Denise Summers 2009

1. Adapted from Linkingthinking, Worldwide Fund for Nature, 2005http://www.eauc.org.uk/file_uploads/linkingthinking-302.pdf Denise Summers 2009

2. Learning Outcomes • Explore different ways of thinking • Identify whether you are an in-the-box or systems thinker • Identify when different ways of thinking are more appropriate • Consider how these relate to sustainability • Identify ways in which you can improve your thinking to inform your actions Thinking outside the box

3. How do you think? We educate many in-the-box thinkers who perform within their various specialities rather like a dog kept in the yard by an electronic barrier. And there is a connection between knowledge organised in boxes, minds that stay in those boxes, and the inability of those minds to perceive the causes of degraded ecologies and global imbalances. (Orr, 2004, p7)

4. What’s the difference between the box and the web? Jot a few ideas down… Suppose we use these things as metaphors for the way we think. Now, what is the difference? http://www.freefoto.com/browse/?query=spiders+web&history=

5. Conflict or complement? How can we do things in such a way that: • we don’t contradict what we intended in the first place? • the effects of actions complement rather than cancel out – or conflict with – each other? • we can minimise unintended negative consequences of actions or policies?

6. Conflict or complement? • The cards given contain various intentions – identify one action which is complementary to the intention and one which conflicts with the intention.

7. Despite our interconnected world, we still think mostly in a fragmented way.

8. “Climate shocks, financial instability, new diseases coupled with the spread of old ones, the rich-poor divide, uncontrolled urbanisation, corrupt governments, rising tides of refugees, there’s pressure building up right across the system, and we’re not noticing it until it’s too late.” Homer-Dixon, ‘Is security the trump card?’ in Green Futures, April/May 2002, p30

9. So what do we need? Linkingthinking – also known as • • systems thinking • • relational thinking • • ecological thinking • • holistic thinking • • integrative thinking • systematic thinking Have you noticed the odd one out – it is sometimes mixed up with the other terms, but means something quite different.

10. Perhaps you are a born Linkingthinker: • • Do you look for connections between things? • • Do you often look at ‘the big picture’, that is, the wider context of some event or decision? • • Do you anticipate or notice causes or consequences beyond the immediate and obvious ones, either with respect to your actions, or those of others? • • Do you think about the long term as well as the short term? • Can you remember times, places or events where you thought in this way? Perhaps you wondered ‘What’s the connection?’ or ‘So what happens next?’. This is the essence of Linkingthinking – assuming that there often is a connection, rather than assuming there isn’t.

11. Here’s a tree – but What actually is it? • a source of food (if it is fruit bearing)? • a source of beauty and spiritual inspiration? • a source of timber? • shelter for animals or humans? • an ecosystem of smaller plants and animals linked to the tree, and the tree to its environment? • a provider of a microclimate and a defence against soil erosion? • one of the wonders of God’s creation? • a living being in its own right? • something else…? It could be all of these, and more. But the commercial forester is likely to see the tree differently from the Celtic tree worshipper, for example. It is still the same tree, however. http://www.freefoto.com/download/805-20-6292?ffid=805-20-6292

12. How often do you say or hear … What’s that got to do with it? I just put two and two together… That’s not my concern! What’s the connection? I can relate to that! I’ve lost the thread! He’s lost the plot! Oh! What a tangled web we weave… We need to make a clear distinction here… It’s all relative… Everything’s related… It’s nothing to do with me… So in our everyday use of language we can: • deny relationships, or • draw distinctions rather than look at relationships, or • recognise relationships, or • recognise and try to understand relationships (as well as valid distinctions). 2 + 2 = 4

13. Assumptions of boxed thinking Try to match the following keywords to the ten boxed thinking assumptions provided: • reductionism • narrow boundaries • cause-effect • atomism • dualism • objectivism • determinism • problem solving • rationalism • analysis

14. Matching thinking assumptions and ‘isms’: 1) problem solving 2) analyses 3) reductionism 4) cause-effects 5) atomism 6) narrow boundaries 7) dualism 8) objectivism 9) rationalism 10) determinism Now compare the beliefs of linkingthinking provided with these assumptions of boxed-thinking Understanding our ‘boxed-thinking’

15. For now, let’s notice the paradox: the world is increasingly complex, interdependent and unsustainable, BUT the way we think tends to be fragmentary and limited, and we live ‘like there’s no tomorrow’. • A number of writers suggest that boxed-thinking is the main cause of the disorder or ‘systemic breakdown’ that we see in the world today. “…the unhealthiness of our world today is in direct proportion to our inability to see it as a whole.” (Senge, The Fifth Discipline, 1990, p68)

16. We are good at: • analysing things – but less good at thinking ‘out of the box’, and at synthesising things • categorising and labelling things (this is a ‘health issue’ ‘an economic issue’, a ‘social issue’ or an ‘environmental issue’) – but less good at seeing the connections behind the labels • seeing detail and dealing with parts – but less good at appreciating overall patterns • focusing in on one factor or one goal (eg maximising a particular achievement, increasing productivity, or maximising profits) – but less good at recognising and balancing multiple factors and goals.

17. Pick an environmental, economic and social issue from the cards given and think of anything that connects the issues and make a note of them Find a partner and discuss whether there are links between the six issues you have between you. Put on a flip chart and draw circles round them, then draw arrows connecting issues, annotating them to show connections. Do we consider the connections and distinctions sufficiently?

18. Human action: Making cup of tea Developing GMOs Lowering fuel duty Farmers’ markets Using slug pellets in garden Machines: Cars Computers Televisions Mobile phones Consequences ... Systems: College Supermarket Local transport system Hinkley Point Power Station Pick one and ask – What are they for? What do they do? and What happens in addition?

19. An example … Cars • What are they for – to transport people/ possessions, to lend status (for some), create jobs and boost economy • What do they do – transport people/ possessions, lend status, create jobs and boost economy • And also – create a demand for roads, pollute the air and contribute to global warming, encourage out of town shopping centres rather than local economy, harm people through acidents, affect health through pollution

20. If this is the solution (S) – what is the problem (P)? • GMOs – genetically modified organisms • Pesticides • A bypass • A farmers’ market • A nuclear power station • Disposable plates • A reservoir • A nature reserve In small groups, chose one of these solutions and identify what the problem was. Then consider whether the solution generates more solutions or more problems?

21. Economy and ecology – which fits into which? Economists see the environment as a subset of the economy. Ecologists see the economy as part of the environment. (Brown, 2001, State of the World, p3)

22. Until recently, the planet was a large world in which human activities and their effects were neatly compartmentalised within nations, within sectors (energy, agriculture, trade), and within broad areas of concern (environmental, social). These compartments have begun to dissolve. This applies in particular to the various global ‘crises’ that have seized public concern, These are not separate crisis: an environmental crisis, a development crisis, and energy crisis. They are one. . (WCED, 1987, Our Common Future)

23. Decide on whether each of the four diagrams represents a sustainable or unsustainable society Which one do you think represents where we are now?

24. What can we do to move towards a sustainable society? • How can we change personally? • How can we change professionally? • How can we encourage our students to develop knowledge, skills, values, attitudes to encourage a more sustainable society?