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Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering (2014/02/09)
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ce in the overall feedback loop (Meadows, 2008).

Systems can have various properties. They may be adaptive, self-preserving, goal-seeking, and dynamic

(Meadows, 2008). Although not all systems have these characteristics, many systems are observed to have
the following:

In an efficient system, each part is unable to fulfill its function in isolation. In other words, Systems self-or-

ganize as a response to the information provided to them by feedback. Feedback is a mechanism that regula-
tes the inflows and outflows to and from a stock, activated by a change in the system. Feedback plays a key

role by enabling systems to exchange information internally and with their environment. Otherwise, systems

would fail to adapt to the modifications imposed on them and may not survive (Systems Thinking: Seeing,

n.d.).

Well-functioning systems are resilient, self-organizing and hierarchical.

Resilient systems can restore their original condition when an external factor influences them. Self-organiza-
tion is a property of systems that are capable of evolving and adapting to their surrounding environment.

Good examples of these characteristics are biological systems, which can learn from their environment and

respond to the threats and resources available to them. Hierarchical systems are structured in a layered, bot-

tom up developing composition. As in any system all components still relate to each other mutually. Howe-

ver, the relationships between parts are stronger within each subsystem (Meadows, 2008). For instance, the
cells in an organ form a subsystem and work together to make the organ function properly. At a higher layer,

organs collaborate to keep the body healthy and efficient. The relationship between cells of an organ is more

intense than with the cells of another organ.

3.4.1.3. SystemsThinking History

Throughout history, philosophers and scientists have struggled to explain the world around them. Even du-
ring the time of Aristotle, philosophers recognized differences between reductionist and holistic approaches.

These approaches can be described as follows:

Reductionism: This is the classical scientific approach that is inspired by the Cartesian- Newtonian concep-
tion of the world. This perspective tries to make sense of a phenomenon by taking its components apart and

viewing their characteristics individually. However, this orientation fails to consider the wholeness coming

from the interactions and systemic interconnectedness of the parts. The properties of the whole cannot be ob-

served from an analysis of just the separate parts (Banathy, 1997).

As John Holland, a pioneer in complex system and nonlinear science, explains: "For the last 400 years scien-

ce has advanced by pieces of it. When assembled, the small pieces would explain the whole (Holland, 1998).

In other words, the reductionist approach although necessary for understanding complex systems, must be

complemented by the systems approach to interpret systems and find optimal solutions.

Systems theory: This approach was proposed in the 1940s by the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy. Rather
than observing the properties of the components independently, systems theory!focuses on the interconnec-

tion of the composing parts as they form a whole 'Heylighen & Joslyn, 1996() It is defined as:

their substance, type, or spatial or temporal scale of existence. It investigates both the principles common to
all complex entities, and the (usually mathematical) models which can be used to (Heylighen & Joslyn,

1996).

The application of this theory is called systems analysis and systems thinking is a primary tool for systems

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