Featured Stories
Forests in Japanese history
Forests in Japan have been under pressure already for millennia (Totman 1989). More than 2000 years ago, rice culture caused the first dramatic modifications of woodlands and bronze and iron smelting started to put pressure on the forest due to the demand for high-quality charcoal. Metallurgy led to new, more powerful tools and the assault on the woodlands intensified. The warrior castes needed timber for ships, stockades and large residences and for coffins buried in huge mounds rivalling the Egyptian [...]
The Textbook
Written by prof. dr. B.J.M. de Vries, it provides an integrated, system-oriented introduction to the concepts, theories and issues surrounding the quest for a sustainable future for Planet Earth.Knowledge Base
We are building a knowledgebase of links, institutions and educational material, based on our understanding of sustainability science, as presented in the book.Research & Education Tools
In this section we are collecting interactive tools that can be used for research and teaching.Other Stories from our Blog
The idea of ‘waste’
What is waste?
A friend once took me to the urban waste treatment plant in Kolkata and I had the strange experience of looking into the stomach and intestines of a huge organism. Across an enormous field, […]
Chinese Worldview
China’s worldview
In the course of the 21st century, China is the state with the largest population size and the largest economic activity. This will affect the international order, if only because Chinese history and culture […]
Materials Transition
Concept
The gradual change from mining ores to mining in-use-stocks can be considered a materials transition. The ratios between metal in the lithosphere, in in-use stocks and in end-of-lifetime stocks are indicators of the degree to […]
Energy Economics
Energy use: economics of energy saving
The dynamics behind the changes in energy intensity is an important topic in energy economics. Goods and services are produced with a variety of inputs and a so-called production function […]
Desalinization
Desalinization
A technology to supply water in relevant amounts is desalinization of seawater. It is at the intersection of water, food and energy issues, because the water for drinking and food is a necessity of life […]
Book and Website Reviews
Top-down or bottom-up, that is the question?
Every now and then I meet friends who have given up on changing the world: “It is too complex, too violent, too far away, and I feel powerless in the face of it. So I [...]
A simple introduction to system dynamics for sustainability – a report by Hördur Haraldson
We humans make mental ‘maps’ of processes around us in order to live and survive. Many of those maps are simplified, based on a limited set of acquired habits and experienced events. The maps also [...]
System dynamics for real-world complexity: a book by Erik Pruyt
In 2013, Dr. Erik Pruyt (Delft Technical University) has released a book on system dynamics, titled Small System Dynamics Models for Big Issues: Triple Jump towards Real-World Complexity. It is set up as an interactive [...]
Games for sustainability education, research and policy
One way to explore integration of the natural and the social sciences is the construction and use of simulation games and policy exercises (cf. Chapter 10 and 12). Since 2013 several websites have come online [...]