Table Of ContentSystems for Sustainability
People, Organizations,
and Environments
Edited by
Frank A. Stowell
De Montfort University
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Ray L. Ison
Rosalind Armson
Jacky Holloway
The Open University
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Sue Jackson
Steve McRobb
De Montfort University
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Systems for Sustainability
People, Organizations,
and Environments
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Systems for sustainability : people, organisations, and environments /
edited by Frank A. Stowell ... (et al J.
p. c«.
Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference of the United
Kingdom Systems Society on Systems for SustaInability: People,
Organisations, and Environments, held July 7-11, 1997, in Milton
Keynes, U.K.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4899-0267-2
1. Management information systems—Congresses. 2. System
analysis—Congresses. I. Stoweii, Frank A. II. International
Conference of the United Kingdom Systems Society on Systems for
Sustainabiiity: People, Organisations, and Environments (5th : 1997
: Milton Keynes, England)
T58.64.S95 1997
658. A ' 038—dc21 97-25878
CIP
Proceedings of the Fifth Internationa! Conference of the United Kingdom Systems Society on
Systems for Sustainability: People, Organisations, and Environments,
held July 7-11,1997, in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
ISBN 978-1-4899-0267-2 ISBN 978-1-4899-0265-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-0265-8
©1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1997
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1997
All rights reserved
10987654321
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise,
without written permission from the Publisher
PREFACE
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
sion's report in 1987 entitled "Our Common Future." Despite this diversity of definitions
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. Papers explore
whether systems thinking has contributed at all and the extent to which the various con
ceptions of "sustainability" are systemic. In these proceedings these questions are ex
plored in seven themes: systems for environmental sustainability; reflections on systems
thinking and practice; learning organizations and systems; critical systems; methodology
use and development; information system development; innovation and organization and
change management.
Collectively, the papers represent an important contribution to ongoing dialogue
about sustainability and systems as a domain of inquiry and practice. Those of you who
look to this volume to sharpen the definition(s) of sustainability will be disappointed. As
Andrew Campbell (1994) has observed: "attempts to define sustainability miss the point
that, like beauty, sustainability is in the eye of the beholder ... it is inevitable that assess
ments of. .. sustainability are socially constructed, which is why there are so many defini
tions." The contributed papers represent the perspectives of authors from 17 countries.
They provide a contemporary and challenging synthesis of systems scholarship of rele
vance to practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and any citizens concerned with effect
ing change which might be described as systemic and sustainable.
This conference and proceedings celebrates a decade of conference achievement by
the UKSS. It is a non-profit making professional society committed to the development
and promotion of "systems" philosophy, theory, models, concepts and methodologies for
v
vi Preface
improving decision-making and problem-solving for the benefit of organisations and the
wider society. Membership currently stands at over 300 people. The Fifth International
Conference was co-hosted by The Open University and De Montfort University. De Mont
fort University is a pioneering and innovative institution and one of Britain's largest uni
versities with around 28,000 students based at four centres. The Open University, which
has pioneered supported open learning, is the UK's largest University with over 150,000
students in 1995.
Rosalind Armson
Jacky Holloway
Ray L. Ison
Sue Jackson
Steve McRobb
Frank A. Stowell
REFERENCE
Campbell, A. (1994) Participatory inquiry: beyond research and extension in the sustainability era. Proc. Interna
tional Symposium on Systems-Oriented Research in Agriculture and Rural Development, Montpellier,
France.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Clearly the success of an international conference is because of the efforts and sup
port of a large number of people. Over the last decade the UKSS has held conferences at a
number of Universities within the UK and in each case enjoyed a high level of support and
encouragement from the staff at those Universities. Judging by the support that we are en
joying from the two host Universities of the 5th International UKSS conference we are
pleased to report that this tradition continues to thrive. The committee would like to ex
press their thanks, and the thanks of the United Kingdom Systems Society, to the members
of staff at the Open University and De Montfort University for the support and encourage
ment given by them to the conference. In particular we wish to thank the Vice Chancellors
of the hosting institutions Sir John Daniel and Professor Kenneth Barker and also to the
Pro-Vice Chancellors Professor Chiddick and Geoff Peters who have given active support
for this important event on the UKSS calendar.
The work of the conference committee has been lightened by the unstinting support
given by the conference secretariat, Sheila Williamson and Kelly Fabian, who have so
ably assisted in the administration and in the preparation of these proceedings.
vII
COMMITTEE
PROGRAMME
Rosalind Armson Jackie Holloway Ray Ison
Sue Jackson Steve McRobb Frank Stowell
The committee would also like to thank the co-sponsors of this event:
The Greek Systems Society The Spanish Systems Society
The Italian Systems Society The Czech Systems Society
The Australian Systems Society The French System South
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Hector Rincom Gianfranco Minati
Bill Reckmeyer Evelyne Andreewsky
CONTENTS
Plenary
1. Learning to Persist: A Systemic View of Development .................... .
Richard Bawden
2. Politics for Sustainability 7
Margaret Blunden
3. Requirements Analysis for Information Systems: The QUICKethics Approach. . 15
Enid Mumford
Systems for Environmental Sustainability
4. Using Systems for Sustainability in the Context of Agenda 21 21
Christine Blackmore
5. Coping with Environmental Uncertainty by Social Learning: The Case of
Agricultural Biotechnology Regulation in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Susan Carr and Les Levidow
6. Putting Sustainability into Practice in Agricultural Research for Development 33
P. G. Cox, N. D. MacLeod, and A. D. Shulman
7. Proletku 'lt, Revolution, and Tektology: Systemness as a Factor of Sustainability 39
Peter Dudley and Simona Pustylnik
8. The Integration of Systemic and Scientific Thinking in the Development of an
Innovative Process for Environmental Management .................. 43
James Frederickson and Norah Frederickson
9. The Practical Use of Systems Methodologies in Environmental Management.. . 51
W. E. Hutchinson
10. Sustainability and Systems Thinking: The Coevolution of Communities and
Technological Infrastructures .................................... 57
Paul Jeffrey, Roger Seaton, and Mark Lemon
Ix
x Contents
11. Sustainable Intervention: Systems Thinking for Chinese Environmental
Management ................................................. 63
Wei Hua Jin
12. Sustainable Transport Development in Developing Countries: Using Systemic
Thinking and a Global Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
C. Jotin Khisty
13. The Assessment and Management of Wildlife Areas: What Can Systems Offer? 73
Andrew Lane and Sue Oreszczyn
14. Emergent Practice in Agricultural Research: Using Metaphors and Dialogue to
Create a Space for Understandings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
David McClintock, Stephany Kersten, and Ray Ison
15. Movement and Sustainability: Other Ways of Thinking about Environments 85
Ingrid Molderez
16. The Technology of Sustainable Agricultural Systems 91
R. M. Morris
17. Sustainability and Viability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Neil Stewart and Gerard Lewis
Reflections of Systems Thinking and Practice
18. The Invisible Practitioner or the Holistic Practitioner? The Problem Helper in
the Problem Situation .......................................... 103
R.Armson
19. Occupational Therapy: A Profession Sustained through Systems Science 109
Martin Booy and Gail Boniface
20. If System Thinkers Are All So Smart, Why Ain't We Rich? 115
Peter Crossley
21. Sustainability of Systems Thinking and Practice in Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
J. P. Drinan
22. Modem Academic Myths ............................................ 125
Joyce Fortune and John Hughes
23. In What Sense Do Systems Exist? 131
Martin Fricke
24. Systemic Approaches and Contingent Actions in Consultancy Intervention 137
John Hassall
25. Modelling the Process of Deciding in Real World Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Athena Marouda-Chatjoulis and Patrick Humphreys
