Systems thinking as a paradigm shift for sustainability transformation

Voulvoulis, Nikolaos; Giakoumis, Theodoros; Hunt, Claire F.; Kioupi, Vasiliki; Petrou, Kleoniki Natalia; Souliotis, Ioannis; Vaghela, Chetna; Rosely, WIH. binti Wan

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102544

Cited by 92 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Transformations to sustainability involve fundamental redirections of current human-environmental interactions (Shrivastava et al, 2020), requiring coordinated policy, technology, behavior and market interventions (Voulvoulis et al, 2022). Instead of smaller incremental adaptations in technology, lifestyles or governance arrangements, we need to develop tools that allow us to plan effectively large-scale social, political and behavioral change, generating options for deliberate transformations that will address the social logic of consumerism-dismantling the perverse incentives for unproductive status competition and offering new structures to encourage prosperity (Curtis and Lehner, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to a sustainable circular economy: The transformation required to decouple growth from environmental degradation

Voulvoulis

2022

Front. Sustain.

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The UN 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) envisions a future of inclusive equity, justice and prosperity within planetary boundaries, and places an important emphasis on ending poverty (SDG 1) and on sustainable economic growth (SDG 8). Target 8.4 refers to the need to improve global resource efficiency in consumption and production, and decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, the ultimate goal of a sustainable circular economy. Here, we explore the potential of the transition to such an economy, and discuss the transformation required for moving away from our current model of consumption with its ever increasing generation of waste. The primary aim of such transformation is to rethink what we understand as growth, in order to redefine what is meant by progress and, in the process, redesign our economies, ultimately decoupling our prosperity from material consumption, carbon emissions and waste. Dematerialisation, servitisation, collaborative consumption and a shift from ownership to access have the potential to restructure the economics of consumption, accelerate decoupling, and help us to envision and potentially create a circular economy that delivers social, economic and environmental benefits for all. However, their current deployment without policy steer, public support and appropriate technology developments could turn to be a missed opportunity for ensuring sustainable economic growth fully aligned with sound environmental stewardship and social development, and the transition to a truly sustainable circular economy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning to a sustainable circular economy: The transformation required to decouple growth from environmental degradation

Voulvoulis

2022

Front. Sustain.

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“…It is proposed here that the ability to perceive the interconnectedness of an organisation's activities and resources and to be able to employ higher-level reasoning (i.e systems thinking and by extension, integrated thinking) with regard to them, can contribute to more effective governance and management of organisations and to more realistic, comprehensive, and informed integrated reports. This is becoming a point of departure for many recent studies exploring the significance of systems and integrated thinking to various facets of the sustainability movement, including to the circular economy (Barnabè and Nazir, 2022), to education around the molecular basis of sustainability (Mahaffy et al, 2019), to corporate sustainability (Ahlström, Williams and Vildåsen, 2020), as a paradigm shift for sustainability transformations (Voulvoulis et al, 2022), and as a means of reporting on the SDGs (Beyne, Visser and Allam, 2021), amongst others. Thus, higher-level thinking is pivotal in making sense of complex problems and in facilitating conversation around them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems Thinking and Integrated Thinking for Integrated Reporting

Singh

Skae

Pearse

2022

ECMLG

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Industries and institutions are under pressure to do no harm in their processes of value creation, capture and delivery whilst actively limiting the harm their operations cause. As a consequence, and in the quest for more accountable, sustainable and humane behaviour, industries and institutions are being increasingly called upon to report on their operations in an integrated manner. Integrated reports combine information on the financial and non-financial aspects of firm performance with the purpose of showing how an organisation creates, preserves or erodes value over time. Such a report is usually of interest to providers of financial capital wishing to understand the wider impacts of the organisation, but are now becoming a document of interest to all types of stakeholders, including community members, customers, potential funders, academic institutions, suppliers and business partners. The integrated report is an outcome of several interrelated activities in a firm, including governance, strategic management, stakeholder engagement and risk management, to name a few. A variety of studies have indicated that whilst the construction of a comprehensive integrated report is a complex undertaking, skills related to systems thinking and integrated thinking can aid in the process. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate this connection between integrated reporting and systems thinking. Through the application of systems thinking it is proposed that the ability to perceive the interconnectedness of an organisation’s activities and resources and to be able to employ higher-level reasoning with regard to them, is enhanced. This can contribute to more effective governance and management of organisations, and by extension, to more realistic, comprehensive and informed integrated reports.

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“…System thinking is strategic planning idealized by the school leaders to ensure all teachers understand and follow the vision of ESD. Systems thinking is a powerful concept that encourages a shift from linear thinking to a more interconnected and dynamic perspective (Voulvoulis et al, 2022). It recognizes that various components within a system are interconnected and influence each other.…”

Section: System Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education for sustainable development from the lenses of Malaysian school leaders: a preliminary study

Abidin

Mokhtar

Arsat

2023

AEDS

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PurposeThe issue of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been on the rise in recent years, with concerns being raised by various stakeholders about its potential effects on education and the environment. However, little research has been done into school leaders' fundamental challenges in addressing ESD.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, single-case study was embarked on to examine the experiences of Malaysian school leaders who actively engaged ESD in their schools. The data were collected by using semi-structured interviews among four school leaders in schools involved in Johor Sustainable Education Action Plan (JSEAP). A thematic analysis was used to understand the challenges and later drive the strategy used to overcome those challenges.FindingsThis preliminary study revealed that the principals perceived the ESD's four main challenges: encouraging positive thinking and passion, acquiring ESD knowledge, developing system thinking, and curriculum adaptation. Based on this study's findings, school leaders need to make concerted efforts to overcome these challenges, such as finding best practices, encompassing support systems, and exploring innovative partnerships to address ESD effectively in their schools.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to a case analysis of the selected schools and cannot be generalized to a larger population.Practical implicationsThe results of the study may be of interest to other school leaders and educators who are concerned about ESD and its role in their schools, as well as to other academics who are interested in the topic of ESD and the challenges faced by school leaders in implementing sustainable practices.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first study investigating ESD challenges in the Malaysian context. The novel finding helps the readers understand the recent phenomena of ESD implementation better and, at the same time, compare it to other settings.

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Systems thinking as a paradigm shift for sustainability transformation

Cited by 92 publications

References 68 publications

Transitioning to a sustainable circular economy: The transformation required to decouple growth from environmental degradation

Transitioning to a sustainable circular economy: The transformation required to decouple growth from environmental degradation

Systems Thinking and Integrated Thinking for Integrated Reporting

Education for sustainable development from the lenses of Malaysian school leaders: a preliminary study

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