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By reviewing literature about the dynamics between the food environment and consumption practices of protein sources and identifying system archetypes from these dynamics, we will contribute to an improved understanding of our food behaviours and assist policy-makers in developing strategies to accelerate the protein transition.

Increasing competition for resources in small-scale fisheries (SSFs) can lead to overharvesting and threatens their sustainability. Sustainable management policies require engaging multiple resource users in decision-making processes, capturing diverse interests, and creating a platform for collaborative activities. This paper combines participatory modelling and systems thinking approaches to develop a joint stakeholder understanding of system structure, feedback mechanisms, and system archetypes of a SSF system in the Tam Giang Lagoon, located along the central coast of Vietnam. The model revealed the extent to which the dynamics of this SSF system were governed by nonlinear and cyclic feedback loops between social and ecological components. To manage complexity, the interactions between reinforcing and balancing feedback loops were distilled into four key system archetypes—Limits to growth, Fixes that fail, Success to the successful, and Tragedy of the commons—that provide crucial lenses to identify leverage points for effective management. The findings suggest that the possibilities to avoid the dominance of undesirable archetypes in this highly contested fishery system remain limited for both local resource users and managers because of cultural and socioeconomic constraints. Reducing intensified resource exploitation and expanding livelihood alternatives for communities are key towards more sustainable pathways for this common-pool resource system and other similar ones. This case study demonstrates the usefulness of an analytical approach that integrates participatory modelling with systems thinking with the ultimate goal of improving communication and collaboration among multiple stakeholders in complex socio-ecological situations.

PurposeFactors such as stakeholder requirements, emergence of exponential technologies, global business operations and pressures for sustainability increase the complexity of modern projects. This article aims to contribute by developing a systems view of project elements and relations among the same.Design/methodology/approachThe article is based on a design science process and uses business management, project management and the system dynamics literature to support the construction of a conceptual framework, which is preliminary validated using practitioner feedback.FindingsThe project management model includes: (a) a systems view of a project in terms of 5 subsystems, 9 components and 27 dimensions; (b) a flow diagram showing 11 key relations among project attributes and (c) a discussion of ten system archetypes which can be identified in the management of a project.Research limitations/implicationsWhereas the application of systems thinking in project management has been mostly addressed to build system dynamics tools, this article advances the discussion by providing a framework useful to support theory development and contextual knowledge construction in project management activities.Practical implicationsThe article provides (project) managers with an articulated project management model and insights to address the complexity of modern project activities.Originality/valueThe main value of the research stays in the integrative nature of the presented framework, along with its twofold focus on components and flows (dynamic view).

To date, applications of Systems Thinking (ST) in sport sciences are lacking with little existing practical work that adopted the approach. The aim of the article is to present an instantiation of ...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply a systems thinking methodology to analyse Indonesia’s new and renewable energy (NRE) electricity sector to describe the complex interrelations between its actors and variables, identify the systemic patterns and formulate recommendations for the policymakers. Design/methodology/approach Systems thinking methodology is used to observe the NRE electricity system and compile the corresponding data into a meaningful diagram to describe and recommend solutions for the sector’s issues. Causal loop diagram is used as the main method in this study with a deeper analysis of system archetypes to uncover the system behaviour. Soft system methodology and critical system heuristic are used partially to clarify the system boundaries, cultivate the perspective of the involved actors and problem categorization. Findings A comprehensive diagram is developed to present interrelation between all the components within the NRE electricity sector in Indonesia and the expected impact of any act or change to the entire system. Based on the causal interrelations between variables, typical systemic patterns or archetypes are used to identify unproductive patterns towards achieving the NRE electricity sector objectives. Originality/value The findings provide an initial outlook on the variables and systemic patterns within the system as a critical consideration in the decision-making process and policy development for the NRE electricity sector.

Mental models focused on the efficiency of products and services deliveries, typical of projects, can generate system archetypes that disturb the development of programs. The main goal of this article is to identify and describe the system archetypes that can occur in program management, improving the decision-making process, and consequently, increasing the probability of organizations to reach their strategic objectives through successful programs. Research was carried out with the participation of organizations that conduct programs, under a descriptive purpose and using system dynamics qualitative modeling, with the intent of building causal loop diagrams, and identifying and describing the system archetypes that may occur from the organizational policies. It was pointed out in the research, through the analysis of the four archetypes found, that the short-term vision problem impairs the achievement of results and benefits by the programs, the mere delivery of new capabilities by the projects not being sufficient for the effective engagement of stakeholders.

В настоящей работе описывается подход, ориентированный на построение математических моделей, с разных сторон описывающих типовые ситуации, возникающие при реализации программных проектов. Основу подхода составляет рассмотрение проектов создания аппаратно-программных комплексов как разновидности субъектоцентрических систем. Это создает основу для адаптации подходов, методов и моделей, ориентированных на управление сложными субъектоцентрическими системами различной природы, в область обеспечения функциональной безопасности аппаратно-программных комплексов. В литературе на декларативном уровне описаны типовые проблемные ситуации, возникающие при управлении сложными системами разной природы, и именуемые системными архетипами. С практической точки зрения ограниченностью системных архетипов является то, что они описывают ситуации лишь на качественном уровне. В них не представлены структура системы управления и параметрические зависимости прямых и перекрестных связей, имеющих место в системе управления. В настоящей работе рассмотрено несколько примеров построения структурных моделей, соответствующих разным системным архетипам. Для генерации и анализа альтернатив урегулирования ситуаций предложены методы преобразования архетипов к виду структурных и математических моделей. Областью применимости предлагаемого подхода являются средние, т. е. массово реализуемые, проекты., This paper describes an approach focused on the construction of mathematical models that illustrate from different angles typical situations arising in the implementation of software projects. The basis of the approach is the analysis of projects for creating hardware and software complexes as a kind of subject-centric systems. This lays the groundwork for scientific adaptation of well-known approaches, used for researching complex systems of a different nature, to the field of functional safety of hardware and software complexes. In the publications, typical problem situations that occur in managing complex systems of different nature are regarded at the declarative level and called system archetypes. From a practical point of view, the limitation of system archetypes is that they represent situations only at a qualitative level. They do not depict the structure of the control system and the parametric dependencies of direct and cross-links that take place in the control system. In this paper, several examples of constructing structural models corresponding to different system archetypes are considered. For the generation and analysis of alternatives for resolving situations, methods for converting archetypes to the form of structural and mathematical models are proposed. The range of applicability of the proposed approach includes projects of medium scale, i.e. mass-produced projects., МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ, ОПТИМИЗАЦИЯ И ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ, Выпуск 2 (37) 2022, Pages 25-26

The construction industry, particularly in Asia, experiences disproportionately high numbers of occupational injuries and fatalities. Malaysian construction fatality rates are more than double those in developed nations. Systems thinking has previously been used to identify ‘archetypal’ casual structures underpinning safety-related construction behaviours via a Grounded Theory analysis of interview data from construction safety professionals in New Zealand (Guo et al. 2015). This paper partially replicates the method of this prior work within a different cultural context in order to further validate the method and evaluate the extent to which the previously identified structures are indeed archetypal. Seven interviews were conducted with Malaysian construction industry professionals. Three potential archetypal structures were identified concerning: (1) effects of a migrant workforce, (2) corporate accountability and profit driven business culture, and (3) issues in the regulatory system. The structure of behavioural systems in Malaysian construction is depicted providing a view into the failings of construction safety management systems and the interventions to address them. Contractors’ drive for profit was determined as a primary contributing factor in most causal relationships identified. The method is shown to be useful and evidence produced to suggest at least one of the previously proposed causal structures is archetypal.

Access to fresh and healthy food within a neighborhood has been identified as a social mechanism contributing to community health. Grounded in the understanding that challenges related to equity within a food system are both structural and systemic, our research demonstrates how systems thinking can further understandings of food system complexity. Within systems thinking, we provide an illustration of how system archetypes offer an analytic tool for examining complex community issues. We map semi-structured interview data from community stakeholders (N = 22) to the "Fixes that Fail" system archetype to illuminate systemic challenges, such as incarceration and poverty, that structure food system inequity in urban communities. Within our research, the "Fixes that Fail" archetype provided a narrative interpretive tool for unveiling complexity within the food system and interdependencies with racialized systems such as criminal justice and labor markets. This system archetype provided an accessible approach for generating narratives about systemic complexity, the production of inequity through racialized forces, and opportunities for transformation.

In this paper, we make use of systems thinking insights to study education during and beyond COVID-19. Systems thinking is a rich discipline that studies nonlinear models of social complex adaptive systems that has many insights and tools that are relevant for modelling and understanding how interactions unfold in educational systems. An important insight of systems thinking is that the root cause of chronic complex problems often lay in the underlying systemic structure. Using insights from systems thinking to study learning/education has many benefits, including: (1) support for rigorous big-picture thinking; (2) anticipating and managing unintended consequences; (3) understanding dysfunctional learning systems using systems archetypes - which are systemic structures that, experts have noticed, typically lead to a performance rut; and finally (4) identification of high-leverage interventions that lead to long-lasting benefits without being neutralized by the system. In the paper, we have modelled COVID-19 pandemic effects on students learning in a novel way by using system thinking tools (Causal Loop Diagrams and Stock and Flow Diagrams), which help us to understand the complex interconnections of students performance, learning and management reforms. We demonstrate that successful student learning during and beyond COVID-19 requires not only a focus on lectures and curriculum reforms but also on motivating students, instilling a growth mindset, and developing strategies to track and minimize online distractions.

International audience; There are numerous frameworks for studying the governance of shared resources that have been discussed extensively in the literature. Although these frameworks have been applied to multiple case studies, these applications are often idiosyncratic, subject to the interpretation of the researcher, and raise concerns regarding the operational use of frameworks for case-study comparisons. As a result, insights from these studies have not lived up to the aspirations of the frameworks to generate generalizable knowledge. Here, based on several case studies and our experience using various frameworks for analyzing social-ecological systems, we undertake the task of providing a mechanism to systematically qualify interactions among ecological, social, institutional, and built infrastructure systems that impact the governance of shared resources. Specifically, we generate a series of archetypal social-ecological systems and extract from them a verb list to represent key interactions in the Robustness of Coupled Infrastructure Systems Framework. We then extend and refine the list based on three case studies of coastal social-ecological systems. We categorize these verbs and use them to demonstrate governance patterns across the case studies. We find that governance entities predominantly seek control over paths of change directed at lower governance levels rather than acting at their own level. Governance entities shed responsibility to lower governance levels without providing necessary resources. Finally, we find high potential for the cancelation of efforts due to lack of coordination among governance entities. The set of system archetypes and associated verb list is a first step in laying the foundation for a general typology of and a standardized protocol for representing the dynamics of CIS.

This paper outlines a fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) approach for engaging users in constructing a model for engineering design system analysis. The model’s scope is drawn in reference to a socio-technical system and demonstrated with an assembly production system (a socio-technical system archetype). In particular, this paper focuses on modeling an existing assembly production system that needs to be re-designed, then analyzing the system models to inform the re-design task. The modeling approach engages users as participants (18 in this research) in observation and interviews, and these data are coded into adjacency matrices and fuzzy cognitive maps separately then integrated. The ability to model multiple users and technical entities together in breadth and detail, qualitatively and quantitatively, enables designers to zoom in to see the detail and zoom out to see a holistic perspective. The models are analyzed for overall cause, effect, and central variables. Through the FCM analysis of these variables, the elements of the existing design solution are made explicit, including inputs, external and boundary constraints, design principles, outcomes and outputs, function, and operations and structure. This is particularly useful in re-design, as demonstrated in the industrial re-design project here, where the FCM models make the current system design explicit and their analyses inform re-design intent by being synthesized into re-design foci and tasks.

Currently, information technologies are not standing still, they are in constant change, starting from previous innovations, adjusting not only to market trends, but also the changing economic environment in which they live. A key factor in the development and growth of both the world and the economy of our state in modern realities is the digital economy. It determines the national security and independence of the country, the competitiveness of the players, the country’s place on the world stage. The aim of this article is to make an attempt to understand the prospects of application of information technologies of the digital economy and to study the ways of their use in the programming environment related directly to the economic situation. It is important to identify the role and benefts of technology in the digital economy. Blockchain technology takes its origin in the emergence of cryptocurrency-bitcoin, which serves as an alternative payment system, which in turn, unlike traditional payment systems is not controlled by any state or banks. A distinctive feature of this system is that the addition and storage of data is carried out within the network of nodes, and takes the form of a linear chain, there is no need to involve a Central Supervisory authority in such conditions. Only network users can add new transactions. Thus, for the digital economy, the blockchain system is a distributed database consisting of separate blocks taking the form of an unbroken chain that stores both all the transactions that took place and all the data of wallets that once existed.it is an “eternal digital magazine” that can be programmed to register almost anything that represents a certain value. This explains the fact that not only cryptocurrency fnds its application in the blockchain system. Each cell of the blockchain includes a timestamp and a link to the previous block. Because of what it can be virtually infnite, but in real life the possibilities of technology limit it. As an advanced technology, the blockchain model, various types of cryptocurrencies, in particular bitcoin, as well as the issues of mathematical foundations of the digitalization process, system archetypes and the formation of the framework model have been considered.

Systems archetypes are effective in communicating complex behaviour with relatively simple structures, across a wide range of topics. The “power dynamics” between different power holders are critically important in decision making when it comes to formulating and implementing policies. This topic was explored at a four‐day Australasian systems workshop run in New Zealand. A synthesis approach was combined with analytical procedures from system dynamics (SD). Building on Rahn's “Fear and Greed” political archetype, a conceptual “Power and Influence” political archetype was developed. This political archetype shows the impact of public support. It is used to analyse a crowdfunding story in New Zealand. A small SD concept model was subsequently constructed to test this story and evaluate alternative public support scenarios. A library of political archetypes and concept models would be an asset for the field of SD and provide a means of synthesising insights from case studies and social theory. © 2019 System Dynamics Society

Previous research regarding PhD students’ well-being (PhD-WB) has lacked a comprehensive and systemic analysis. This research engages with a systems approach to examine the multiple variables, including feedback mechanisms, which influence PhD-WB over time. The model was developed using a structural analysis method (Cross-impact analysis MICMAC) that informed a causal loop diagram (CLD). The aim was to understand what promotes (drivers) and inhibits (barriers) PhD students’ well-being. The results show that PhD students’ well-being reflects an interplay between university, financial support, students’ mental and physical health, and family/friends. However, the analysis shows that the role of the drivers is dynamic, and they can become barriers in certain circumstances. This insight validates the application of systems thinking to illustrate the complexity of PhD students’ well-being.

This concluding chapter focuses on the dynamics of reciprocal interaction between human and environmental systems to deal with both present and future uncertainties in Asia. The chapter does so by using the concepts of the system’s archetype as a surrogate for resilience. The approach relies on narrative-based descriptions and patterns of system dynamics in 24 chapters in this volume. Overall, seven system archetypes were found based on the pertaining issues in Asia, as shown by chapters in this volume: eroding goals, fixes that fail, limits to growth, shifting the burden, growth and underinvestment, escalating, and tragedy of the commons. These archetypes offer insight into the root causes and underlying structures from which events emerge over time. As a prospective tool, they can alert natural resource managers to be observant of unintended consequences. The major learning from this chapter and the entire volume is that problems and issues surrounding natural resources management in Asia are diverse, and managers need to consider the merits of context-specific fundamental solutions that are time explicit in the decision-making.

Growing evidence suggests that constraints to the availability and quality of tree seed can undermine the success of forest and landscape restoration efforts and the delivery of associated benefits such as mitigating climate change and halting biodiversity loss. Past experiences to promote tree seed supply have frequently shown limited outcomes over time, partly because of unexpected, deleterious dynamics that emerged from the interventions themselves. In this study, we used a dynamic system approach to understand the inter-related problems that constrain the supply of good quality and site-adapted tree seeds to meet smallholders’ and other stakeholders’ demand in Burkina Faso and the Philippines, and to identify leverage points for intervention. Causal loop diagrams were constructed for each country, based on a framework of indicators of effective tree seed supply systems, literature review, semistructured interviews, and expert validation. The diagrams illustrate the complex interactions between planned interventions and their expected and unexpected effects that frequently lead to adverse outcomes. For example, the high turnover of forestry officers in municipalities to combat corruption in Burkina Faso combined with limited resources to support smallholders undermined the officers’ ability to strengthen local capacities in seedling production and sustainable forest management. In the Philippines, the imposition of rigid requirements for seedling survival rates as a condition for funding, in the absence of adequate time and resources for the production of quality seedlings and monitoring, resulted in exaggerated survival rates during reporting, which in turn hampered the detection and addressing of shortcomings. A dynamic system approach can help stakeholders recognize the broader impacts of their actions and jointly identify appropriate interventions, from developing more context-specific approaches to reconsidering investment criteria to balance benefits.

Global food production systems are currently under scrutiny, in particular the health, nutrition, and environmental impacts of livestock-derived food (LDF). Despite South Africa’s recent socio­economic transformation and increased per-capita LDF consumption, the triple burden of malnutri­tion persists. Policy responses to such complex problems often fail because of linear thinking with short-term goals. However, a systems approach helps identify root causes, feedback mechanisms, potential unintended consequences, and opportu­nities for integrated, durable solutions. Participa­tion in the systems-thinking process improves stakeholder understanding and buy-in. Our par­ticipatory workshop facilitated the development of a systems map for South African LDF, identifying key system elements, linkages, and nexus points. The latter included climate change, land access and management, livestock management and produc­tivity, farming systems, food safety, policy articula­tion, agricultural knowledge, and income. Based on these findings, and an overview of related litera­ture, we produced a conceptual system dynamics model of the LDF system. We identified key vari­ables and causal relationships, vicious and virtuous loops, system archetypes, conceptual stock and flows, and links to Sustainable Development Goals. The LDF system is complex and dynamic, with a dominance of commercial enterprises across agriculture and food retail, presenting barriers for small and medium-scale individuals. Other key elements relate to population growth and urbaniza­tion, land access, deregulation of international trade, climate change vulnerability, feed production limitations, and food safety. Our work provides a unique reference for policymakers, identifying the need for deep structural change, highlighting the possible unintended consequences, and thereby mitigating the risk of system destabilization.

Climate projections show that southern Indonesia such as West Nusa Tenggara is projected to experience a lower precipitation and higher temperatures. To date, research on climate change impact on Indonesian rice production yield is limited. As climate change is projected to decrease rainfall and to increase temperatures, this paper offers a qualitative analysis using system archetypes to understand the impacts of climate change on rice production. Two system archetypes are identified including Limits to Growth and Success to Successful. Both archetypes explain that rice production is hampered by high minimum temperature as photosynthesis output is decreased by increasing respiration. This paper shows that using a simple tool, system archetypes, we can describe the impacts of climate change on rice production. The outputs of this study such as a causal loop diagram and system archetypes can be a basis to develop a simulation model in understanding the impacts of climate change on main crops.

The water-land-food system is essential for sustaining the basic human needs. While the demand for these resources is increasing rapidly, their sustainability has been hampered by a plethora of challenges, including rapid population growth, climate change, land-use change, and land degradation. To attain a sustainable supply and efficiently manage these resources, interactions between all resources and the factors constraining/sustaining them need to be understood. In this chapter, four systems archetypes based or grounded in the systems thinking framework and system dynamics approach were employed to explore and identify the key system drivers, factors, and processes that influence the behaviour and sustainability of water-land-food resources nexus in the Volta River Basin, West Africa. Development of the archetypes centered on a generic causal loop diagram constructed with stakeholders in previous studies capturing the linkages between the population, water system, environmental and socioeconomics. These system archetypes illustrate that the past and the current paradigm of water and land and agricultural production management is unsustainable. The results highlight key areas, which could be useful for the current and future sustainable management, even under uncertain system understanding or deficiencies in quantitative data.

The Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand Inc. All rights reserved. The management of island water systems in highly developed tourism destinations of developing countries presents many challenges in the face of climate change. Such systems are high levels of uncertainty and complexity driven by dynamic interactions amongst multiple climatic and non-climatic drivers with many feedbacks. Understanding complex interactions and feedbacks in the systems is, therefore, critical to develop a long-term strategy for safeguarding a growing water demand from socio-economic development. In this study, an integrated approach was applied to improved management of scarce water resources in Cat Ba Island under high levels of climate change and socio-economic stressors. Specifically, a range of relevant historical data was collected and examined to identify interrelations among climatic and non-climatic drivers on the island water resources. In addition, 961 households in six communes and one town in the Cat Ba Island were interviewed to understand respondents' perspectives on threats and adaptation options for the management of the island's scarce water system. Results of relevant historical data analysis and respondents' perspectives were used together with focus group discussions to develop a causal loop diagram (CLD) for the Cat Ba Island's scarce water resource system under high levels of climate change and tourism development. The CLD provides a comprehensive representation of the island's scarce water resources driven by multiple relationships and interactions amongst climatic and non-climatic drivers as well as adaptation options, represented by two reinforcing loops (R1 and R2), and ten balancing loops (B1 to B10). These loops provide further information on the potential water scarcity in the island in both current and future conditions. Specifically, water demand has been observed to be significantly increased over time due to high levels of population growth and tourism development, depicted by two reinforcing loops (R1 and R2). However, water supply has been decreasing over time due to sea level rise and precipitation decline. These observations are represented by ten balancing loops (B1 to B10) in which seven balancing loops (B4 to B10) represent a "Drifting goals" system archetype to seek the stability in water availability in the system. The next stage of this study is to apply a system dynamics model (SDM) to assess the vulnerability of the island water system in 47 years, from 2014 to 2050 under climatic and non-climatic changes. Simulations targets the year 2050 because it provides a long-term perspective from which the long-term dynamic behaviour of the island water system and the consequences of the plausible future scenarios could be assessed to inform adaptation decision-making. The key climatic and non-climatic drivers and adaptation options from the CLD will be incorporated into the SDM to assess the vulnerability of the island water system and effectiveness of adaptation options under climate change and socio-economic stressors over time. The SDM will be calibrated using relevant historical data, and validated by local stakeholders for decision-making supports. A contingent evaluation method is also applied to examine the determinant factors influencing respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) for building reservoirs and increasing water price for improved management of scarce water resources in a highly developed tourism island under climate change. The logistic regression models and Bayesian networks will be used to identify determinants of the respondents' WTP for the management of the island's scarce water system. The results of this study will assist decision-makers and water managers to understand dynamics behaviour of the system over time, and respondents' perceptions, thereby applying more effective practices to the management of scarce water resources under high levels of climate change and tourism development in the Cat Ba Island, Vietnam.

The biophysical phenomenon of terrestrial moisture recycling connects distant regions via the atmospheric branch of the water cycle. This process, whereby the land surface mediates evaporation to the atmosphere and the precipitation that falls downwind, is increasingly well-understood. However, recent studies highlight a need to consider an important and often missing dimension – the social. Here, we explore the social dynamics of three case study countries with strong terrestrial moisture recycling: Mongolia, Niger, and Bolivia. We first use the WAM-2layers moisture tracking scheme and ERA-Interim climate reanalysis, to calculate the evaporation sources for each country's precipitation, a.k.a. the precipitationshed. Second, we examine the social aspects of source and sink regions, using economic, food security, and land-use data. Third, we perform a literature review of relevant economic links, land-use policies, and land-use change for each country and its evaporation sources. The moisture-recycling analysis reveals that Mongolia, Niger, and Bolivia recycle 13, 9, and 18 % of their own moisture, respectively. Our analysis of social aspects suggests considerable heterogeneity in the social characteristics within each country relative to the societies in its corresponding evaporation sources. We synthesize our case studies and develop a set of three system archetypes that capture the core features of the moisture-recycling social–ecological systems (MRSESs): isolated, regional, and tele-coupled systems. Our key results are as follows: (a) geophysical tele-connections of atmospheric moisture are complemented by social tele-couplings forming feedback loops, and consequently, complex adaptive systems; (b) the heterogeneity of the social dynamics among our case studies renders broad generalization difficult and highlights the need for nuanced individual analysis; and, (c) there does not appear to be a single desirable or undesirable MRSES, with each archetype associated with benefits and disadvantages. This exploration of the social dimensions of moisture recycling is part of an extension of the emerging discipline of socio-hydrology and a suggestion for further exploration of new disciplines such as socio-meteorology or socio-climatology, within which the Earth system is considered as a coevolutionary social–ecological system.

This paper gives a brief introduction to systems thinking and practical insights project managers and business leaders can use in day-to-day interactions. We describe three common systems archetypes: limits-to-growth, fixes-that-fail, and drifting-goals. We illustrate each structure with a description of how system structure drives system behavior in the context of a project-based organization trying to resolve delays. We provide examples of the archetype in other contexts as well as simple suggestions on how to use systems thinking to improve these scenarios. Further reading is suggested with additional sources.

On the Ground The United States Federal Government owns and manages one-third of the land in the United States, primarily in western US states. There is fierce debate on whether the federal government should transfer management of public lands to state control. We reviewed a variety of agency periodicals/ websites, contemporary articles, and/or rangeland textbooks and articles to better understand the key ecologic and socioeconomic processes on public rangelands. Using a systems thinking approach, we identified a number of system archetype structures, including Fixes-that-Backfire, Success-to-the-Successful, and Escalation, in the event that public land is transferred from federal to state control. Transferring management of public lands to state control would affect rangelands from an ecological perspective (e.g., over- or undergrazing) and would have potential socioeconomic impacts on urban and rural communities in the western states through increased friction at the state legislative level rather than ...

Stricter vehicle emissions legislation has driven significant reduction in environmental impact of the vehicle use phase through increasing use of lightweight materials and multi-material concepts to reduce the vehicle mass. The joining techniques used for multi-material designs has led to reduced efficiency of the current shredder-based recycling practices. Although the commonly used Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is effective in assessing the environmental impacts of vehicles, there is a lack of consideration for the changing material and joining trends, and their delayed impact on the end-of-life vehicles (ELV) recyclability. This paper evaluates the temporal effects between vehicle designs and recycling phases using the System Dynamics approach. The behavioural patterns of the vehicle recycling systems show that the commonly used multi-material joining choices have led to increasing impurities and valuable material losses during ELV recycling, that can be characterised to well-known system archetypes: “Fixes that Fail” and “Shifting the Burden”.

Multifunctional crops can simultaneously contribute to multiple societal objectives. As a result, they represent an attractive means for improving rural livelihoods. Moringa oleifera is an example of a multifunctional crop that produces nutritious leaves with uses as food, fodder, and a biostimulant to enhance crop growth. It yields seeds containing a water purifying coagulant and oil with cosmetic uses and possible biofuel feedstock. Despite Moringa oleifera's (and other multifunctional crops') various Food-Energy-Water uses, optimizing the benefits of its multiple uses and livelihood improvements remains challenging. There is a need for holistic approaches capable of assessing the multifunctionality of agriculture and livelihood impacts. Therefore, this paper critically evaluates Moringa oleifera's Food-Energy-Water-Livelihood nexus applications to gain insight into the tradeoffs and synergies among its various applications using a systems thinking approach. A systems approach is proposed as a holistic thinking framework that can help navigate the complexity of a crop's multifunctionality. The “Success to the Successful” systems archetype was adopted to capture the competition between the need for leaf yields and seed yields. In areas where there is energy and water insecurity, Moringa oleifera seed production is recommended for its potential to coproduce oil, the water purifying coagulant, and a residue that can be applied as a fertilizer. In areas where food insecurity is an issue, focusing on leaf production would be beneficial due to its significance in augmenting food for human consumption, animal feed, and its use as a biostimulant to increase crop yields. A causal loop diagram was found to effectively map the interconnections among the various uses of Moringa oleifera and associated livelihood improvements. This framework provides stakeholders with a conceptual decision-making tool that can help maximize positive livelihood outcomes. This approach can also be applied for improved management of other multifunctional crops.

CONTEXT High price volatility in agricultural commodities can be a major issue for value chain actors exposed to its adverse economic impacts. Price volatility results from the interaction of multiple factors linked within dynamic and complex agricultural systems. Therefore, to address price volatility, the approach needs to be capable of analysing feedback that occurs in such complex systems. OBJECTIVE We integrate a systems thinking approach and value chain analysis to overcome the constraint of other methods to explicitly describe and understand how system structure influences system behaviour observed in price volatility and the assessment of the consequences of ex-ante and ex-post policy interventions based on this understanding. METHODS The proposed integrated approach involves the active participation of value chain actors and stakeholders to improve their understanding of the complex systems they operate within including the policy environment. The approach takes the Indonesian chilli value chain as a case study. We implemented the first two steps of systems thinking (i.e., articulating problems and formulating dynamic hypotheses). In the group model building processes, we developed causal loop diagrams to represent a dynamic hypothesis that explains the feedback loops that cause price oscillation behaviour and systems archetypes that identify potential intervention points. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS The integrated approach was able to link the Indonesian chilli value chain's system structure and the system behaviour observed in price volatility. The causal loop diagram clearly displays the feedback between production, market governance, consumption, and price. The diagram also portrays how these factors impact value chain actors' performance and the influence of time delays and random shocks on the entire value chain system. Limits to growth and shifting the burden archetypes were identified as critical leverage points in formulating fundamental policy interventions to address price volatility. SIGNIFICANCE This study demonstrates the strengths of the proposed approach in developing a comprehensive dynamic qualitative model of a whole value chain system that influences the system behaviour, such as oscillation, which other modelling studies do not consider. The use of system archetypes to identify intervention points is another research contribution in that it improves value chain analysis. The results also highlight the benefits of participatory system dynamics modelling in enhancing the learning of value chain actors in anticipating the consequences of any actions or random shocks on the entire systems.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the leverage points in the Vietnamese coffee supply chain (SC) that would be used for increasing competitive advantages of the product. Design/methodology/approach A sequential approach by combining two established modelling techniques (causal loop diagram and Bayesian belief networks) was applied to identify the leverage points in the Vietnamese coffee SC for increasing the competitive advantages of the product. Data for the study were collected from a series of workshops and in-depth interviews with numerous relevant stakeholders of the coffee industry in the central highland of Vietnam. Findings The systems’ archetypes were developed and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify potential factors that can increase the competitive advantages of coffee production. The results indicate that higher investment in all elements of the coffee SC will lead to an enhanced competitive advantage. Originality/value Supply chain management (SCM) has become a potentially valuable method for improving competitive advantages, as competition is no longer only between organizations but also among SCs. Therefore, this research focus on enhancing the competitive advantages of production via SCM.

Grassland conversion to row-crop production in the north central United States has been a growing threat to socio-economic and environmental sustainability for producers, conservationists, and policy-makers alike. We used a system dynamics model of the region to forecast agriculturally driven land transformation through mid-twenty-first century. The base-case scenario projection showed that farmland area continued to increase, from under 200,000 km2 to over 230,000 km2. Unmitigated, the soil environmental risk (SER) of such changes reached conservative estimates of Dust Bowl-era externalities. Systems analyses show that reducing livestock production costs, doubling conservation compliance requirements, and livestock–cropping integration had the largest impact on grassland conservation and mitigating SER. The largest SER effects came from eliminating conservation incentives or raising cultivation incentives, despite improvements in reduced tillage and enhanced agronomy. Several system archetypes we...

Projects and programs: those two concepts are not one same side of a coin or even two different sides of a same coin. Despite the growing consensus among the project management community around the differences between the two topics, many organizations still fail to adopt a governance framework that considers such differences. The consequence is a domino effect: programs are treated as large projects, short-term focus values only the delivery of capabilities by component projects, an unhealthy internal competition between said projects is established, the organization’s resources are burdened, and ultimately, organizations fail to realize benefits to their full potential. In this paper, we show that such situation fits into two well-known system archetypes, namely "Success to the Successful" and "Tragedy of the Commons". As case-study, we present a large, multi-year, multi-million Brazilian Government initiative, as well as the results achieved by said initiative, before and after a proper governance framework was in place. We also use System Dynamics to simulate and demonstrate said results, but also to forecast the expected results for the years yet to come, now that the programs and projects are given the proper treatment.

System Dynamics can be a powerful tool for understanding dynamics, especially feedback behaviours, in many social-ecological systems where sustainable pathways are sought. Along with quantitative simulations and optimization packages, System Dynamics offers qualitative tools (e.g. system archetypes, Causal Loop Diagrams, and Stock and Flow Diagrams) for further enhancing understanding. Like all methods, System Dynamics can be applied effectively and successfully for specific objectives in specific contexts by some analysts and modellers, but can also be used poorly and potentially unethically by others. This paper investigates the potential of System Dynamics to support Sustainability and the role played by modellers, including their practices and assumptions, in developing this potential. This is achieved by reviewing the application of System Dynamics within the context of the sustainability literature and how there are multiple levels of boundary judgements to be made by System Dynamics modellers, their commissioners and stakeholders: specifically around the sustainability principles that provide the criteria by which policy options from the modelling are evaluated; definitions of problem scope; and around the extent of dynamic processes explicitly considered in both the qualitative and quantitative System Dynamics thinking and modelling practice. To illustrate how boundary judgements matter for sustainability modelling, we draw on three examples, and discuss the potential risks and challenges these raise. The paper also discusses how and why System Dynamics needs to be used by analysts in a more complete manner (i.e. engaging qualitative, quantitative, and participatory approaches) to ensure that in any given applied case, the models, and the judgements underpinning their development, are effectively embedded in societal and political contexts that allow their use for supporting sustainability.

Current dynamic business environment forces managers to apply various tools in order to improve organisational performance and effectiveness. System archetypes enable to cope with complexity and make appropriate decisions. This study is theoretically grounded in the field of economic cybernetics and system archetype analysis. It applies qualitative research on the sample of 54 managers with the high level of seniority. The aim is to reveal whether system archetypes are effectively used in practice. Two hypotheses focused on both knowledge about and application of system archetypes are tested. The results prove that there are inconsistencies tied to forms of system archetypes insight and knowledge. Moreover, there is an inadequate level of attention identified in investigated organisations. Results imply various potential research pathways that are outlined in the final section of the paper. Hence, the manuscript offers a unique insight into the current state of practical system archetypes utilisation and contributes to the explanation of the role of system archetypes in the economic cybernetics framework.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development outlines 17 individual Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that guide the needs of practice for many professional disciplines around the world, including engineering, research, policy, and development. The SDGs represent commitments to reduce poverty, hunger, ill health, gender inequality, environmental degradation, and lack of access to clean water and sanitation. If a typical reductionist approach is employed to address and optimize individual goals, it may lead to a failure in technological, policy, or managerial development interventions through unintended consequences in other goals. This study uses a systems approach to understand the fundamental dynamics between the SDGs in order to identify potential synergies and antagonisms. A conceptual system model was constructed to illustrate the causal relationships between SDGs, examine system structures using generic system archetypes, and identify leverage points to effectively influence intentional and minimize unintentional changes in the system. The structure of interactions among the SDGs reflects three archetypes of system behavior: Reinforcing Growth, Limits to Growth, and Growth and Underinvestment. The leverage points identified from the conceptual model are gender equality, sustainable management of water and sanitation, alternative resources, sustainable livelihood standards, and global partnerships. Such a conceptual system analysis of SDGs can enhance the likelihood that the development community will broaden its understanding of the potential synergistic benefits of their projects on resource management, environmental sustainability, and climate change. By linking the interactions and feedbacks of those projects with economic gains, women’s empowerment, and educational equality, stakeholders can recognize holistic improvements that can be made to the quality of life of many of the world’s poor.

Construction projects plays an important role in nation’s development. The complexity and dynamic environment of the construction industry characterized it frequent cost, time overruns, low quality, etc. for construction project management. This study therefore uses a systems thinking approach to identify the key variables that are affecting this trend. Casual loop and Systems Archetypes were used to develop systems models to determine the components and interactions between the policy and the social, environmental and economic dimensions of the industry. As demonstrated in the aforementioned CLD and archetypes, construction projects will remain to be the engine that develops and empowers the emerging and existing commercial business, housing sectors and nation building across Africa. This systems thinking approach will also provide more clarity in dealing with the complex management challenges and gradually replace the traditional theoretical approach of dealing with construction project management.

Ocean Literacy (OL) has multiple aspects or dimensions: from knowledge about how the oceans work and our impact on them, to attitudes toward topics such as sustainable fisheries, and our behaviour as consumers, tourists, policy makers, fishermen, etc. The myriad ways in which individuals, society and the oceans interact result in complex dynamic systems, composed of multiple interlinked chains of cause and effect. To influence our understanding of these systems, and thereby increase our OL, means to increase our knowledge of our own and others¿ place and role in the web of interactions. Systems Thinking has a potentially important role to play in helping us to understand, explain and manage problems in the human-ocean relationship. Leaders in the OL field have recommended taking a systems approach in order to deal with the complexity of the human-ocean relationship. They contend that the inclusion of modelling and simulation will improve the effectiveness of educational initiatives. In this paper we describe a pilot study centred on a browser-based Simulation-Based Learning Environment (SBLE) designed for a general audience that uses System Dynamics simulation to introduce and reinforce systems-based OL learning. It uses a storytelling approach, by explaining the dynamics of coastal tourism through a System Dynamics model revealed in stages, supported by fact panels, pictures, simulation-based tasks, causal loop diagrams and quiz questions. Participants in the pilot study were mainly postgraduate students. A facilitator was available to participants at all times, as needed. The model is based on a freely available normalised coastal tourism model by Hartmut Bossel, converted to XMILE format. Through the identification and use of systems archetypes and general systems features such as feedback loops, we also tested for the acquisition of transferable skills and the ability to identify, apply or create sustainable solutions. Levels of OL were measured before and after interaction with the tool using pre- and post-survey questionnaires and interviews. Results showed moderate to very large positive effects on all the OL dimensions, which are also shown to be associated with predictors of behaviour change. These results provide motivation for further research. This research was carried out as part of the project ResponSEAble (Project No. 652643), funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. peer-reviewed

Background: Systems thinking, a fundamental approach for understanding complexity, is beginning to gain traction in sports science. Systems archetypes (SAs) describe common recurring patterns of system behaviors and have been used extensively in other domains to explain the system wide influences on behavior. SAs look at the deeper levels of systemic structure by identifying what creates system behaviors, which supports the development of interventions to identify and resolve problem sources. Methods: Four commonly used SAs were used to explain the dynamics underpinning recurring issues for coaching in football: (1) Fixes that fail, (2) Shifting the burden, (3) Drifting goals, and (4) Success to the successful. The SAs models were built, refined and validated by seven subject matter experts (SMEs) including experienced football researchers, systems thinking experts, an international football coach, a skill acquisition specialist, and an experienced exercise scientist. Results: The findings show that the SAs fit well in the football coaching context, providing further evidence that a complex system thinking approach is required when considering football performance and its optimization. The developed SAs identify the factors that play a role in recurring issues in football coaching and highlight the systemic structures that contribute to the issues. The developed SAs identify the appropriate leverage points in the system where sustainable change can be made to improve coaching practice and subsequent performance of players. Discussion: A common theme emerging across the analyses was that systemic problems often arise in football when quick fixes are attempted. Whereas, improvements to system behavior usually require a delay after the implementation of the appropriate corrective action. The SAs developed in the current study also provide practical templates of common problems in football that can be used to prompt discussions around how to avoid ineffective interventions and instead make sustainable improvements across multiple aspects of football performance.

Fil: Rocha, Juan C. Stockholm University. Stockholm Resilience Centre. Stockholm, Suecia. Fil: Baraibar, Matilda M. Stockholm University. Department of Economic History and International Relations. Stockholm, Suecia. Fil: Deutsch, Lisa. Stockholm University. Stockholm Resilience Centre. Stockholm, Suecia. Fil: Bremond, Ariane de. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment. Bern, Suiza. Fil: Oestreicher, Jordan S. Universidade de Brasília. Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Distrito Federal, Brasil. Fil: Rositano, Florencia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cerealicultura. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Gelabert, Cecilia Corina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Economía, Desarrollo y Planeamiento Agrícola. Cátedra de Sistemas Agroalimentarios. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Climate change, financial shocks, and fluctuations in international trade are some of the reasons why resilience is increasingly invoked in discussions about land-use policy. However, resilience assessments come with the challenge of operationalization, upscaling their conclusions while considering the context-specific nature of land-use dynamics and the common lack of long-term data. We revisit the approach of system archetypes for identifying resilience surrogates and apply it to land-use systems using seven case studies spread across Latin America. The approach relies on expert knowledge and literature-based characterizations of key processes and patterns of land-use change synthesized in a data template. These narrative accounts are then used to guide development of causal networks, from which potential surrogates for resilience are identified. This initial test of the method shows that deforestation, international trade, technological improvements, and conservation initiatives are key drivers of land-use change, and that rural migration, leasing and land pricing, conflicts in property rights, and international spillovers are common causal pathways that underlie land-use transitions. Our study demonstrates how archetypes can help to differentiate what is generic from context dependant. They help identify common causal pathways and leverage points across cases to further elucidate how policies work and where, as well as what policy lessons might transfer across heterogeneous settings. tbls., grafs., mapas