in education might support each other in co-creating a more hopeful future while also engaging in collective care in the present.
Managing multiple paradoxes is critical to transformative systems leadership, particularly in the context of translocal networks. In this paper, we explore a novel aspect of Earth Stewardship: how leaders of these networks harness paradox management to generate and scale innovative sustainability solutions. By integrating seemingly contradictory forces, such as harmony and disruption, cohesion and autonomy, and reflection and action, leaders foster dynamic environments conducive to both innovation and transformative learning. We identify three key paradoxes: (1) the embrace of harmony and disruption, fostering transformative learning; (2) the tension between cohesion and autonomy, which promotes innovation by scaling solutions within diverse contexts; and (3) the interplay between reflection and action, which enhances metis, a crucial strategy for navigating the uncertainties of transitioning systems. These paradoxes, when embraced rather than resolved, enable translocal networks to catalyze systemic changes. This paper explores how these leadership practices drive sustainability solutions, an essential yet underexamined aspect of Earth Stewardship.
The paper explores how the relational turn theory can be used to develop social-ecological methodologies that offer students a more interconnected and complex understanding of sustainable development (SD). The study employs a capitals approach framework, which recognizes natural, social, human, and produced capital resources as distinct sources of capital, to explore a wide range of capital combinations. To explore sustainability opportunities and issues, the study uses an express arts approach through visual and literacy arts methods. The purpose of using these methods was to decentre the students from normative language and evoke future practice change by stimulating the possibility of change through the unspoken language of the image. An integrative thinking approach was used to account for sustainability issues and expressed from multiple perspectives. A dialogue and understanding were developed that accommodated local and tri-nation perspectives. The findings of the tri-nation study led to the development of a new social-ecological model for exploring SD transnationally. The study recommends that future research should explore this new model and use of express arts methods to develop a more comprehensive understanding of SD. The paper highlights the importance of developing a more interconnected view of SD to address the complex and interrelated challenges facing the world today.
As disparities in health and well-being outcomes continue to widen in the United States, despite good-willed investments in programs and services, a revolutionary shift in how we support families before they are in crisis is necessary to ensure they have what they need to be happy, healthy, and economically secure. To address these challenges, Prevent Child Abuse America developed a theory of change to address the root causes of child abuse and neglect, and balance the use of programs and systemic interventions to bring about a Primary Prevention Ecosystem to advance equitable outcomes for all children, youth, and families. As this Primary Prevention Ecosystem is realized in communities across the United States, there will be less need for the formal child welfare system as it exists today. This article describes the theory of change, the participatory methods used to develop it, and its implication for use within the broader primary prevention field.
Human pressure continues to deteriorate social-ecological systems at alarming rates, risking destabilization and collapse. This provokes questions on the efficacy of corporate approaches to sustainability management and how business schools are preparing managers. A systems approach to sustainability management is gaining attention for its potential to resolve the disconnect between corporate sustainability practices and social-ecological system needs. Business school education can play an important role in fostering its adoption, yet educators may lack experience with teaching a systems approach and how to effectively integrate it within courses. We contribute to sustainability management and business education by offering a learning framework with a systems perspective. This framework consists of five conceptual moves leveraging systems thinking concepts that establish a strong theoretical foundation for learning. We further illustrate these moves through practical teaching examples and provide recommendations for the integration of a systems approach into sustainability management education.
This article examines the role of cultural policy in addressing global challenges through a regenerative framework and critiques the absence of a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for culture, which has marginalised the cultural sector’s potential contribution to sustainable development. It focuses on cultural policies as an aspect of culture that can support a thriving conceptualisation of life within planetary boundaries, contributing to societal, environmental and economic wellbeing of humanity in a caring approach to the more-than-human world. It argues that the current global cultural policy ecosystem, which operates from local to international levels, must evolve to support sustainable and regenerative futures by adopting a more integrated, holistic, and accountable approach. It proposes that the co-creative and reflective values inherent in cultural relations and the dynamic practice of engaging in social learning offer meaningful ways with which to engage in regenerative and reflexive cultural policy design, implementation, and evaluation to lead transformational change.
This paper considers the inability of Western materialist approaches to make substantial progress on climate in terms of a culture gap, proposing that the culture gap in the crisis may be larger than the knowledge gap, policy gap, technology gap, or other obstacles to a climate friendly world. We define the cultural gap as the difference between a society’s need to engage with itself at the level of ontology or ‘being’ and the capacity of its discourse and institutions to do so. We see the consequences of this in the persistence of information deficit approaches to climate action and environmental communication, despite long-standing awareness of their inadequacy. We interpret growing calls within sustainability discourse for transformation and transformative change as an intuitive response to this circumstance, a recognition of the persistent inadequacy of knowledge-action approaches to complex social challenges. This inadequacy exposes the culture gap in stark relief, pointing research agendas in a promising direction. To navigate transformative change, we must re-activate notions of being within the Western imagination and develop the cultural capacities to operationalize such notions within our sustainability efforts.
Researchers often seek to enable sustainability transitions by helping new technologies or practices influence and change society in deep and transformative ways. There are inherent tensions in these ambitions, but they remain underexplored in the literature and practical experiences of our encounters with these tensions are similarly underdiscussed. This paper shares reflections and insights from a transdisciplinary project in Australia which explored how a more deliberate and critically reflexive approach to research could be pursued to enable a transition toward an algal bioeconomy. Presenting the project as a case study, we highlight how issues of place, materiality, aesthetics, and history can influence the role of research in socio-technical transitions in subtle and often unacknowledged ways. In the context of a nascent and contested bioeconomic vision for Australia, we contend that there is a need for researchers to challenge themselves with speculative, normative and plausible transition design projects, to build our collective capacity for deliberate and critical engagement in the futures that we pursue, or participate in, through our work. Specific practices that might help are raised and enabling conditions, such as a gap in the structure of Australia’s National Innovation System, are addressed in the discussion. In the face of these needs, challenges and opportunities, we conclude that a ‘systems weaver’ modality can offer clarity, agency and understanding to researchers and practitioners about the potential of their work and their role in systems change.
This study applies a generalisable method for measuring place across a large urban-rural landscape by combining subjective and objective data for 7,008 locations in the Utrecht region, the Netherlands. A representative online survey (N = 10,042) was used to calculate people’s subjective valuations through street view images. The objective measures were obtained from existing national-level data platforms. Regression models, dimensionality reduction and clustering algorithms were used to uncover patterns between perception (subjective) and spatial (objective) components such as land use, accessibility to services or low level visual features. The results show that perception of spaces is a fundamental component of place and people’s subjective valuations can be directly combined with other spatial indicators to produce a more nuanced understanding of complex urbanisation patterns. We close by illustrating how place rather than space can inherently characterise human-environment interactions and connect local and landscape scales to navigate the homogenization and degradation processes of periurbanisation.
Arctic Indigenous food systems are essential to the survival of local communities, but face significant challenges due to environmental, economic, and social pressures. The objective of this study is to elicit values of the mixed Indigenous food system on St. Paul Island, Alaska, and understand their potential as deep leverage points for transformative change in the context of their historical co-evolution with the local food system. To achieve this objective, we engage three generational groups within the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island to obtain local food system stories. From these stories, we (i) elicit historical events that are thought to have shaped the local food system, (ii) identify factors that influence the food system in its present and future states, and (iii) delineate intrinsic, instrumental, and relational food system values. Our findings show that most identified historical events are perceived to have undermined the Indigenous food system and that most factors identified to shape present and future food system states present barriers for community members to engage in traditional practices. Yet, despite this, values that relate to traditional Indigenous livelihoods remain central in the local value system. These results suggest a value change debt, i.e., a time lag between changes in peoples’ held values following changes in the system around them. We propose that this lag provides a window of opportunity to leverage transformative change. We argue that as long as traditional food system values persist, there is potential to reconfigure the food system in a way that embraces these values, enhancing the system's relevance to the community's way of life.
The present paper explores how a systems approach to patterns and pattern language could support systemic inquiry and systemic design, and more broadly, the advancement of pattern language. It examines the multiple facets and definitions of the concept of pattern and proposes reconciling them to include the affordances that patterns bring both to inquiry and design within a larger systems framework. In particular, it discusses extending the act of design to encompass the inquiry that motivates a design and the ongoing monitoring of the fitness of this design to its intended purpose in a systems perspective. Considering complexity and the notion of generativity, this approach challenges the appropriateness of patterns expressed in problem-solution form and suggests ways forward for extended definitions and pattern forms. This work contributes to bringing pattern thinking and systems thinking, or pattern science and systems science, closer to each other. The purpose is to further integrate pattern thinking and pattern language in the design, assessment, and orientation of our socio-technological and socio-environmental systems, both large and small, to better address the societal challenges of our time. It complements various initiatives aimed at harnessing pattern languages for sustainability and societal change and at developing pattern literacy in support of systems literacy.
Traditional approaches to changing health behaviours have primarily focused on education and raising awareness, assuming that increased knowledge leads to better decisions. However, evidence suggests these methods often fail to result in sustained behavioural change. The dual-process theory of decision-making highlights that much of our behaviour is driven by automatic, intuitive processes, which educational interventions typically overlook. Compounding this challenge, behavioural research is often conducted on small groups, making it difficult to scale insights into broader societal issues, where behaviour is influenced by complex, interconnected factors. This review advocates for integrating behavioural science with systems approaches (including systems thinking and approaches to complex adaptive systems) as a more effective approach to resolving complex societal issues, such as public health, sustainability, and social equity. Behavioural science provides insights into individual decision-making, while systems approaches offer ways of understanding, and working with, the dynamic interactions and feedback loops within complex systems. The review explores the commonalities and differences between these two approaches, highlighting areas where they complement one another. Design thinking is identified as a useful structure for bridging behavioural science and systems thinking, enabling a more holistic approach to problem-solving. Though some ideological challenges remain, the potential for creating more effective, scalable solutions is significant. By leveraging the strengths of both behavioural science and systems thinking, one can create more comprehensive strategies to address the “wicked problems” that shape societal health and well-being.
Despite global efforts to achieve the UN Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), progress remains insufficient. Embracing the concept of eudaimonia, which prioritizes practical wisdom and excellence as core to human well-being, is deemed essential to achieve the significant transformations necessary for a sustainable future for people and the planet. Based on this assumption, a framework for enhancing public administration systems (PAS) guided by the principles of eudaimonia is developed throughout this chapter. Overall, the framework aims to clarify how the administrative direction, organization, and skills in public administration systems can be built on a foundation of core eudaimonic values such as equity, innovation and stewardship. Based on this analysis, the chapter sketches a viable transformation agenda for making PAS develop in the intended direction in order to become much more responsive to the imperative for immediate action and to develop innovative strategies to drive sustainable development. By designing PAS based on principles of eudaimonia, a future is envisioned where such systems are able to steward the needed societal transformation at the speed and magnitude required to address the multifaceted challenges of the twenty-first century.
In the face of climate change and other ecological pressures, there is urgent need to transform human systems and their society–nature relationships. However, there is a gap between transformative ambitions and our ability to enable transformative change. The relationship between sustainability transformations in practice and the transformative capacities that enable them is complex and indirect, requiring integrative frameworks to clarify the relationships between what transformations entail and the capacities needed to enable them. We develop the integrative transformative capacities framework (TCF) to conceptualize how sustainability transformations relate to the capacities to realize them in terms of the focal system and the strategies needed to bring about a desired change. We illustrate this framework, proposing key features of sustainability transformations, then identifying strategies for change associated with each feature and the capacities required to implement each strategy. We conclude by discussing some challenges of theorizing, identifying, and building transformative capacities and how the TCF addresses these challenges. This framework can help researchers be explicit about their assumptions and decisions about systems change, strategies to influence change, and the capacities to enable different actors to meaningfully contribute to change.
The planning system can help to address the complexity of determinants of our health which are driven by a combination of factors. A growing body of evidence and practice suggest taking systems perspectives can help tackle such complexity. Local planning authorities in England are required to create local planning frameworks that can improve health outcomes across these determinants. This paper discusses a spectrum of relevant systems concepts to propose a conceptual framework to explain the ecology of the English local spatial planning for health system’s interconnectedness and multi-disciplinarity with which effective public health involvement can be supported and maximised.
Im Verlauf dieser Arbeit wird die Struktur und Bedeutung solcher Netzwerke in deren
Zusammensetzung detailliert analysiert, wobei die Frage im Mittelpunkt steht, unter
welchen Umständen diese Netzwerke zu einer nachhaltigen Regionalentwicklung
beitragen können. Als Fallbeispiel dient das Netzwerk "Initiative Zukunftshandeln MV",
das sich der Förderung nachhaltiger Entwicklung in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern widmet. Die theoretische Grundlage der Arbeit stützt sich auf die Annahme, dass die große
Transformation nur durch einen systemischen Ansatz erreicht werden kann. Dazu wird
ein Modellrahmen entwickelt, der die Akteure des Netzwerks kategorisiert und die
Dynamiken der nachhaltigen Regionalentwicklung untersucht. Die Arbeit nutzt dabei
Konzepte wie die sozial-ökologische Transformation nach Polanyi und die Multi-Level-
Perspektive nach Geels, um die komplexen Prozesse und Wechselwirkungen zu
verstehen, die für die erfolgreiche Umsetzung von Transformationsprozessen notwendig
sind. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Rolle von Netzwerken in der nachhaltigen
Regionalentwicklung zu untersuchen und mit Hilfe der systemischen Hebelpunkte nach
Donella Meadows strategische Empfehlungen zu formulieren, wie diese Netzwerke ihre
Wirkung maximieren können. Dabei wird die Bedeutung von systemischen Ansätzen und
die Notwendigkeit einer Kombination von Bottom-up- und Top-down-Strategien
hervorgehoben. Die Ergebnisse sollen nicht nur zur theoretischen Debatte beitragen,
sondern vorrangig konkrete praktische Impulse für die weitere Arbeit der „Initiative
Zukunftshandeln MV“ geben.
Zusammenfassend leistet diese Arbeit einen Beitrag zur aktuellen
Nachhaltigkeitsdebatte, indem sie die Rolle und das Potenzial von Regionalnetzwerken
als Akteure des Wandels analysiert und ihre Bedeutung für die nachhaltige Entwicklung
aufzeigt. Angesichts der großen Herausforderungen, die durch den Klimawandel und
andere globale Krisen verursacht werden, ist es entscheidend, die Möglichkeiten und
Grenzen solcher Netzwerke zu verstehen und ihre Arbeit gezielt zu unterstützen.
Social and ecological issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, sustainable development, inequality, and COVID-19 have changed and are changing the world. These realities have profoundly impacted peoples’ perspectives about the future and our human-nature relations. Adding to this mix of disruptions COVID-19 has changed student engagement with sustainability agendas. COVID-19 has increased sensitivity to borders, control, containment, personal health, and wellbeing. This shift in focus and attention to the individual moves against the sensibilities observed in sustainability education. It is at this juncture this paper offers reflections by three Australian sustainability educators who taught during COVID-19. We have come up with three provocations to think with disruption: phronesis, world views and entanglement. These themes, critical to the pedagogies of sustainability educators across the globe, allowed us to pivot around the implications and opportunities presented as we taught our way through this period.
Approaches to food systems are receiving increased attention because they provide a more holistic perspective on the organization of food production and supply and on how to promote food safety, environmental sustainability, and equity. While the structure and complexity of food systems are widely acknowledged, efforts to understand their governance and possible challenges are just starting. We contribute to conceptualizing these challenges by harnessing the conceptual insights of multiple system governance frameworks. Conceptual and empirical lessons from these frameworks help to understand the possible challenges that may emerge when dealing with key features of modern globalized food systems. These include cross-spatial and temporal dynamics, managing common trade-offs across food system goals, and integrating narratives and policies when dealing with diverse stakeholders, sectors, and knowledge communities. We discuss the implications of addressing challenges that may arise in one or more of these key features, especially under the new governance paradigm in which modern food systems are embedded and in the presence of diverse paradigms and power asymmetries.
Objectives
Systems approaches (SAs) seek to understand the dynamics behind system behaviour and formulate effective actions given these dynamics. In public health, SAs often rely on qualitative systems maps visualising factors and their interconnections, frequently developed through group model building. Quantitative system dynamics models (SDMs) can offer additional insights: SDMs can simulate how system behaviour would change if we were to make an adjustment to the system, in what-if scenarios. We explored what (added) value Australian community leaders involved in SAs see in an SDM for understanding a system and its behaviour.
Setting
The Whole of Systems Trial of Prevention Strategies for Childhood Obesity (WHOSTOPS), a community-level collaboration between researchers and community leaders in South-Western Victoria, Australia.
Design
We calibrated an existing small and high-level SDM with local data from the WHOSTOPS communities, so that the simulations pertained to their local context. The SDM was developed to simulate potential interventions addressing either social norms regarding body weight or individual weight-related behaviour. We presented the SDM to the community leaders via an interactive interface in an online workshop.
Participants
We calibrated the SDM using WHOSTOPS’ baseline measurement (2015), with an 80% participation rate among eligible children (1792/2516). 11 community leaders participated in the workshop.
Results
The community leaders’ first impression of the SDM was that it could be a valuable additional tool, particularly because of its ability to compare what-if scenarios resembling individual vs systems perspectives, intuitive presentation of simulation results, and use of local data.
Conclusions
Our preliminary exploration showed that the small and high-level SDM, using what-if scenarios reflecting interventions on different system levels, could contribute to the understanding and communication of (community-based) SAs.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.