We live in an ever-increasing unsustainable world in which sustainability shows to be a complex multidimensional and multi-stakeholder problem. The complexity to address is increasingly beyond our traditional response capabilities. Hence the challenge is “how we account for this complexity in the quest for a sustainable world underpinned by inclusion and fairness” (Espejo 2018). What is required is to account for the “individual and cumulative social, environmental and economic implications of decision or process based on an understanding of the systemic nature of the world, the interconnectedness of natural and human systems”, and for the “direct and indirect consequences for people and ecosystems based on an understanding of the global nature of the world and how local and regional issues are part of the whole” (Crofton 2000: 400). People and technology are key resources for addressing the above challenge. Dominant interpretative and governance approaches, however, tend to reduce complex problems to the application of techno-centric knowledge and pseudo-solutions focusing on single aspects of the problems instead of trying to capture and read their complexity as a whole. Governance in such complex contexts requires challenging our dominant thinking, practices, institutions and development narratives (Ison 2017, http://wosc2017rome.asvsa.org/). Any phenomenon of reality relevant to the goals of sustainability and sustainable development is indeed characterized by highly interconnected dynamics that involve a variety of ecological, social and economic dimensions that cannot be effectively analysed in isolation (Holling 2001). When dealing with such complex, interrelated, real-world, riddled with uncertainties and contested problems disciplinary knowledge requires being effectively integrated and linked to action (Best and Holmes 2010). Inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches are needed in order a body of knowledge can be co-produced which is capable of overcoming the limits of still fragmented and specialized disciplines and capable to include all perspectives, interests, values of all actors involved or affected (Barile et al. 2018a). Active collaboration with various stakeholders throughout society—transdisciplinarity—must form a critical component of sustainability science” (Yarime et al. 2012: 101). Since its origins, Sustainability Science has been engaged in such missions, providing a platform for building a corpus of knowledge which can “point the way to a sustainable global society by facing challenges that existing disciplines have not addressed” (https://link.springer.com/journal/11625): although the academic landscape has constantly evolved over the years, shifting from discussions focused on specialized fields to an interdisciplinary debate that pursues a comprehensive understanding of social, economic and ecological systems, there is still much work to do (Komiyama and Takeuchi 2006; Orecchini et al. 2012; Wiek et al. 2012). Many scholars highlight these still-unfulfilled needs, as follows: “The problems needing to be addressed are complex and interconnected; they cannot be understood through the lens of a single specialization and they cannot be solved when isolated into compartments. Sustainability leaders will need the ability to be flexible and innovative, to think and communicate with others outside narrow disciplines” (Robertson 2014: 309); “While furnished with a diverse range of perspectives and approaches, development practice is in need of ways to better conceptualize the interactions between the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability so that opportunities for simultaneous improvement in human and ecological well-being can be identified more readily” (Smith 2011: 1); “People with a broad interdisciplinary outlook […] are being sought out to offer systemic approaches that are capable of dealing with the complexity of the problems and the tasks we face’’ (Crofton 2000: 400). Principles and rules underlying the complexity of the problems and the tasks we face, then, are to be identified and operationalized, as well as well-grounded theoretical frameworks that can offer general-level interpretation schemes and models that are capable of supporting the understanding of complex phenomena, and suffer less from the passing of time. Therefore, comprehensive frameworks capable of supporting the shift from a simple combination of knowledge to the required integration seem to be still missing. If we agree that “What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning” (Heisenberg, 1958: 57), then the method of questioning adopted is determinant to the understanding of any experienced phenomenon and always affects the cognitive interpretation process and its outcomes (Barile 2009). On the basis of these premises, this Special Feature has been launched to collect contributions from various disciplinary domains that propose frameworks of reference that can be easily shared among scholars and professionals to contribute to the building of a comprehensive body of knowledge for sustainability science. This Special Feature is one of the outcomes of the WOSC 2017, the 17th edition of the Congress of the World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics, a world organization that invites scientists, policy-makers, professionals, and students across the globe to contribute to the debate of the dynamics underpinning contemporary societal problems from cybersystemic perspectives. WOSC offers a space for conversations about social dynamics from multiple points of view. A call for multidisciplinary approaches launched to collaborate to the creation of inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge within the shared theme of problem-solving and decision-making in the twenty-first century. Multiple conversations have helped to integrate the variety of themes in the construction of the WOSC 2017s’ agenda that has been highly participative valorising diversity within the overarching theme of “Science with and for Society—Contributions of Cybernetics and Systems”. To be effectively addressed, the challenge of sustainability requires research and education to move from a merely descriptive–analytic mode towards a transformational one. These fundamental requirements imply a strong collaborative commitment of Science, Policy and Society towards the envisioning and realization of a Sustainable Future. Hence, this Special Feature aims to offer a contribution to the development of general reference frameworks that can support the understanding of issues related to “people, technology, and governance for sustainability” by adopting systems and cyber-systemic perspectives. In what follows, we first briefly discuss the main contribution of systems thinking as a paradigm useful to interpret and address the complexity of sustainability issues at methodological and practical level. Subsequently, we illustrate the contents of the papers included in this Special Feature. Finally, we outline some concluding remarks.
People, technology, and governance for sustainability: the contribution of systems and cyber-systemic thinking
Saviano, Marialuisa
;
2018-01-01
Abstract
We live in an ever-increasing unsustainable world in which sustainability shows to be a complex multidimensional and multi-stakeholder problem. The complexity to address is increasingly beyond our traditional response capabilities. Hence the challenge is “how we account for this complexity in the quest for a sustainable world underpinned by inclusion and fairness” (Espejo 2018). What is required is to account for the “individual and cumulative social, environmental and economic implications of decision or process based on an understanding of the systemic nature of the world, the interconnectedness of natural and human systems”, and for the “direct and indirect consequences for people and ecosystems based on an understanding of the global nature of the world and how local and regional issues are part of the whole” (Crofton 2000: 400). People and technology are key resources for addressing the above challenge. Dominant interpretative and governance approaches, however, tend to reduce complex problems to the application of techno-centric knowledge and pseudo-solutions focusing on single aspects of the problems instead of trying to capture and read their complexity as a whole. Governance in such complex contexts requires challenging our dominant thinking, practices, institutions and development narratives (Ison 2017, http://wosc2017rome.asvsa.org/). Any phenomenon of reality relevant to the goals of sustainability and sustainable development is indeed characterized by highly interconnected dynamics that involve a variety of ecological, social and economic dimensions that cannot be effectively analysed in isolation (Holling 2001). When dealing with such complex, interrelated, real-world, riddled with uncertainties and contested problems disciplinary knowledge requires being effectively integrated and linked to action (Best and Holmes 2010). Inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches are needed in order a body of knowledge can be co-produced which is capable of overcoming the limits of still fragmented and specialized disciplines and capable to include all perspectives, interests, values of all actors involved or affected (Barile et al. 2018a). Active collaboration with various stakeholders throughout society—transdisciplinarity—must form a critical component of sustainability science” (Yarime et al. 2012: 101). Since its origins, Sustainability Science has been engaged in such missions, providing a platform for building a corpus of knowledge which can “point the way to a sustainable global society by facing challenges that existing disciplines have not addressed” (https://link.springer.com/journal/11625): although the academic landscape has constantly evolved over the years, shifting from discussions focused on specialized fields to an interdisciplinary debate that pursues a comprehensive understanding of social, economic and ecological systems, there is still much work to do (Komiyama and Takeuchi 2006; Orecchini et al. 2012; Wiek et al. 2012). Many scholars highlight these still-unfulfilled needs, as follows: “The problems needing to be addressed are complex and interconnected; they cannot be understood through the lens of a single specialization and they cannot be solved when isolated into compartments. Sustainability leaders will need the ability to be flexible and innovative, to think and communicate with others outside narrow disciplines” (Robertson 2014: 309); “While furnished with a diverse range of perspectives and approaches, development practice is in need of ways to better conceptualize the interactions between the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability so that opportunities for simultaneous improvement in human and ecological well-being can be identified more readily” (Smith 2011: 1); “People with a broad interdisciplinary outlook […] are being sought out to offer systemic approaches that are capable of dealing with the complexity of the problems and the tasks we face’’ (Crofton 2000: 400). Principles and rules underlying the complexity of the problems and the tasks we face, then, are to be identified and operationalized, as well as well-grounded theoretical frameworks that can offer general-level interpretation schemes and models that are capable of supporting the understanding of complex phenomena, and suffer less from the passing of time. Therefore, comprehensive frameworks capable of supporting the shift from a simple combination of knowledge to the required integration seem to be still missing. If we agree that “What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning” (Heisenberg, 1958: 57), then the method of questioning adopted is determinant to the understanding of any experienced phenomenon and always affects the cognitive interpretation process and its outcomes (Barile 2009). On the basis of these premises, this Special Feature has been launched to collect contributions from various disciplinary domains that propose frameworks of reference that can be easily shared among scholars and professionals to contribute to the building of a comprehensive body of knowledge for sustainability science. This Special Feature is one of the outcomes of the WOSC 2017, the 17th edition of the Congress of the World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics, a world organization that invites scientists, policy-makers, professionals, and students across the globe to contribute to the debate of the dynamics underpinning contemporary societal problems from cybersystemic perspectives. WOSC offers a space for conversations about social dynamics from multiple points of view. A call for multidisciplinary approaches launched to collaborate to the creation of inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge within the shared theme of problem-solving and decision-making in the twenty-first century. Multiple conversations have helped to integrate the variety of themes in the construction of the WOSC 2017s’ agenda that has been highly participative valorising diversity within the overarching theme of “Science with and for Society—Contributions of Cybernetics and Systems”. To be effectively addressed, the challenge of sustainability requires research and education to move from a merely descriptive–analytic mode towards a transformational one. These fundamental requirements imply a strong collaborative commitment of Science, Policy and Society towards the envisioning and realization of a Sustainable Future. Hence, this Special Feature aims to offer a contribution to the development of general reference frameworks that can support the understanding of issues related to “people, technology, and governance for sustainability” by adopting systems and cyber-systemic perspectives. In what follows, we first briefly discuss the main contribution of systems thinking as a paradigm useful to interpret and address the complexity of sustainability issues at methodological and practical level. Subsequently, we illustrate the contents of the papers included in this Special Feature. Finally, we outline some concluding remarks.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
