Daniel Fernandez is Professor of Science and Environmental Policy at CSU Monterey Bay.

hether we realize it or not and whether we consciously integrate it into our discipline or not, Systems Thinking is fundamental to our understandings and practices in any field.

In that same vein, it is also fundamental to our approaches to integrate ideas of how our actions impact the world around us at multiple scales, from the very small to the enormous, as well as how we choose to communicate that to others who may or may not share our common-core belief system.

In many ways, I found that learning basic, conceptual ideas of Systems Thinking was a relief.

It provides an intellectual safety valve and a deeper explanation for me of ‘what gets in the way’ when I am stuck at some level of lack of personal growth or have some inability to express some idea.

For me it provides not only a means to understand the basic mechanism of how some physical or social system works, but a means to understand the means of how we understand these mechanisms.

In this sense, Systems Thinking is indispensable within proper education.

As a teacher/professor, am I able to dig down deeply to the explanation of a concept and non-judgementally appreciate why that concept is or is not resonating for a given individual or, more so, for a group of individuals who may or may not share common ideologies and who probably do not share personal histories?

More so, am I able to address that gap by adjusting what I describe and how I do it?

Systems Thinking promotes a meta view to allow a larger incorporation of how the ‘whole’ both affects and is affected by the parts.

Even without an understanding of the basic tenets of Systems Thinking and modeling, consideration of the meta view in any situation is usually advantageous and will generally lead to outcomes more aligned with at least some set of preferred criteria.

In terms of addressing issues of sustainability and global warming, this is key.

To me and to many others with whom I share a common core belief system, it makes perfect sense that the earth is warming as a result of human activities, namely the gases that we release into the atmosphere, and that this (rather sudden) warming is manifested by significant changes in short-term weather patterns.

Yet, to others who do not share this belief system, this notion may seem abstract, academic, irrelevant, extremely inconvenient, or, perhaps, contrary to business interests.

There are also people on the spectrum who likely share the belief but do not want to acknowledge it given the enormity of its implications and the innate, perhaps unconscious, fear associated with that.

A systems-thinking approach underscores not only an understanding of the phenomenon, but an understanding of the wide array of responses to the phenomenon, underlying concepts in psychology and human behavior.

By applying Systems Thinking to our mental framework, we not only gain an enhanced appreciation and grasp of the physical issues at hand, but a broader cognizance of the deeper, and perhaps more subtle, social and psychological impacts of these issues.

Systems Thinking affords us at least the potential for compassion and understanding of the differences in thought and action that will, do, and have existed across multiple individuals and multiple communities and, when integrated more fully into our behaviors, may provide additional tools for universal growth and acceptance of diversity of thought.

Download Syllabus – Sustainability Systems – ENSTU 375, Daniel Fernandez, CSU Monterey Bay, 2019

• Updated — January 21, 2021

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BOOKS

Donella Meadows. Thinking in Systems. ISBN-13: 978-1603580557

Fritjof Capra and Pierre Luigi Luisi, The Systems View of Life: A UnifyingVision, 2014, ISBN: 9781107011366

Richmond, Barry, An Introduction to Systems Thinking with STELLA,
2004, ISBN 13: 9780970492111

Sayama, Hiroki. Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems, SUNY Open Textbooks, August 13, 2015, ISBN 978-1-942341-09-3.

Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning
Organization, ISBN-13: 978-0385517256

Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for
Building a Learning Organization, ISBN-13: 978-0385472562

Senge, Peter et al., The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and
Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World ISBN-13: 978-0385519045

Sterman, John D. Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a
Complex World, 2000, ISBN: 00723111355

Stroh, David Peter. Systems Thinking for Social Change, 2015, ISBN: 1-978-1-60558-580-4.