SiD Glossary

Autonomy

Network parameter (part of RAH)

The capacity of a system or subsystem to self-organize, self-govern, and function independently while remaining interdependent with other systems. In SiD, autonomy is one of the three network parameters (alongside Resilience and Harmony) that characterize healthy, sustainable systems. A truly autonomous system can adapt to changing conditions without requiring external control.

Backcasting

A planning method that starts by defining a desirable future state, then works backward to identify the steps needed to reach it. Unlike forecasting (which projects current trends forward), backcasting is used in SiD to design pathways toward sustainability goals by starting from the end state and reasoning about what must change. Particularly useful for complex systemic challenges where trend extrapolation is unreliable.

Biomimicry

The practice of learning from and imitating nature's strategies, patterns, and processes to solve human design challenges. In SiD, biomimicry is a key tool for developing solutions that work with natural systems rather than against them. Nature has had 3.8 billion years to optimize its designs; biomimicry treats this as a library of tested strategies.

Boundary Conditions

The spatial, temporal, and contextual limits that define what is included in a system analysis. In SiD, setting appropriate boundary conditions is critical: too narrow and you miss systemic effects; too broad and the analysis becomes unmanageable. The sustainability of any entity depends on the boundaries chosen for evaluation.

Circular Economy

An economic model that aims to eliminate waste by keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible, then recovering and regenerating them at the end of their service life. SiD treats circular economy as one tool in a broader sustainability toolkit, not a complete solution. True circularity requires systemic thinking about material flows, energy inputs, and social dimensions.

Complex Adaptive System

A system composed of many interacting agents that collectively produce emergent behavior. Cities, ecosystems, economies, and organizations are all complex adaptive systems. They self-organize, adapt to changing conditions, and exhibit nonlinear behavior where small changes can have large effects. Understanding this complexity is fundamental to the SiD approach.

Culture

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing shared values, beliefs, traditions, arts, and identity systems within a community or society. In SiD, Culture is one of the eight ELSI domains. Sustainable interventions must work with (not against) cultural systems, understanding that values and worldviews shape how communities respond to change. Cultural sustainability means enabling communities to maintain and evolve their identity while adapting to new realities.

DesignLens

A tool that applies biological design principles to human-made systems. DesignLens uses nature's strategies as a framework for evaluating and improving designs. It asks: how would nature solve this problem? What principles from living systems can inform our approach? Combined with biomimicry, it forms a powerful design methodology within SiD.

Ecology

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing all living systems, ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural processes. In SiD, Ecology is one of the eight ELSI domains and is considered the foundation upon which all other domains depend. Sustainable development must operate within ecological boundaries: maintaining ecosystem health, preserving biodiversity, supporting natural regeneration cycles, and ensuring that human activity does not degrade the living systems that sustain all life.

Economy

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing systems of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. In SiD, Economy is one of the eight ELSI domains. A sustainable economy operates within ecological limits, distributes resources equitably, and serves human wellbeing rather than pursuing growth as an end in itself. SiD distinguishes between the economy as a tool for human flourishing and economic growth as an ideology.

Education

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing learning, knowledge creation, skill development, and the transmission of understanding across generations. In SiD, Education is one of the eight ELSI domains. Sustainable education builds capacity for systemic thinking, empowers communities to understand and address complex challenges, and ensures knowledge is accessible, relevant, and evolving. The SiD Learning Platform itself embodies this domain.

Eight Domains (ELSI-8)

Also: ELSI-8 Domains, Eight Sustainability Domains

The eight interconnected domains that SiD uses to analyze sustainability comprehensively: Wellbeing, Governance, Economy, Social Cohesion, Culture, Environment, Resources, and Infrastructure. Together they form a complete picture of what makes a system sustainable. No single domain can be optimized in isolation without affecting the others.

ELSI (Entity Layer System Indicators)

Core SiD framework component

The indicator framework at the heart of SiD, organizing sustainability assessment across three nested levels (System, Network, Object) and eight domains. ELSI provides a structured way to measure and evaluate the sustainability of any entity, from a product to a city. It reveals how different levels and domains interact and where leverage points exist for improvement.

Emergence

The phenomenon where complex systems exhibit properties and behaviors that cannot be predicted from the properties of individual components alone. A flock of birds produces patterns no single bird creates. In sustainability, emergent effects mean that well-intentioned interventions can produce unexpected outcomes, making systemic analysis essential.

Feedback Loop

A circular causal pathway where the output of a system feeds back as input, either amplifying change (positive/reinforcing feedback) or dampening it (negative/balancing feedback). Understanding feedback loops is essential in SiD because they determine system behavior over time. Climate change, economic cycles, and ecological collapse all involve feedback dynamics.

Five-Step Method

Also: SiD Method, SiD Five Steps

The core operational method of SiD for sustainability projects: (1) Goals and Indicators, (2) System Mapping, (3) System Understanding, (4) Solutioning and Roadmapping, (5) Evaluate and Iterate. Each step builds on the previous one to move from abstract sustainability goals to concrete, measurable interventions.

Harmony

Network parameter (part of RAH)

The degree to which different parts of a system work together productively without destructive conflict. Harmony is not uniformity; a healthy ecosystem thrives on diversity. In SiD, harmony is the third network parameter (with Resilience and Autonomy), measuring how well a system's components coexist and support each other's functioning.

Infrastructure

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing physical and organizational structures that support societal functions: transportation, energy, water, communication, buildings, and digital systems. In SiD, Infrastructure is one of the eight ELSI domains. Sustainable infrastructure is designed for longevity, adaptability, resource efficiency, and minimal ecological impact. It should serve current needs while remaining flexible enough to accommodate future changes.

Integrated Sustainability

An approach to sustainability that considers all domains, scales, and time frames simultaneously rather than treating environmental, social, and economic issues as separate concerns. SiD's core insight is that sustainability cannot be achieved by optimizing individual dimensions in isolation; it requires understanding and managing the connections between them.

Legislation

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing laws, regulations, governance structures, and institutional frameworks. In SiD, Legislation is one of the eight ELSI domains. Sustainable governance creates enabling conditions for systemic change: incentivizing regenerative practices, protecting ecological commons, ensuring equitable access, and providing the institutional scaffolding that allows other domains to function sustainably.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

A systematic method for evaluating the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use, and end-of-life disposal. In SiD, LCA is one of several analytical tools, useful for object-level assessment but insufficient alone for systemic sustainability evaluation.

Leverage Points

Also: System Intervention Points

Places within a complex system where a small change can produce large effects. Donella Meadows identified twelve leverage points, ranging from parameters and buffers (least effective) to paradigm shifts (most effective). SiD uses this hierarchy to identify where interventions will have the greatest sustainability impact.

Livelihood

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing the means by which people sustain themselves: employment, income, food security, health, housing, and basic needs. In SiD, Livelihood is one of the eight ELSI domains. Sustainable livelihoods ensure that all people can meet their basic needs with dignity, develop their capabilities, and participate meaningfully in society, without undermining the ecological or social systems they depend on.

Network Level

SNO framework: middle level

The intermediate scale of analysis in the SNO (System-Network-Object) framework, examining how entities connect, interact, and form relationships. Network-level analysis reveals dependencies, flows, and structural properties that are invisible at the object level. In SiD, network parameters (RAH) are assessed at this level.

Object Level

SNO framework: most granular level

The most specific scale of analysis in the SNO framework, examining individual entities (a building, a product, a person). Object-level indicators like energy efficiency are the most commonly measured but least systemically informative. SiD emphasizes that object-level optimization without network and system awareness can lead to suboptimal or counterproductive outcomes.

Process Room

Also: SiD Process Room

A collaborative workspace methodology used in SiD projects where stakeholders physically or virtually gather to map systems, identify leverage points, and co-create solutions. The Process Room provides a structured environment for the five-step method, with visual tools and facilitation techniques designed for systemic thinking.

RAH (Resilience, Autonomy, Harmony)

Core SiD framework component

The three network parameters that SiD uses to evaluate the health and sustainability of any system at the network level. Resilience measures the ability to absorb disturbance. Autonomy measures self-organization capacity. Harmony measures productive coexistence. Together, RAH provides a diagnostic lens for understanding whether a system can sustain itself over time.

Regenerative

Going beyond sustainability (maintaining current state) to actively restoring and improving the health of ecological and social systems. SiD embraces regenerative thinking as the true goal: not merely doing less harm, but designing human systems that contribute positively to the ecosystems and communities they are part of.

Resilience

Network parameter (part of RAH)

The ability of a system to absorb disturbance, reorganize, and continue functioning. Resilient systems can withstand shocks without losing their essential structure or identity. In SiD, resilience is the first network parameter, and there is often a tension between resilience and efficiency: highly optimized systems sacrifice redundancy, making them fragile under stress.

SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)

The 17 goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030. SiD relates to the SDGs but takes a more systemic view, arguing that many SDGs address symptoms rather than root causes and that true progress requires understanding the interconnections between goals.

SiD (Symbiosis in Development)

An open-source framework for integrated sustainable development created by Except Integrated Sustainability. SiD provides a comprehensive method, theory, and toolkit for understanding and improving the sustainability of any system. The name reflects the core principle: sustainable development requires symbiotic relationships between all system components, just as nature builds resilience through mutualistic connections.

SNO (System, Network, Object)

Also: Three Levels, Scale Framework

The three nested scales of analysis in the ELSI framework. System is the broadest context (e.g., a city's economy). Network examines connections between entities (e.g., supply chains). Object is the individual entity (e.g., a factory). SiD requires analysis at all three levels because interventions at one level have consequences at the others.

Sociology

ELSI-8 Domain

The domain encompassing social structures, relationships, institutions, equity, justice, and community dynamics. In SiD, Sociology is one of the eight ELSI domains. Sustainable social systems promote equity, inclusion, trust, cooperation, and collective wellbeing. Interventions must consider power dynamics, social cohesion, community capacity, and the ways that systemic change affects different groups differently.

Solutioning

SiD Method Step 4

The fourth step of the SiD five-step method, focused on generating, evaluating, and selecting solutions based on systemic understanding. Unlike conventional problem-solving that addresses symptoms, SiD solutioning works from deep system understanding to design interventions at high-leverage points. It combines creative ideation with systematic evaluation against sustainability criteria, resulting in a roadmap of prioritized, interconnected actions.

Spectrum Check

Also: Spectrum Sweep

A SiD tool for quickly scanning a project or system across all eight ELSI domains to identify blind spots and potential unintended consequences. The Spectrum Check ensures that no critical sustainability dimension is overlooked during project planning or evaluation. It acts as a quality assurance step in the SiD process.

Sustainability (SiD Definition)

SiD defines sustainability as the condition where a system can maintain its essential functions and characteristics over a relevant time frame, across spatial boundaries, and within its specific context. This definition is deliberately broader than environmental-only definitions, encompassing social, economic, cultural, and governance dimensions. Crucially, SiD recognizes that sustainability is always relative to a specific time frame and context.

System Level

SNO framework: broadest level

The broadest scale of analysis in the SNO framework, examining the overall context and environment in which networks and objects operate. System-level changes (like policy shifts or cultural transformation) are the hardest to achieve but have the greatest impact. In Meadows' leverage point hierarchy, system-level interventions are the most powerful.

System Mapping

The second step of the SiD five-step method, where the system under study is visually represented to reveal its components, connections, flows, and feedback loops. System maps make invisible relationships visible and serve as shared reference points for collaborative analysis and solution development.

Systems Thinking

A way of understanding reality that emphasizes relationships, patterns, and context rather than isolated components. Systems thinking recognizes that the behavior of a system emerges from the interactions between its parts, not from the parts themselves. It is the intellectual foundation of SiD and the prerequisite for integrated sustainability work.