Overview and Insights from ‘Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet’

An Empirical Study of the Impact of Systems Thinking and Simulation on Sustainability Education

Education for sustainable development (ESD) is considered vital to the success of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Systems thinking has been identified as a core competency that must be included in ESD. However, systems thinking-orientated ESD learning tools, established methods of the assessment of sustainability skills, and formal trials to demonstrate the effectiveness of such learning tools are all lacking. This research presents a randomised controlled trial (n = 106) to investigate whether an innovative online sustainability learning tool that incorporates two factors, systems thinking and system dynamics simulation, increases the understanding of a specific sustainability problem. A further aim was to investigate whether these factors also support the transfer of knowledge to a second problem with a similar systemic structure. The effects of the two factors were tested separately and in combination using a two-by-two factorial study design. ANOVA and related inferential statistical techniques were used to analyse the effect of the factors on sustainability understanding. Cohen’s d effect sizes were also calculated. Simulation alone was found to increase ESD learning outcomes significantly, and also to support the transfer of skills, although less significantly. Qualitative feedback was also gathered from participants, most of whom reported finding systems thinking and simulation very helpful.

COLreg: The Tokenised Cross-Species Multicentred Regenerative Region Co-Creation

This article argues that whilst our recent economic models are dependent on the overall ecosystem, they do not reflect this fact. As a result of this, we are facing Anthropocene mass extinction. The paper presents a collaborative regenerative region (COLreg) co-creation and tokenisation, involving multiple human and non-human, living and non-living stakeholders. It unfolds different stages of multicentred, systemic co-design via collaborative gigamapping. In the first steps, certain stakeholders are present and certain are represented, whilst in the final stages of generative development, all stakeholders, even those who were previously just potential stakeholders, take an active role. The ‘COLreg’ project represents a holistic approach that reflects today’s most burning issues, such as biodiversity decrease, unsustainable food production, unsustainable economic models, and social systems. It combines top-down and bottom-up approaches to co-create to achieve regional social and environmental justice for the coming symbiotic post-Anthropocene era.

COVID-19 and Financial Sustainability of Academic Institutions

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on higher education. Steering academic institutions through the pandemic is a complex and multifaceted task that can be supported with model-based scenario analysis. This article studies the short-term and long-term effects of the pandemic on the financial health of a college using scenario analysis and stress testing with a system dynamics model of a representative tuition-dependent college. We find that different combinations of the pandemic mitigation protocols have varying effects on the financial sustainability of an academic institution. By simulating six individual components of the COVID-19 shock, we learn that due to the causal complexity, nonlinear responses and delays in the system, the negative shocks can propagate widely through the college, sometimes with considerable delays and disproportionate effects. Scenario analysis shows that some pandemic mitigation choices may destabilize even financially healthy institutions. The article concludes that higher education needs new sustainable business models.

Could Education for Sustainable Development Benefit from a Systems Thinking Approach?

Sustainable development is not a novel concept. However, we continue with our unsustainable way of living. It is as though we cannot see our own part in the unsustainable system. Values, ethics and morals are connected to education and therefor education is in a key position to change the way we think and act for a sustainable future. Both education for sustainable development (ESD) and systems thinking are concepts connected to changes toward a sustainable future. However, they have proven to be conceptually problematic and are characterized by their complexity, making implementation more difficult. The purpose of this study is to discover whether it could be possible to interlace ESD and systems education to a strong and solid entirety in order to overcome the obstacles preventing the implementation of sustainability in education. This is done through a literature review in the fields of systems thinking and ESD. The literature review identifies two joint approaches that could be worth exploring more in order to develop an excellent instrument in the educational work toward sustainability.