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 try to focus on my own family, neighbourhood…”. Somewhat paradoxical, this attitude is partly a response to the information overload generated by (social) media. As [...]
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 tend to assume single and linear relationships between causes and effects. Assuming that more cars (A) cause more traffic accidents (B), I avoid travelling on [...]
System dynamics for real-world complexity: two book reviews
There are quite some book on system dynamics which make a connection with sustainable development problems and solutions. Based on personal contacts, I choose two for a brief intrduction. The first one is the book Managing Complexity in Social Systems - Leverage Points for Policy and Strategy (2nd ed. 2023) by Christoph Mandl. The seond one is Small System Dynamics [...]
Rethinking Sustainability: the ISDRS 2016 Conference
Lisbon, 13-16 July 2016 The 22nd ISDRS conference, titled Rethinking Sustainability Models and Practices: Challenges For The New and Old World Contexts, in Lisbon was very well organized, in the nice setting of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and with a festive dinner in the old monastery of San Jeronimo. Nothing to complain about for the 450+ conference participants (predominantly from Europe and South-America), [...]
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 about games for sustainability. Some of these are (very) simple games about public goods, used in what has become known as experimental or behavioural economics. [...]
Sustainability and solidarity: recipes from a political scientist
Reading the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were agreed upon by the United Nations in 2015 in the document Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (sustainabledevelopment.un.org), I am struck by the high level of aspiration not to say idealism. The Goals do indeed demand a transformation and, besides focused technological innovations, crucial ingredients for its success are [...]