Module 4 Leverage points and systemic interventions
- 1. LEVERAGE POINTS and SYSTEMIC INTERVENTIONS Professor Ockie Bosch Dr Nam Nguyen
- 2. LEVER “Give me a lever long enough …. I can single-handed move the world” (Archimedes: mathematician and inventor of ancient Greece, 280-211bc) © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 3. Leverage points Places within a complex system (a corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem) where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything else Points of power (Senge, 2006) Not intuitive (Meadows, 2009) © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 4. Examples of leverage points Economy: interest rate Poverty alleviation: education Social justice: law enforcement Ship: the trim tab on the rudder © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 5. Places to intervene in a System: (Read Meadows, 1999) The power to transcend paradigms: keep oneself unattached in the arena of paradigms, to stay flexible The goals of the system: everything is twisted to conform to the goal The mental model or paradigm out of which the system (its goal, structure, rules, parameters) arises The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishments, constraints): Mikhail Gorbachev opened information flows and changed the economic rules © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 6. Places to intervene in a System: (Read Meadows, 1999) The gain around driving positive feedback loops: Reducing the gain around a positive loop – slowing the growth – is usually a more powerful leverage point in systems than strengthening negative loops The structure of material stocks and flows (such as transport network, population age structures): the leverage point is in proper design in the first place Constants, parameters, numbers (such as taxes, standards): spending more on police doesn’t make crime go away © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 7. Solution vs Systemic Intervention (adapted from Maani & Cavana, 2007) Solution Short term Optimal Content Symptom Systemic Intervention Long term Fundamental Content and context Cause © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 8. Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve - Preliminary Systems Model Admin. Structure Planning Government Policies Degradation of Poverty Environment Tourism Livelihoods Access to Growth & Education Resource Use Revenue Int’l Project $$ Save the Monkey Int’l Project Poor Unsustainable Loss of Poor (e.g. Illegal hunting) Not coordinated Iceberg Symptoms $$$ for alleviating poverty Patterns – interactions Systemic Structures Mental Models $$$ for ecology of a threatened species $$$$ for improving production ? Source: Bosch et al., 2007 © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 9. Admin. Structure Government Policies Environment Tourism Livelihoods Access to Growth and Education Resource Use Revenue $$$ for fundamental problems to address issues systemically Coordinated Symptoms International Cooperation Alleviate poverty Sustainable and Improved Improved Better (Avoid illegal hunting, fishing) InPtlaengnraintegd Planning Leverage Point Patterns – interactions Systemic Structures Mental Models $$$ for capacity building $$$ to improve revenue flow from tourism to local population $$$$ for developing an understanding of local perspectives Source: Bosch et al., 2007 © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen
- 10. Systems Model of Cat Ba Island Attraction of CB island Service quality Number of tourists Biodiversity Tourism pollution Available underground water Use of underground water Waste Tourism revenue Hotels and Restaurants Agriculture pollution Infrastructure Other pollution sources New construction Agricultur e revenue Investment in agriculture Access to market Information and communicatio n GDP per capita Livelihood of Commoner Misuse of NR NR conservation Food safety Health Life expectancy Immigration Population Educated population Student population Poverty Cultural values Social issues People’s awareness Tourism development Lack of Integrated planning NGOs Governanc e structure Policies © Professor Ockie Bosch and Dr Nam Nguyen