SUSTAINABILITY (Supply side)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3275 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
T.F.H. ALLEN, who developed this model recommends the following steps (hierarchically organized), to create the general conditions for sustainability in complex systems :
- manage for whole ecosystems , notresources
- manage from the context to facilitate internal functioning: the healthy ecosystems in context subsidize the effort
- use positive feedbacks to achieve systems change (1998, p. 4)
In short, sustainability of processes must be subordinated to the system's sustainability
which in turn can be maintained only through a permanent symbiosis of the system with its environment .
Of course such a symbiosis implies some aspects that frequently remain hidden, as for example:
- the system's outputs must be carefully managed in order to avoid spoiling the environment
- technical change can (and generally does) modify the balance between the system and its environment. Such a change should be carefully scrutinized. Indeed a change can be initially beneficial and turn negative in the long run or it may be costly at the beginning and become positive later on
- the use of positive feedbacks to achieve systems change should be cautious, lest they lead to a global and possibly irreversible loss of dynamic stability , i.e. long term sustainability