Systems Thinking Is Critical in Developing Solutions to Sustainability Challenges - Assignment Example

Running Header: Systems thinking is critical in developing solutions to sustainability challenges Systems thinking is critical in developing solutions to sustainability challenges Author’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Number Date of Submission Introduction Background to the topic and its significance As stated by Max Weber, the various spheres of the world stand in irreconcilable conflict with each other. This is true as far as sustainability is concerned as there is great tension between sustainability and development, between environmental sustainability and social cultural desires and the needs of the present generation and those of future generations. It is no wonder then that we have been hearing about sustainability on a daily basis yet we continue to struggle with negative effects of environmental degradation such as global warming, drought and diseases despite the many forums that have been organized to plan on how to deal with sustainability both at national, regional and global levels. The issue of sustainability is indeed a wicked problem with the threats of modern human activities to sustainability being numerous and interconnected. One major threat to sustainability and a major wicked problem is the use of non-renewable energy sources world over as this has resulted in such undesirable effects as global warming and undesirable climate changes (Smith and Bosch, 2007). Yet, various stakeholders cannot come up with one best way of solving the issue of energy sustainability. But can systems thinking be key in developing solutions to such wicked problems that are major sustainability challenges? This essay is aimed at demonstrating that systems thinking is critical in developing solutions to sustainability challenges. In so doing, the paper first introduces the concepts of wicked problems and sustainability as well as wicked problems before explaining how systems thinking is critical in developing solution to sustainability challenges. The essay then explains why Shifting to more renewable sources of energy in Australia is a wicked problem before suggesting how systems thinking can be used in ensuring shifting to more renewable energy sources in Australia. In conclusion, it will be argued that adopting systems thinking in Australia will be key to solving the wicked problem of lack of use of renewable energy sources in Australia. The concept of systems thinking and wicked problems Probably the reason why sustainability issues and wicked problems such as shifting to more renewable sources in Australia continues to persist is the continued use of traditional problem solving ways that break systems into their separate elements and try to apportion blame on individual parts instead of looking at the system holistically. System thinking attempts to solve this by having a holistic approach to analysis which focuses on the way that the constituents of a systems’ parts interrelate and how the systems work over time and within the context of larger systems that are interrelated. Systems thinking can thus be defined as the ability to understand the diverse parts of a system, recognize that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, see interconnections and feedback loops in nonlinear ways and create and redesign systems through effective leverage points. For instance, in addressing the issue of shifting to more renewable sources in Australia, we would need to look at everything that energy is connected to or touches upon. Who are the consumers and producers of energy and how does the entire system operate? This means that we look at the entire Australian economy including the supply of goods and services, extraction of resources, infrastructure, transmission, and transportation among other sectors in the system in developing solutions to the sustainability issue. We would also look at the impacts of using non-renewable energy resources such as greenhouse gases emissions, pollution and climate change among others (Cavaleri and Sterman, 1997). Human dynamics such as population growth, poverty alleviation and human health among others would also need to be considered. We would need to understand how all these parts fit together to make up the energy system. It means that for instance when sourcing or consuming energy, it is vital that they look beyond the lights or just delivering goods and services. They need to look at parts and interactions of the integrated whole and the risks and impacts beyond their premises. If well used, systems thinking could be critical in promoting sustainable solutions to wicked problems. Wicked problems could be defined as problems that are difficult or impossible to solve owing to incomplete, contradictory and changing requirements which are also difficult to recognize. Based on the Australian public service commission report, wicked problems have a number of characteristics including; being difficult to clearly define, having many interdependences and often being multi-causal, attempts to address the wicked problems often leading to unforeseen consequences, they are often not stable, usually having no clear solution and being socially complex. Other characteristics of wicked problems include that they hardly ever sit conveniently within the responsibility of one organization, they involve changing behavior and some are characterized by chronic policy failure (Sydelko and Leah, 2014). Unfortunately wicked problems are mainly sustainability issues as they affect not just the present but also future generations in a global way. Thus as described above, wicked problems are complicated and would thus call for a multifaceted approach to solve. They would call for a system thinking approach in developing sustainable solutions for them. Why shifting to more renewable sources of energy in Australia important and how it relates to the three-pillar model of sustainability Sustainability is about ensuring that the demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce are met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations. Thus, shifting to more renewable sources of energy in Australia is an important sustainability issue since it means reducing the environmental degradation caused by use of non-renewable sources and hence preserving it for future generations. Though renewable energy sources are expensive to install, they cannot be depleted like non-renewable sources. They also do not cause environmental damage and hence their use can greatly contribute to reduction in global warming, acidic rains and emission of greenhouse gases. Thus, increased use of renewable energy sources is an important sustainability issue since it will reduce environmental degradation thus preserving the environment for the present and future generations. Shifting to more renewable energy sources in Australia is related to the three pillar model of sustainability. Economically, non-renewable sources of energy are cheaper compared to other sources in the long run. Although their extraction may be expensive, they are eventually cheaper in terms of cost to the consumers and cost to the environment. Today, the cost of dealing with global warming and environmental degradation resulting from non-renewable energy use among other reasons is enormous (Frank, 2013). If such costs of making the world greener are factored in, it will be worth concluding that renewable energy sources make an economic sense to Australia from a sustainability point of view. Environmentally, the use of renewable energy sources will result in less environmental degradation thus preserving the environment for us and for the generations to come. Finally, use of renewable energy sources is of social importance to Australia. Preventing environmental degradation will mean a better world for all of us. In addition, it is our ethical duty to do something to preserve the environment for the present and future generations and turning to using more renewable energy would go a long way towards that end (Dominici, 2015). Why the issue is a wicked problem The concept of wicked problems has been described above. The issue of increased use of renewable energy sources in Australia could as well be described as a wicked problem for a number of reasons. It is worth noting the issue of energy in Australia is a complex problem with many interrelated parts. The challenges associated with energy as well as opportunities call for complex kind of thinking to arrive at innovative solutions. A fundamental issue with energy is that we depend on an infinite supply of fossil fuels. As demand increases while supply becomes scarce, the problem is becoming more acute. This results in perplexing economic, social and environmental consequences as described above. Efforts to reduce such effects as greenhouse gas emissions are also increasingly being tackled from all corners by the differing stakeholders and part of the solution has been attempts aimed at increasing use of renewable energy (Blok, 2016). However despite this, the efforts have at times being contradictory with the high costs associated with renewable energy being cited as a hindrance. And while many homes in Australia have adopted use of clean energy, the industries and other sectors are increasing their use of non-renewable energy. Thus, to a great extent, the issue of increasing the use of more renewable energy sources in Australia could be considered a wicked problem. Why current approaches to address the sustainability issue have failed Efforts to increase use of renewable energy sources in Australia have failed in the past. This can be attributed to a number of reasons including lack of commitment to policy as well as government policy failures. For instance, the commitment by the government to ensure 50% use of renewable energy sources has failed miserably. Part of the reason is because the problem has been approached from a single point of view with environmental conservation and energy use being seen as the work of government departments (Rydge and Green, 2015). All stakeholders have not been involved and this has led to failure of the efforts. The government in its efforts has not involved every stakeholders including the producers of both renewable and non-renewable energy sources. The consumers have also not been involved. The result of failing to involve the entire energy system in rooting for increased renewable energy use has seen all other stakeholders’ abandon the efforts leaving them to the government which at times is not committed to policy. Consequently, renewable energy has been deemed as unreliable, low value, expensive, high capital cost, land hungry and intermittent energy by both the non-renewable energy producers as well as the consumers who at times lack knowledge on why they should adopt renewable energy sources. The result has been failure of past efforts to address the wicked problem. How systems thinking can help address the issue of Shifting to more renewable sources of energy in Australia As stated above, efforts aimed at increased use of renewable energy in Australia have in the past failed to yield fruits since any initiatives towards this were aimed at specific sectors or objectives and overlooked the impact this would have had on other sectors. However, using systems thinking will enable all the sectors and systems affected to join together and improve efficiency along al the key aspects of the energy value chain in an integrated manner and to learn from one another’s expertise on how best to adopt more renewable energy sources. Using systems thinking, the stakeholders will see the bigger picture, identify circles of causality and understand how best to increase renewable energy usage (Pandey and Kumar, 2016). Below is an explanation of how systems thinking can help address the issue. Using the systems thinking approach, finding the solution would start by looking at the bigger picture to include all the sectors involved in energy production and consumption. This would include in such dynamics as geography, geology, population, economic, environmental and human health and societal needs as opposed to looking at energy consumption just as business or an individual. This would enable consideration of environmental and societal externalities of renewable energy sourcing and use. By making all stakeholders see the connections between use and social and environmental health, the concerned systems might start making alternative choices and hence change behavior towards increased adoption of clean energy (Kim, 2017). The next step would involve identification of the circular nature of complex cause and effect relationships. Energy production might involve large exploration, mining and drilling costs that affect sourcing of non-renewable energy sources. Burning of fossil fuels also comes with significant environmental and social costs resulting in reduced life quality while ecosystems are also affected. If the energy stakeholders realize this, they might change to increasingly use renewable energy. In addition, systems thinking would call for recognition that a system’s structure generates its behavior. Thus, since energy structure is intertwined with the economy, then its behavior varies with that of the economy (Keith, 2016). Though renewable energy sources have greater upfront costs, its impacts on the economy as far as environmental and social costs are concerned may make it feasible and desirable. Thus, sustainability conscious sectors of the system may change behavior to increasingly use renewable energy as opposed to coping with the impacts of use of non-renewable energy. With the above realization, the system as well as the systems affected by the energy system will then look for ways of making the energy system work better. This may mean changing the patterns of interaction between the parts including emissions and climate change thus bringing the participants closer to resolving the sustainability issue (Henry, 2017). If systems thinking is properly adopted, it would lead to a full scale shift to using renewable energy by all sectors in Australia for the benefit of the economy, the society and the environment. Conclusion This paper has critically discussed the concepts of systems thinking, sustainability and wicked problems. This was aimed at explaining how systems thinking is critical in developing solution to sustainability challenges. In so doing, the paper has viewed the issue of increased use of renewable energy in Australia as a wicked problem owing to its complex and multifaceted nature. Thus, the paper has explained how systems thinking can be successfully used in providing solution to the issue of Shifting to more renewable sources of energy in Australia. This way, the paper has proved that systems thinking is critical in developing solution to sustainability challenges. 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