The Role of Systems Thinking in Addressing Sustainability Challenges

This essay examines the application of systems thinking to develop solutions for sustainability challenges, focusing on the wicked problem of household food waste management in Australia. It critically analyzes arguments for and against systems thinking, highlighting its holistic approach that emphasizes the interrelationship between various parts of a system. The essay discusses the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainability, emphasizing how systems thinking can contribute to building sustainable food systems and redirecting policies for improved societal welfare. It also explores the use of system dynamics and the iceberg model as tools for understanding and addressing complex problems like food waste, which has significant environmental and societal impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions and land pollution. The essay concludes that systems thinking offers a beneficial and sustainable approach to maximizing food waste reduction and addressing the growing food demand in Australia.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University
Authors Note:

1SUSTAINABILITY
A system is a set of various parts that are interrelated with each other so that they can
work towards achieving a common goal. In this essay the use of system thinking to develop
solutions to achieve sustainability challenges is to be evaluated. Various arguments related to
system thinking whether favorable or not while dealing with the present wicked problem is to be
critically analyzed. System thinking generally focuses on the interrelationship between the
individual parts and creating solutions for these problems. The problem of household food waste
management is to be discussed by applicability of system thinking. In the current times both the
developed and underdeveloped countries are facing the problem of food waste management from
the household sector. Proper household food waste management is considered to be as a wicked
problem in Australia. As per Eilam and Reisfeld (2017) system thinking is concluded to be a
time consuming process and is very difficult to understand.
In the recent times, system thinking approach is highly significant in dealing with the
problems related to sustainability. As per Chunlin and Chan (2015) system thinking has been
used by many researchers and academicians. There is a slight difference between the system
thinking approach and traditional thinking approach. The traditional thinking practices used to
focus on the major problem area while the system thinking approach lays major emphasis on
inter relationship among the various constituents of the system. In the era of globalization, the
world is going to face various problems and complexities. As suggested by () the complex or
wicked problems can only be solved through system thinking. System thinking is a holistic
approach and is interrelated with the system’s constituent parts.
Wicked problem
Household food waste is one of the wicked problems faced by Australia. According to
Rittel and Webber (1975) it is estimated that between 30 to 50% of the total food produced by

2SUSTAINABILITY
the country is wasted. In Australia, maximum food waste is sent to landfill that represent an
ineffective use of the existing scarce resources. The major environmental problem associated
with this is generation of various greenhouses gases. Maximum amount of waste that is
generated by the greenhouse gases is measured by the government. However, only that amount
of food waste is ascertained by the government, which is disposed through the organized waste
treatment procedure. As per Bing et al. (2015), the informal disposal of solid waste and domestic
foods are taken in various forms. In Australia, the waste is disposed via waste disposal systems
in a formal manner.
Through system thinking, it would be possible to disposed of the household food waste in
a more systematic and formal manner. According to Schott and Andersson (2015) more
importance should be given on the agriculture and food systems to tackle the sustainability issue.
The procedure underlying social, economic and environmental sustainability would be deriving
from system thinking of the global food system. As per Thi, Kumar and Lin (2015) system
thinking on the other hand would not be helpful in ascertaining the vital trade-offs that leads to
increase in the accompanied food chain.
In Australia the problem related to the food waste management is significant. Moreover,
on an average it is also estimated that the Australia produces sufficient fresh foods so that the 60
million people can be fed on a daily basis. On the other hand, the country also spends more than
7.5 million tons of food that is suitable for the human consumption. In Australia recently the cost
of food waste has significantly risen from $ 5.2 billion to $8 billion from the year 2009 to 2014.
Moreover, in Australia, the food wastes also occur predominantly at both the retail and consumer
levels. At an annual level, $616 worth of food is wasted from the household sector.

3SUSTAINABILITY
As mentioned by Higgins (2014) the three pillar models of sustainability are social,
economical and environmental. The most commonly used model for sustainable development is
the three pillars model. As per, the model was previously known to be the acute pillars. The
social aspect of the sustainability model mostly focuses on balancing the needs of the people
with the group interest.
For household food waste management, the social initiatives mostly involves market
specific training programs for sustainable agriculture and food management, the second pillar is
environmental sustainability, this is obtained when systems, activities and processes reduces the
environmental impact. Proper food waste management through effective operations and facilities
would lead to create a sustainable environment. The economic pillar is the third pillar of
sustainability. This is used to encourage the strategies that are used in promoting the application
of socio-economic resources to achieve maximum benefits. The three pillars model also known
as the prism model comprises of major set of interlinked components.
According to Teirlinck (2015) economic sustainability mainly involves to make sure that
country makes maximum profit without creating any environmental or social issues within the
organization.
System thinking would help in building sustainable food system that would aim to
redirect the policies and food system related to better adjusted goals and improved societal
welfare. The sustainability for household food waste management is necessary to support
positive transformation within the society. System thinking approach helps in dealing with the
sustainability challenges. As per Garlapati (2016) problems that have turned more complex in the
recent rimes can only be solved with the help of system thinking. The wide perspectives related

4SUSTAINABILITY
to the system thinking can solve all the complex factors, which is dependent on the external
factors. Household food waste management is an emergent problem that is continuously
changing. Solving the complex problem can be achieved only through system thinking. This can
be solved through analytical tools and methods. As per Salemdeeb et al. (2017) system dynamic
is an effective approach to model system which is emphasized their feedback loops.
Food wastes have vital implications on the community at various levels. This directly
impacts the society on various levels. It also creates a direct impact on the condition of
environment and is the cause of the climatic change. When the food wastes collected from the
households is sent to landfills for decomposition, methane gas is emitted that traps the heat
present in the atmosphere. The gas is produced at 25 time’s higher rate than that of carbon
dioxide. As mentioned by Abeliotis, Lasaridi and Chroni (2014)14% of the total emissions of
carbon dioxide in the world are caused due to household food wastes. Moreover, foods that are
left to rot within the landfills also create a negative impact on land biodiversity around the
landfills. This leads to pollute all the groundwater and waterways thus degrading the quality of
environment.
There are major six steps related to the system thinking that could be applied to solve all
kinds of complex problems (GoodMan and Karash 1995). The first step involves in solving the
problem includes is to understand the main problem area, which is achieved by looking deeply at
the overall system instead of the individual parts. The major steps requires meeting with the
stakeholders sharing the vision about the situation with the help of concept maps. It is important
to tell the story as the starting point of system thinking analysis includes thinking about the
problem besides acting on it.

5SUSTAINABILITY
The next step includes drawing “behavior over time” graphs as it would link the present
to the past and thus would lead to move from seeing events to recognizing patterns over time
(Chunlin and Chan 2015). The third step includes creating a focusing statement, at this point a
statement would be created to help in analyzing the rest of procedures. This step is followed by
identifying the structure and the system archetype is an effective way to ascertain and build a
theory of how and why things are happening. The fifth step includes going deeper into the
underlying issues so that a proper action can be implemented by the management. Finally,
planning an intervention is important to acknowledge the system so that a solution can be
designed that would help in designing a solution for producing the desirable solutions. The most
significant intervention that involves is changing the thinking process of people that are involved
in the system. Planning an intervention should be consistent with the structure.
The iceberg model is another system thinking tool that should be designed to help any
group are individual. This helps in discovering the behavior patterns, models and supporting
structures that is related to a particular event. As per Maani and Cavana (2007) Iceberg model is
most frequently used by the management to explain the system thinking methodology. The
iceberg model is divided into four parts mental models, structure, pattern or trends and events.
Each level of the iceberg model offers a deeper and clear understanding of the system. On the
other hand as per Abeliotis, Lasaridi and Chroni (2014) it is not necessary to have a clear or deep
understanding of the system theory to influence the behavior of the people. this model mostly
tries to explain that any sort of problem is too deep and is hidden beneath the covers.
As per Bing et al. (2015) system thinking is a powerful and useful to obtain a world view
and produce new perspectives. The solutions to the wicked problem of household food waste

6SUSTAINABILITY
management are generated at each lower level and also tend to be more innovative and have a
major substantial impact. The mental model level is the most powerful level that provides the
basic solution for household food waste management that is to be created and is quite hard to
implement. Whereas, as mentioned by, the major challenges in this model related to system
thinking is that choosing appropriate responses at all the adequate levels? Sometimes identifying
new patterns or events can also lead to change the entire structure for the system thinking of the
wicked problem.
In Australia, wastes can be generally disposed by proper waste disposal system. Through
system thinking the local government can establish waste disposal system through alternate
routes. Majority of household food wastes is disposed through kerbiside local government by
proper treatment and collection. The waste collected is treated by land filling and municipal
composting. The existing municipal composting in the country encourages households for proper
waste management. The household food wastes are distributed in appropriate municipal beans
especially in “green organic” bins, which include food wastes. The wastes than is further
transformed to the various composting facility and landfills. However as per Maani and Cavana
(2007) there are no standards related to the practice for food waste collection. Food waste is
recently an international phenomenon that has affected all the countries globally.
Majority of household food wastes produced in Australia occurs reportedly on the later
phase of food supply chain. System thinking helps in evaluating the current scenario in a clearer
manner. It can be concluded that Australia should prepare itself for the current rise in the
increase in the food demand. The overall household’s food wastes produced by the country are
approximately around 7.5 millions tones of food each year. The nation cannot continue to waste
the food resources in the recent years. The efforts related to reduce the food wastes is also an

7SUSTAINABILITY
environmental imperative. Therefore system thinking is beneficial for sustainability and offers
sustainable alternative to maximize the production of food wastes.

8SUSTAINABILITY
References:
Abeliotis, K., Lasaridi, K. and Chroni, C., 2014. Attitudes and behaviour of Greek households
regarding food waste prevention. Waste Management & Research, 32(3), pp.237-240.
Bing, X., Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J., Chaabane, A. and van der Vorst, J., 2015. Global reverse
supply chain redesign for household plastic waste under the emission trading scheme. Journal of
cleaner production, 103, pp.28-39.
Chunlin, G.U.O. and Chan, C.C., 2015. Whole-system thinking, development control, key
barriers and promotion mechanism for EV development. Journal of Modern Power Systems and
Clean Energy, 3(2), pp.160-169.
Eilam, B. and Reisfeld, D., 2017. A Curriculum Unit for Promoting Complex System Thinking:
The Case of Combined System Dynamics and Agent Based Models for Population
Growth. Journal of Advances in Education Research, 2(2).
Eriksson, M., Strid, I. and Hansson, P.A., 2015. Carbon footprint of food waste management
options in the waste hierarchy–a Swedish case study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 93, pp.115-
125.
Garlapati, V.K., 2016. E-waste in India and developed countries: Management, recycling,
business and biotechnological initiatives. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54,
pp.874-881.
Goodman, M.I.C.H.A.E.L. and Karash, R.I.C.H.A.R.D., 1995. Six steps to thinking
systemically. The systems thinker, 6(2).

9SUSTAINABILITY
Higgins, K.L., 2014. Economic Growth and Sustainability: Systems Thinking for a Complex
World. Academic Press.
Maani, K. and Cavana, R.Y., 2007. Systems thinking, system dynamics: Managing change and
complexity. Prentice Hall.
Rittel, H.W. and Webber, M.M., 1973. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy
sciences, 4(2), pp.155-169.
Salemdeeb, R., zu Ermgassen, E.K., Kim, M.H., Balmford, A. and Al-Tabbaa, A., 2017.
Environmental and health impacts of using food waste as animal feed: a comparative analysis of
food waste management options. Journal of cleaner production, 140, pp.871-880.
Schott, A.B.S. and Andersson, T., 2015. Food waste minimization from a life-cycle
perspective. Journal of environmental management, 147, pp.219-226.
Teirlinck, P., 2015. Current Trends in Regional Innovation System Thinking and Policy
Making. International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 6(1), pp.1-6.
Thi, N.B.D., Kumar, G. and Lin, C.Y., 2015. An overview of food waste management in
developing countries: current status and future perspective. Journal of environmental
management, 157, pp.220-229.