A Story About Systems And Sustainability

One Community's Efforts to Survive and Thrive

What you'll learn

What is a definition of a system?

What systems can be used in a primitive environment?

What are the benefits of working together with another person or group?

What are the basics steps to creating a large community?

What fundamental infrastructure is needed in a small town or large city?

Why can it be difficult to manage a community's financial and economic systems?

How might a group respond if the availability of an important resource is threated?

Requirements

There is no particular prerequisite for this course. It is told as a story and presents concepts that most adults will be able to grasp.

Description

This course is presented as a story. It begins with the reader (this being you) finding yourself in a forest. You develop daily routines to obtain the sustenance that you need to survive. These routines are the repeating and looping patterns of behavior that you use to find fresh water, hunt, fish, gather other foods, build a shelter, and collect firewood on an ongoing basis. These are your hunting, fishing, gathering, building, and energy systems. You find another person in the woods. She happens to be in the same situation as you. She is trying to sustain herself in this primitive environment. The two of you decide to join to form a partnership. In doing so you experience the benefits of the principles of symbiosis and synergy. This increases your chances of survival. You are both rescued from your predicament and are transported to a nearby fishing village. During your rescue you come to find out that the community has recently suffered a pandemic. Many of its leaders have become ill and died. The sickness has also dealt a heavy blow to the economy of the village. You, as an individual, are elected mayor of the town. You work to explain to the leaders just how an economic system develops in a community. You then work with them to analyze the village’s actual transportation systems, drinking water systems, sewer systems, electrical systems, banking system, judicial system, and municipal services systems. The results are then used to make changes that result in the financial recovery from the pandemic. While still playing a role in the leadership of the community you get sick and die. At this point in time, it appears that the village is functioning well both socially and economically. Unfortunately, another series of events begins to happen that could cause this comfortable quality of life to not only decline but also go into a tailspin once again. The purpose of this class is to help the student to understand what systems are and what role they play in our everyday lives. This class provides a clear definition for the word system. The story describes how one fictitious village used its systems to work toward sustaining itself as a community. It struggled to do this as its vital resources became depleted.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Lecture 2 Lesson 1: Basic Survival

Lecture 3 Lesson 2: Partnerships

Lecture 4 Lesson 3: The Rescue

Lecture 5 Lesson 4: Economic Systems

Lecture 6 Lesson 5: Specialization of Skills

Lecture 7 Lesson 6: Wealth and Debt

Lecture 8 Lesson 7: The Debt Comes Due

Lecture 9 Lesson 8: Avoiding the Tragedy

Lecture 10 Lesson 9: Assignment

People that want to know more about how an organization's sustainability can be increased by viewing it from a system perspective.