B5. Dynamic Systems

dynamic systems The SiD definition defines sustainability not as a physical constant, but as a state of a dynamic system. This means that sustainability is an edge condition of something that always moves, changes, grows, shrinks and acts in accordance to changes in its environment and internal composition. This means that a system can move and change while still remaining in the ‘state’ of sustainability, as long as it doesn’t cross the border of its state. Defining it as such allows us to evaluate and work towards sustainability without locking ourselves into static and rigid structures, which would inhibit resilience. Because there’s always something that changes, be it due to smaller or larger changes in climate, the natural cycles of birth and decay, the laws of entropy or something else, a system needs to be able to adapt itself in order to be able to continue doing what it does if it is to survive (resilience). Therefore, a sustainable system is always dynamic. Without dynamism there’s no capacity for adaptability, flexibility and therefore no resilience. A system without resilience is hard-pressed to be sustainable. After all, if it can’t survive changes in its environment, how can a system be called sustainable? We can therefore expand our understanding of sustainability to be not just a state of a system, but explicitly that of a dynamic system. It puts sustainability in the realm of systems analysis and science, including network and complexity theory. This enables a myriad of new perspec­ tives on how to achieve and work with sustain­ ability, allowing many new innovative pathways to be explored.

From the SiD Book

We have discussed systems consisting of a set of objects and their interrelations. Systems are dynamic, respond to influences from the outside and inside, and exhibit behavior whose causes cannot be reduced to single objects or connections. The cause and effects of these system behaviors can not easily be distinguished. They can, however, exhibit patterns that allow you to understand and work with systems effectively. These patterns are often ‘emergent’, meaning they arise out of their mutual interaction and not due to any particular object or connection alone. The complex emerging behavior of systems is called system dynamics. Studying system dynamics allows insight and understanding in dealing with systems in the real world, be they political, technological, biological, or of another nat...