A Systems Thinking Approach to Ranching: Finding Leverage to Mitigate Drought

Rhoades, Ryan; McCuistion, K. C.; Mathis, C.P.

doi:10.2111/rangelands-d-14-00017

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…On the one hand, systems thinking is generally recognised for addressing complexity (Seiffert and Loch 2005;Nguyen et al 2015), especially when it comes to the structure, processes and interactions between human and nature for the design, planning and implementation of effective interventions (Alberti et al 2011;Binder et al 2013;Rhoades et al 2014;Lawrence et al 2020). Whether it is via social-ecological systems -SES-(e.g., Ostrom 2009), coupled human and natural systems -CHANS-(e.g., Liu et al 2007), or human-environment systems -HES-(e.g., Scholz 2011), to mention a few, these approaches aim at improving the understanding of the situation's complexity.…”

Section: Systems Thinking In a Ws-wr Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding the visual aspects of the analytical concept, conceptual maps are a means of explicitly portraying complexity, as it probably exceeds the capacity to conceptualise it in mental models (Nguyen et al 2015), and especially to analyse existing interlinkages between the system's elements (e.g., Davies and Simonovic 2011;Mirchi et al 2012;Sterman 2012;Di Baldassarre et al 2013). They have been recognised as essential modelling tools that support the understanding of the system, model design, identifying leverage points and communication with stakeholders (Rhoades et al 2014;Voinov 2018). Here the ML-LB approach can serve as a basis for more sophisticated visualisations of the information system showing all dimensions simultaneously.…”

Section: Supporting Decision-making Via the Analytical Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These approaches aim at reducing the complicatedness of real-world situations by interpreting them as a system, i.e., a sequence of interconnected elements functioning as a whole (Smithson et al 2008). They support the representation of the situation and understanding of developments by (a) capturing the complexity and providing a big picture (Speelman et al 2007;Rhoades et al 2014), and (b) describing dynamics (Davidson and Venning 2011;Kotir et al 2016;Mai et al 2020). However, the interpretation (representation and understanding) as a system is strongly dependent on the involved scientists, experts, and actors, their field of knowledge, and their level and kind of expertise (Zamagni et al 2013;Dalal-Clayton and Sadler 2014;Ricart 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Translating the ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situation into an information system for decision-making

Müller

Schanze

2021

Sustain Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

One key challenge of water resources management is the identification and processing of the information necessary for decision-making. This article aims to provide avenues for translating a ‘water scarcity–water reuse’ (WS–WR) situation into an information system. It is dedicated to supporting an integrated assessment in decision-making with the final goal of optimising water scarcity risk reduction and water reuse sustainability. The approach combines the following two strands: (1) specific interpretation of systems thinking and (2) systemic characterisation and interlinkage of indicators. The result is an analytical concept that translates the WS–WR situation into an information system consisting of two structured components, a multi-layer (ML) and a lane-based (LB) approach. While the multi-layer approach supports the description of the elements of the biophysical and information systems such as endpoints and descriptors, respectively, the lane-based approach aids in understanding the importance of indicators within the entire system and their distribution across risk and sustainability realms. The findings from a generic exemplification of the analytical concept depict the feasibility of identifying system-based endpoints representing the WS–WR situation and their translation via descriptors to an interlinked indicator set to jointly assess water scarcity risk and sustainability of the water reuse measures. Therefore, this analytical concept supports addressing the water resources management information challenge via a structured representation of the system’s complexity and the quantification and visualisation of interlinkages between the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of water scarcity risk and water reuse sustainability.

show abstract

Section: Systems Thinking In a Ws-wr Situationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Supporting Decision-making Via the Analytical Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Translating the ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situation into an information system for decision-making

Müller

Schanze

2021

Sustain Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Leverage points studies as part of climate change adaptation research are limited but exist. Leverage points were studied to inform adaptation to climate change to improve human health (Proust et al 2012) and in relation to responses to drought (Rhoades et al 2014). However, few studies identify leverage points to strengthen the adaptive capacity to climate change.…”

Section: Leverage Pointsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying leverage points for strengthening adaptive capacity to climate change

Rosengren

Raymond

Sell

et al. 2020

Ecosystems and People

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leverage points from systems research are increasingly important to understand how to support transformations towards sustainability, but few studies have considered leverage points in strengthening adaptive capacity to climate change. The existing literature mainly considers strengthening adaptive capacity as a steady and linear process. This article explores possibilities to fast track positive adaptive capacity trajectories of small-scale farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana. Leverage points were identified by triangulating data from semistructured interviews with farmers (n=72), key informant interviews (n=7) and focus group discussions (FG1 n=17; FG2 n=20). The results present two ways to approach adaptation planning: 1) using four generic leverage points (gender equality, social learning, information and knowledge, and access to finance) or 2) combining the adaptive capacity and leverage point frameworks, thereby creating 15 associations. The generic points provide a set of topics as a starting point for policy and intervention planning activities, while the 15 associations support the identification of place-specific leverage points. Four benefits of using leverage points for adaptive capacity in adaptation planning were identified: guidance on where to intervene in a system, ability to deal with complex systems, inclusion of both causal and teleological decision-making, and a possibility to target deep, transformative change.

show abstract

Testing the integrated risk and sustainability assessment (RSA) framework for ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situations: The case of Cerrillos de Tamaya, Chile

Müller¹,

Bennett²,

Schanze³

2023

Current Research in Environmental Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Systems Thinking Approach to Ranching: Finding Leverage to Mitigate Drought

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

Translating the ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situation into an information system for decision-making

Translating the ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situation into an information system for decision-making

Identifying leverage points for strengthening adaptive capacity to climate change

Testing the integrated risk and sustainability assessment (RSA) framework for ‘water scarcity – water reuse’ situations: The case of Cerrillos de Tamaya, Chile

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About