CAS 120 - Systems, Logic & Sustainability

1. Evaluate natural and human-made systems with a focus on interconnectedness within environmental, social, and economic contexts.
2. Analyze the interactions among the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere in complex systems with an emphasis on system management and problem-solving.
3. Examine personal approaches to systems thinking and knowledge acquisition, and leadership development, in the context of addressing sustainability challenges.

1. Explain the structure, behavior, and functionality of systems, such as natural systems (e.g., biogeochemical, energy, ecosystems) and human-made systems (e.g., cities, businesses, governments, economies), highlighting the interconnectedness among environmental, social, and economic sub-systems.
2. Discuss the key features of systems complexity, including diversity, redundancy, tipping points/thresholds, non-linearity, externalities, resilience, vulnerability, emergence, and agency, and explain their significance in the context of sustainability.
3. Illustrate the interactions among the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere in complex systems, integrating key concepts from geology, hydrology, ecology, and chemistry to highlight their influence on Earth’s overall functioning, including the impact of human activities.
4. Evaluate system management approaches for sustaining ecosystem services and enhancing overall system resilience.
5. Define and distinguish physical, social, and symbolic/analytical system boundaries and demonstrate various approaches to framing and bounding problems and systems for sustainability problem-solving across different scales.
6. Reflect critically on personal approaches to systems thinking and knowledge acquisition, encompassing various scientific methods, disciplines, and traditional knowledge systems, while recognizing their relevance in addressing sustainability challenges.
7. Assess the benefits and limitations of employing systems thinking within natural and human systems, emphasizing leadership applications.

1. Introduction to Systems Thinking & Sustainability
   1. Systems & Complexity
   2. Foundations of Sustainability
   3. Thinking and seeing the world in systems
2. Systems Structure, Behavior & Functionality
   1. Output/Input
   2. Diversity
   3. Redundancy
   4. Leverage points/Tipping points/thresholds
   5. Non-linearity, Feedback loops
   6. Externalities
   7. Resilience
   8. Vulnerability
   9. Emergence
   10. Agency
   11. Scales & Boundaries
3. Earth Systems Interactions & Analysis
   1. Atmosphere
   2. Lithosphere
   3. Hydrosphere
   4. Biosphere 
   5. Human-created/managed systems
      1. Economies
      2. Communities/Governments
      3. Businesses
      4. Power structures and sustainability implications
4. Systems Management & Sustainability Leadership
   1. Ecosystem services analysis
   2. Resilience analysis
   3. Framing and bounding
   4. Applications of scale
   5. Leadership applications
      1. Business/organizational/interpersonal
      2. Community/Governmental
   6. Personal applications
      1. Ways of knowing
         1. Scientific methods
         2. Cross-disciplinary methods
         3. Traditional knowledge systems