scholarly journals Understanding Complexity in Freshwater Management: Practitioners’ Perspectives in The Netherlands

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Rutten ◽  
Steve Cinderby ◽  
Jennie Barron
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Freshwater Management

Ecosystems have been stabilized by human interventions to optimize delivery of certain ecosystem services, while at the same time awareness has grown that these systems are inherently dynamic rather than steady state. Applied research fields have emerged that try to increase adaptive capacity in these ecosystems, using concepts deriving from the theory of complex adaptive systems. How are these concepts of complexity interpreted and applied by practitioners? This study applies a mixed-methods approach to analyze the case of freshwater management in The Netherlands, where a management paradigm promoting nature-fixating interventions is recently being replaced with a new paradigm of nature-based solutions. We find that practitioners have widely varying interpretations of concepts and of how the ecosystems they work in have evolved over time when described with complex system attributes. This study allows for the emergence of key complexity-related considerations among practitioners that are not often discussed in literature: (i) the need for physical and institutional space for self-organization of nature; (ii) the importance of dependency and demand management; and (iii) trade-offs between robustness and flexibility. This study, furthermore, stresses the importance of using practitioners’ views to guide applied research and practice in this field.

scholarly journals Economic and Energy Systems: Evolution of Structural Links During the Transition to a New Paradigm of Socio-Economic Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-313
Author(s):  
Vadim Loktionov ◽  
Elena Loktionova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
State Energy ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Complex Adaptive

Complex adaptive systems, which are energy and economic systems, evolve with changes in both the external and internal environment. To form an effective state energy and economic policy, it is necessary, on the one hand, to identify the incentives that make these systems change, and on the other, to determine the trends of the changes taking place. The importance of this task is determined by the fact that without its solution, an effective state policy, consis­ting in stimulating positive adaptive changes and correcting undesirable changes, cannot be implemented. The purpose of the research is to identify key features of economic and energy systems and also reveal the facts that influence their further development. The use of the systematic approach allowed us to give a definition of economic and energy systems and examine the features of their functioning and development. As a result of the content analysis of publicistic and scientific literature dedicated to sustainable development, a pyramid of priorities for social and economic development was elaborated. Relevant structural changes of economic and energy systems were also revealed and main trends in the evolution of their structural ties in the transition to a new paradigm of socio-economic development were identified. The obtained results can be used for increasing effectiveness and rationality of management decisions which influence state energy and economic policy.

Nurturing intelligent human systems: the nonlinear perspective of the human minds*

2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Thow Yick
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Edge Of Chaos ◽  
Order And Disorder ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Knowledge Structuring ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Human Systems

Organizing around intrinsic intelligence is a new paradigm that all human organizations must adopt if they wish to evolve successfully in the emerging intelligence revolution. This fresh mindset perceives human systems as intelligent corporate beings possessing an orgmind and a collective intelligence of their own. Intelligence is the entity that drives the universe and its microcosms. Some attributes associated with human intelligence are mindfulness, information processing, knowledge structuring, and nonlinearity. Nonlinearity, in particular, is manifested because the inherent sources of intelligence, the human minds, are complex adaptive systems where order and disorder co-exist. Human organizations that are intelligent are able to tap on and exploit these characteristics collectively and effectively. Consequently, these organizations are able to learn, adapt, self-organize and co-evolve quickly with their environment as biological beings. Their intelligent structure is also better at exploiting the innovative and creative energy embedded at the edge of chaos.

scholarly journals A New Conceptual ‘Cylinder’ Framework for Sustainable Bioeconomy Systems and Their Actors

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo de Vries ◽  
Mechthild Donner ◽  
Monique Axelos
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Linear Chain ◽  
Outer Cylinder ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Social Organizational ◽  
Over Exploitation ◽  
Linear Product

AbstractConcepts for sustainable bioeconomy systems are gradually replacing the ones on linear product chains. The reason is that continuously expanding linear chain activities are considered to contribute to climate change, reduced biodiversity, over-exploitation of resources, food insecurity, and the double burden of disease. Are sustainable bioeconomy systems a guarantee for a healthy planet? If yes, why, when, and how? In literature, different sustainability indicators have been presented to shed light on this complicated question. Due to high degrees of complexity and interactions of actors in bioeconomy systems, trade-offs and non-linear outcomes became apparent. This fueled the debates about the normative dimensions of the bioeconomy. In particular, the behavior of actors and the utilization of products do not seem to be harmonized according to the environmental, social, and economic pillars of sustainability. Potential conflicts require a new conceptual framework that is here introduced. It consists of a ‘sustainability’ cylinder captured between an inner-cylinder, representing order, and an outer-cylinder for chaos, based on the laws of physics and complex adaptive systems. Such a framework permits (bioeconomy) systems to propagate in the sustainability zone only if they follow helical pathways serving as the new norms. Helices are a combination of two sinusoidal patterns. The first represents here the sustainable behavior of interacting actors and the second the balanced usage of resources and products. The latter counteracts current growth discourses. The applicability of the conceptual cylinder framework is positively verified via 9 cases in Europe, which encompass social-organizational and product-technological innovations. –

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