Overview and Insights from ‘Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet’

Abstract

An announcement by Bosch and Cavana, in Systems, called for new papers to provide updated perspectives about and fresh insights into developments that influence 'systems education for a sustainable planet'. This paper's objective is to provide an overview of the 14 papers that were published in the special issue, and present some insights and findings from their content. It does this by classifying the papers into five distinct themes, then analysing their content and the linkages between the themes. This process revealed that: (1) Specialised systems education at a tertiary level is predominantly at graduate level, using a diverse range of approaches; and (2) Delivering specialised systems education remains a challenge for programs that endeavour to provide an integrated and interdisciplinary learning experience. Barriers include current institutional structures and the need for students to be both big picture thinkers and detail-oriented technocrats; (3) Teaching systems approaches outside of specialised programs for students (both young and mature) help to expose systems thinking to a wider demographic; (4) The strong links that exist between systems approaches and sustainability goals are increasingly being recognised. Systems education can help transition towards a sustainable planet, as it helps people appreciate that individual actions are not isolated events but contribute to an interconnected system that determines both the well-being of humans and the planet.

Could Education for Sustainable Development Benefit from a Systems Thinking Approach?

“…As systems thinking and sustainability are so closely linked, it is not practical to focus on them separately [23,26,30,31]. The basic idea in systems thinking is that the world is a complex system where everything is interconnected in the form of systems with interrelated parts [32].…”

“…Cavana and Forgie [30], who have reviewed a series of articles within the realm of systems education and systems thinking, point out that the above-mentioned project might be the best way presented so far to teach "systems education for a sustainable planet", as Gray et al [25] suggest in "teams". The main idea with "teams" is that if every team member is taught and understands the same shared and common "systems language, structure and methods", every team member can contribute with their strengths from various areas in working together toward shared values and objectives.…”

“…Development of a critical approach is often mentioned within both research fields. In addition, systems education is highlighted as a possible solution to societal problems in the book "Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet" [30]:…”

“…"Systems education can help transition towards a sustainable planet, as it helps people appreciate that individual actions are not isolated events but contribute to an interconnected system that determines both the well-being of humans and the planet" [30]…”

Using Systems Thinking to Understand and Enlarge Mental Models: Helping the Transition to a Sustainable World

“…Therefore, sustainability education is vitally important because it can inform citizens who must vote and pressure policy makers to create the most responsible business climate for sustainable innovation. Sustainability issues are extremely complex because they are embedded in a global web of systems, political processes and dynamic interactions [45]. Systems education is a necessary and ideal complement to sustainability because tools like stock-and-flow diagramming and computer simulation can contribute to a better understanding of sustainable business and socio-economic-political systems.…”