Systems for Sustainability

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Plenary

   1. Learning to Persist

      • Richard Bawden

      Pages 1-5

   2. Politics for Sustainability

      • Margaret Blunden

      Pages 7-13

   3. Requirements Analysis for Information Systems

      • Enid Mumford

      Pages 15-20

3. Systems for Environmental Sustainability

   1. Using Systems for Sustainability in the Context of Agenda 21

      • Christine Blackmore

      Pages 21-26

   2. Coping with Environmental Uncertainty by Social Learning

      • Susan Carr, Les Levidow

      Pages 27-31

   3. Putting Sustainability into Practice in Agricultural Research for Development

      • P. G. Cox, N. D. MacLeod, A. D. Shulman

      Pages 33-38

   4. Proletku’lt, Revolution, and Tektology

      • Peter Dudley, Simona Pustylnik

      Pages 39-42

   5. The Integration of Systemic and Scientific Thinking in the Development of an Innovative Process for Environmental Management

      • James Frederickson, Norah Frederickson

      Pages 43-49

   6. The Practical Use of Systems Methodologies in Environmental Management

      • W. E. Hutchinson

      Pages 51-56

   7. Sustainability and Systems Thinking

      • Paul Jeffrey, Roger Seaton, Mark Lemon

      Pages 57-62

   8. Sustainable Intervention

      • Wei Hua Jin

      Pages 63-66

   9. Sustainable Transport Development in Developing Countries

      • C. Jotin Khisty

      Pages 67-72

   10. The Assessment and Management of Wildlife Areas

       • Andrew Lane, Sue Oreszczyn

       Pages 73-77

   11. Emergent Practice in Agricultural Research

       • David McClintock, Stephany Kersten, Ray Ison

       Pages 79-83

   12. Movement and Sustainability

       • Ingrid Molderez

       Pages 85-90

   13. The Technology of Sustainable Agricultural Systems

       • R. M. Morris

       Pages 91-95

   14. Sustainability and Viability

       • Neil Stewart, Gerard Lewis

       Pages 97-102

4. Reflections of Systems Thinking and Practice

   1. The Invisible Practitioner or the Holistic Practitioner?

      • R. Armson

      Pages 103-108

   2. Occupational Therapy

      • Martin Booy, Gail Boniface

      Pages 109-113

The term "sustainability" has entered the lexicon of many academic disciplines and fields of professional practice, but to date does not appear to have been seriously consid­ ered within the systems community unless, perhaps, under other guises. Within the wider community there is no consensus around what sustainability means with some authors identifying 70 to 100 definitions of the term. Some see sustainability as the precise and quantifiable outcomes of biological systems whilst others see it in terms of processes rele­ vant to personal and organizational change with the potential to effect changes in our rela­ tionships with out environments. Internationally it has been increasingly used in relation to the term "sustainable development"--a term popularised by the Brundland Commis­ of definitions sion's report in 1987 entitled "Our Common Future. " Despite this diversity and polarised perception on its utility, unlike many other popular terms, it has not had its time and subsided quietly from our language. It is therefore timely for the systems com­ munity to explore the relationship between systems and sustainability in a range of con­ texts. Participants in this, the 5th International Conference of the United Kingdom Systems Society (UKSS), have been invited to reflect critically on the contribution of sys­ tems thinking and action to sustainability-to the sustainability of personal relationships, the organizations in which live and work, and our "natural" environment.

• Analysis
• Information System
• change management
• learning
• linear optimization
• organization

• De Montfort University, Milton Keynes, UK

  Frank A. Stowell, Sue Jackson, Steve McRobb

• The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

  Ray L. Ison, Rosalind Armson, Jacky Holloway

Policies and ethics