Human activities pressure the socio-ecological system that maintains our quality of life by causing global repercussions such as climate change. The energy system, a major contributor to climate change due to its reliance on fossil fuels makes the transition to sustainable energy an imperative. The purpose of this thesis is to identify focus areas that support businesses in changing their energy habits. This leads to the research question: How can local businesses on small islands become drivers in the transition towards sustainable energy? The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) enabled us to employ a systems perspective, place sustainable energy into a comprehensive and scientific definition of sustainability, and align our findings’ relevance to a strategic approach. The Motivation-capability-implementation- results (MCIR) framework was a suitable tool for our needs. For data collection purposes, literature analysis and a case study on the French island Île d’Oléron were conducted. The main findings of the thesis are that in order for businesses to become drivers in the transition to sustainability energy, Awareness, Consistent and Proactive Political System, Engaged Community, Supporting Infrastructure, Financial Capability and Agile Approach need to be addressed. The six focus areas cover the many barriers and enablers for achieving sustainable energy.

This dissertation builds on work that has applied complex systems thinking to socio-ecological systems as well as on research that explores critical and reflective approaches to planning. A broad, interdisciplinary literature review was undertaken to explore the implications of complex and critical systems thinking and critical social epistemology for environmental management, planning and policy research, governance and social learning. Building on the insights from this review, one of the key contributions of this research is a conceptual framework that explicitly integrates knowledge and learning into an understanding of socio-ecological systems. It is argued that in the highly complex and uncertain realm of environmental policy, planning and governance, we should begin to discuss such systems as socio-ecological-epistemological (SEE) systems. This research addresses the complexity, uncertainty, high decision stakes, power relations and plurality of knowledges involved in the process of social learning in environmental planning and governance. The SEE systems conceptual framework for research and intervention was developed in the form of descriptive (Co-Evolution, Reflexive Uncertainty, Cross-scalar Considerations) and prescriptive (Critical Awareness, Pluralism, Power) principles. Based upon these principles, a critical systems-based approach to planning and policy research was developed and applied to two case studies of innovative, integrated environmental planning and governance: the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve. A conceptual model for describing and refining the contributions of environmental movement organizations to social learning in the context of environmental governance emerged. The model describes the requirements of social learning as defined along three axes: typology of knowledge; levels of critical reflection; and, a scale axis from individual agent to larger social structures (institutions). Through this work, it is evident that insights from complex and critical systems understanding have influenced thinking in environmental management, planning, governance and social learning. Through the exploratory application of the SEE systems approach to complex environmental planning and governance systems, the SEE systems principles appear to resonate strongly with the experience of environmental movement organizations. In particular, three key findings emerged from the two exploratory, empirical case studies. First, interviewees and workshop attendees in both case study contexts described the importance of various types of knowledge, especially scientific, local technical and governance knowledge in initiating policy change. Second, research participants stressed the importance of understanding the cross-scalar dynamics that affect their ability to influence policy as well as the need to develop policy and governance structures appropriate to the scale of the issue of interest. And finally, the need for individual as well as organizational critical reflection upon policy tools and implementation, policy goals as well as the power differentials embodied in certain policy and governance structures was also highlighted in the qualitative, empirical data generated through interviews and workshops. This research reaffirms the importance of the collaboration and the collective contribution of academic researchers, civil servants and volunteer members of environmental movement organizations to fostering social learning for sustainability in the context of complex SEE systems.

This thesis seeks to advance a curriculum which provides learners with educative experiences required to promote an ecological literacy. This particular type of literacy enables individuals and communities to understand their connectedness to all systems, to appreciate the finite carrying capacity of the planet, to predict consequences of human activity, and to ultimately create sustainable communities through action, or praxis. The proposed curriculum is a vision of public education in Manitoba, borrowing examples of experiences throughout the world which are then adapted to meet the ecological, social, and political realities of this province. It is a utopian-inspired curriculum as it seeks to shed current restraints imposed by contemporary educational practices in Manitoba. By removing certain constraints, this philosophical inquiry can then be used to provoke a dialogue as to how we might transform learners into agents of social and ecological change. / October 2016

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-03-23T19:28:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Secundino Luis Henrique Corcini Neto.pdf: 3324246 bytes, checksum: 5f28e0d55faf56efbf1b7544312b6ee5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-23T19:28:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Secundino Luis Henrique Corcini Neto.pdf: 3324246 bytes, checksum: 5f28e0d55faf56efbf1b7544312b6ee5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-24 / Nenhuma / Esta pesquisa apresenta na forma de um roadmap, um roteiro para as organizações que desejam caminhar no sentido da implantação da abordagem do Pensamento Sistêmico em sua gestão. Este trabalho foi elaborado a partir de três pilares: i) estudo de um referencial teórico nacional e internacional sobre o tema; ii) realização de um estudo de caso na empresa Samarco S/A, a qual possui dez anos de experiência com o Pensamento Sistêmico e iii) contribuições de um especialista com publicações e vivência em aplicação do método sistêmico. O fruto deste trabalho de pesquisa materializa-se na forma de um roadmap, onde são apresentados os principais pontos a serem considerados no processo de implantação do Pensamento Sistêmico como uma abordagem associada à gestão da organização. A estrutura do roadmap é constituída por um conjunto de etapas distribuídas em três grandes processos: preparando, operacionalizando e comunicando. Também são apresentados os principais fatores críticos de sucesso e de insucesso que podem aumentar ou mitigar o sucesso desta implantação. Assim, este trabalho enfoca a implantação do Pensamento Sistêmico através de um roadmap e não a aplicação do mesmo através de um método sistêmico. / This research appears in the form of a roadmap, a guide for organizations that want to move towards the implementation of the Systems Thinking approach in its management. This work has been based on three pillars: i) theoretical study of a nationally and internationally on the topict, ii) completion of a case study in the company Samarco S/A, which has ten years experience with Systems Thinking and iii ) contributions from a specialist with experience in publications and application of the systemic method. The fruit of this research materializes in the form of a roadmap, which are the main points to consider in the process of implementation of systems thinking as an approach associated with management. The structure of the roadmap consists of a set of steps divided into three main processes: preparing, communicating and operationalizing. Also presented are the main critical success factors and failures that may enhance or mitigate the success of this deployment. This study focuses on the deployment of systems thinking through a roadmap and not applying the same through a systemic approach.

Organisational improvisation is often seen as a way for corporations to be able to cope with emergent strategies (Cunha, et al, 1999) and a way to meet the challenges of modern ways of working which include agility, flexibility and responsiveness (Vera and Crossan, 2004). However, seeing improvisation as a tool that can be used to deliver desirable organisational change is placing it within a discourse of systemic consultancy techniques that are predicated on assumptions about organisational change which I argue do not reflect the everyday lived experiences of people at work. As a management consultant, I have worked with many organisations using tools and techniques in an attempt to deliver prescribed outcomes. However, these never seemed to turn out as expected, for my colleagues or myself. Through my research I have understood that organisational change is far more pluralistic and uncontrollable than is suggested by systems thinkers like Seddon (2003; 2008) because consultants or managers could never predict with certainty how change initiatives would play out. I build on Mead's model of communication (1934) where a gesture to another evokes a similar response in the gesturer as it does the responder as part of the whole social act. In doing so I argue that improvisation is a way of describing communicative interaction between human bodies which are interdependent and therefore in relations of power with one another. As groups and individuals we become invested in and caught up in organisational games where many different groups struggle against one another in an attempt to control the game and get what they want. As these improvisational moves in the game are played, narrative themes that organise our experience are both sustained and contested at the same time. But these narrative patterns are not solely about working practices or procedures but also include wider aspects of identity such as gender and sexuality, which are interwoven in our organisational lives. Specifically I am arguing that communication is not just one body gesturing and responding to another, but one sexed and gendered body gesturing and responding to another sexed and gendered body and this affects our interactions, assumptions and understanding of what it is we are doing together. These improvisations which both create and maintain narrative themes emerge through the paradox of the rehearsed and the unrehearsed at the spontaneous moment of performance, where the anticipation of an audience's reaction, represented by Mead's concept of the generalised other (1934: 154), both enables and constrains one's performance.

Students who have been identified as gifted have the opportunity to participate in enrichment activities in many but not all school districts across the United States. Students from disadvantaged populations who are underrepresented in gifted programs fail to advance academically at the same rate as other students. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of an official gifted program in a high ethnic minority low-income school district in Illinois. The purpose of this study was to examine how leaders of school districts with demographics similar to the district lacking a gifted program create, implement, and sustain gifted programs. Using Senge's systems thinking theory as the conceptual framework, the research questions examined the creation, implementation process, and support needed to sustain the programs. A collective instrumental multicase study design was employed. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 7 school administrators from 2 districts using predetermined interview protocols. District financial documents and strategic plans were used as a secondary data source. Within-case and cross-case analysis was used to identify common themes, including vision-supported decision-making and planning to create gifted programs, team member collaboration to implement gifted programs, and values-driven leadership structures to sustain gifted programs. A white paper based on these themes was developed containing recommendations for school districts to incorporate shared vision, strategic planning, and innovative organizational structures. These recommendations may lead to more gifted students from disadvantaged populations reaching their academic potential, creating social change for students, families, and communities.

Strategic decision-making is a fundamental process in business management as strategic decisions affect the long-term health of the organisation. However, a constantly and unpredictably changing business environment, becoming progressively more complex as time passes makes strategy formulation increasingly difficult. Shock events such as terrorist attacks, rapidly spreading communicable diseases, and unexpected business failures of large and well-established companies greatly affect organisations by making it difficult to effectively plan for the future. This thesis contributes to the strategic decision-making literature by investigating the role of shock events in a complex system, namely strategic decision-making. Using chaos/complexity theory as an intellectual platform this thesis argues that strategic decision-making is a complex, open, dynamic and non-linear system and that shock events can represent an opportunity in strategic decision-making. A number of contemporary writers are calling for more integrated models. In response this research proposes a generic and integrative framework that highlights the complexity of strategic decision-making and its processes. The research is qualitative and a single-case study approach was chosen, examining the decision-making processes in a large Australian regional airport. Data collection was triangulated, consisting mainly of in-depth interviews with executives but also included questionnaires, and quantitative and qualitative archival data. It was found that shock events influenced strategic decision-making by causing evolutionary changes in the strategic decision-making processes. In addition it was found that shock events impacted on internal drivers such as cognition and organisational culture. The shock event was perceived as an opportunity, which resulted in changing decision-making processes a change in business strategy. It was concluded that environmental perception, intuition and an opportunity-seeking culture can play an important part in strategic decision-making following a shock event.

Roughly 10% of the Namibian GDP and over 40% of total exports are dependent on themining sector. Namibia is one of the five leading uranium producing countries worldwide withperspectives to triple the production in the following years. This study aims to identify the implicationsto sustainable development of the country carried by such a strategy to stimulate the economic growth.The complexity of the issue is addressed by an interdisciplinary set of methods leading to a betterunderstanding of processes linking uranium mining in Namibia with the environment, society and theglobal economy. Regulatory, trade and production systems are outlined and assessed, after which astakeholder analysis is conducted in order to determine who are the most influential actors as well asparties affected by the uranium production in Namibia. The results reveal a great dependence of the Namibian uranium mining sector on external factors, with the government perceived as the most affected stakeholder.

This dissertation builds on work that has applied complex systems thinking to socio-ecological systems as well as on research that explores critical and reflective approaches to planning. A broad, interdisciplinary literature review was undertaken to explore the implications of complex and critical systems thinking and critical social epistemology for environmental management, planning and policy research, governance and social learning. Building on the insights from this review, one of the key contributions of this research is a conceptual framework that explicitly integrates knowledge and learning into an understanding of socio-ecological systems. It is argued that in the highly complex and uncertain realm of environmental policy, planning and governance, we should begin to discuss such systems as socio-ecological-epistemological (SEE) systems. This research addresses the complexity, uncertainty, high decision stakes, power relations and plurality of knowledges involved in the process of social learning in environmental planning and governance. The SEE systems conceptual framework for research and intervention was developed in the form of descriptive (Co-Evolution, Reflexive Uncertainty, Cross-scalar Considerations) and prescriptive (Critical Awareness, Pluralism, Power) principles. Based upon these principles, a critical systems-based approach to planning and policy research was developed and applied to two case studies of innovative, integrated environmental planning and governance: the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Long Point World Biosphere Reserve. A conceptual model for describing and refining the contributions of environmental movement organizations to social learning in the context of environmental governance emerged. The model describes the requirements of social learning as defined along three axes: typology of knowledge; levels of critical reflection; and, a scale axis from individual agent to larger social structures (institutions). Through this work, it is evident that insights from complex and critical systems understanding have influenced thinking in environmental management, planning, governance and social learning. Through the exploratory application of the SEE systems approach to complex environmental planning and governance systems, the SEE systems principles appear to resonate strongly with the experience of environmental movement organizations. In particular, three key findings emerged from the two exploratory, empirical case studies. First, interviewees and workshop attendees in both case study contexts described the importance of various types of knowledge, especially scientific, local technical and governance knowledge in initiating policy change. Second, research participants stressed the importance of understanding the cross-scalar dynamics that affect their ability to influence policy as well as the need to develop policy and governance structures appropriate to the scale of the issue of interest. And finally, the need for individual as well as organizational critical reflection upon policy tools and implementation, policy goals as well as the power differentials embodied in certain policy and governance structures was also highlighted in the qualitative, empirical data generated through interviews and workshops. This research reaffirms the importance of the collaboration and the collective contribution of academic researchers, civil servants and volunteer members of environmental movement organizations to fostering social learning for sustainability in the context of complex SEE systems.

This study is according to the assumption of Systems dynamics approach to discuss the definitions of crisis management theory, and believes that there is not only crisis that happened naturally or simply created by human error, but also self-formed crisis by decision maker: Crisis comes from a decision which was right at that time. After complex interaction in the organization structure, this decision could turn into a serious crisis. If we can find out which decision would created crisis like that, or change the wrong structure, manager could put more effort on those crisis that could not be predict, and release the resource burden of management. The conclusions of this study are presented as follows: 1. This study divides crisis into two categories: Crisis that formed gradually and accident. The former could be solved by systematic view. 2. Form the history of studied case, we found that if decision maker didn¡¦t think about what side effect might have in the future, it could trigger some of reinforce loops and cause the crisis. And the reason of why they make the wrong decision is caused by the mental models of what could be right. 3. Each of the Fifth disciplines of learning organization could make the organizations more healthy, it could have chance to avoid all the troubles in this case study, and keep the decision makers and members of organization from making wrong decision according to their mental models.