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What kinds of ‘systems’ are we dealing with?
Implications for systems research and scaling
International Conference on Integrated Systems Research, Ibadan March 3-6 2015
Cees Leeuwis & Seerp Wigboldus
Knowledge, Technology and Innovation group
We talk about different systems (nested)
 Cropping systems
 Livestock systems
 Farming systems
 Livelihood systems
 Agricultural systems
 Land-use systems
 National systems
 Global systems
 Innovation systems
And we talk about systems (and how they
change) differently.
 Systems seen as:
 ‘Machines’
 ‘Organisms’
 ‘Meanings’
 ‘Psychic prisons’
 ‘Arenas of struggle’
 ‘Rules’
 Change strategy:
 Optimise towards a goal
 Re-balance and adapt
 Dialogue, learning, agreement
 Shock therapy
 Coalition building, competition
 Change incentives
‘Our’ systems are intertwined configurations
... including bio-material relations ...
... mediated by human practices, and
associated with social outcomes ...
... that are shaped by wider social conditions
and practices ....
... that are again shaped by other bio-
material and social phenomena ...
So how do complex configurations change?
And what/how can research contribute?
So how do complex configurations change?
Key challenges for us:
 There is no central steering and control
 Farmers cannot change if others do not simultaneously
change
 Disagreement and diverging interests
 Actors experience uncertainty (a.o. about others)
 There are always multiple simultaneous scaling processes
involved (intended and unintended)
Intensifying milk production:
Multiple scaling processes at farm-level
Milk production/cow
No. of dairy farms
Milk production/farm
Use of herbicides
Use of antibiotics
Use of growth
hormons
Manure production
Farmer income
Grassland
biodiversity
Automation of farm
management
Groundwater
quality
Education level
of farmer
Productive
life of cow
Methane gas
emission
No. cows
outside (field)
No. of pasture
birds
Cow fertility
... and beyond farm level ...
Milk production/cow
No. of dairy farms
Milk production/farm
Use of herbicides
Use of antibiotics
Manure productionGrassland
biodiversity
Automation/hightech
in farm management
Education level
of farmer
Productive
life of cow
Methane gas
emission
No. cows
outside (field)
No. of pasture
birds
Cow fertility
Groundwater
quality
Diversification to
non-agrarian income
Societal concerns
re: animal welfare
Cost of business
acquisition
Rural
population
Cooperation
Collaboration
No. of potential wives
for farmers
Available
services
Image of dairy farm
amongDutch citizens
Specialisation
in subsectors/
nichemarket
In hindsight: what where the key triggers that
enabled to this re-configuration?
 Guaranteed / subsidized prices (followed by quota)
 Land-reform / land consolidation
 Promotion of entrepreneurship identity/ideology
 Cooperative, public and private service delivery (e.g.
credit, extension, veterinary)
 Cooperative, public and private technology development
 Driven by: Common vision, shared story and corporate
organisation and investment
I.e: a combination of individual, institutional and
technical leverages arising from shared purposes
 ‘Individual’ reasons for
behaviour (KAP++)
 Formal and informal
institutions
 Property / access rights
 Market / pricing rules
 Standards / certification
 Organisational set-ups
 Incentive systems
 Procedures
 Regulation / litigation
 Patronage / clientilism
So what can systems research contribute?
(What is our ToC about the role of research?)
 Integrative description/understanding of systems?
 Identifying key areas of leverage?
 Responsible experimentation with technical and
institutional options?
 Becoming a leverage in its own right?
Integrative description/understanding of
systems?
 Trying to understand the complexity
● Describe diversity
● Investigating dynamic interrelations between
variables / levels (modelling)
● Predict how scaling of one phenomenon relates to
scaling of other phenomena (trade-offs)
Integrative description/understanding of
systems?
 Worries:
● notoriously difficult to integrate social aspects
● data intensive and time consuming
● hard to make contextual
● hard to link to contextual/stakeholder questions
● is detailed targeting really needed/efficient/possible?
Identifying key areas of leverage:
Opportunity, foresight and visioning
 Analysing emerging
windows of opportunity
● Trend analysis: what
is already scaling up
or down?
● How / what could we
connect to that for
development
purposes?
Identifying key areas of leverage:
Addressing constraints
 Analyse individual,
institutional, technological
constraints
● What are the key
barriers for scaling
best bet solutions?
● Which strategies and
leverages may
effectively address
such barriers?
Responsible experimentation with technical
and institutional options: Creating variation
 Varieties
 Land tenure contracts
 Litigation platforms
 Pricing systems
 NRM surveillance
 Transport modalities
 Water governance
 Weeding practices
 Etc.
Responsible experimentation with technical
and institutional options: Creating variation
 Evaluating forward looking scaling questions such as:
● Who is likely to benefit? How will risks be
distributed?
● What other impacts can we anticipate in the future?
● What is it we do not know?
● Who will take responsibility when things go wrong?
● What is the legitimacy basis for pursuing this
option?
Becoming a leverage in its own right?
 None of these forms of research are likely to have much
impact in an isolated / extractive mode
● Not so much because users may not hear about the
results
● Not so much because we would be unable to
capture local knowledge and understanding
Becoming a leverage in its own right?
 But because research processes have a greater potential
to contribute to impact than eventual research results!
● meeting, talking, bridging, sharing, working, fighting
 Help to solve critical challenges at the level of the
configuration!
● No central steering, interdependence, disagreement,
uncertainty
 Ex-post diffusion strategies do not deal with these
Becoming a leverage in its own right?
This process potential is why R4D / innovation platforms are
critical
This requires us to refine RBM, Impact
Pathways and Theories of Change
This requires us to refine RBM, Impact
Pathways and Theories of Change
 Widen array of ‘research inputs’
● e.g. demand/agenda articulation, visioning, mediation
 Widen array of ‘research outputs’
● e.g. new relationships, trust, visions, agreement,
coalitions
 Widen array of ‘research outcomes’
● e.g. shifting pressures, discourses, institutional change
We may also consider different scaling
pathways
 ‘Go with the flow’
● connect to what is already scaling / ongoing
● societal experimentation with multiple options to
enhance the chances of a fit
● foster reflection on responsible innovation questions
We may also consider different scaling
pathways
 ‘Overthrow the system’ (system innovation)
● emphasis on vision and coalition building
● focus on identifying leverages – individual,
institutional, technical
● societal experimentation with multiple issues to
create leverage (an enabling environment)
‘Going with the flow’ vs ‘Overthrowing the
system’ require different process strategies
Thank you for
your attention!
30

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What kinds of ‘systems’ are we dealing with implications for system research and scaling by Dr. Cees Leeuwis & Seerp Wigboldus

  • 1. What kinds of ‘systems’ are we dealing with? Implications for systems research and scaling International Conference on Integrated Systems Research, Ibadan March 3-6 2015 Cees Leeuwis & Seerp Wigboldus Knowledge, Technology and Innovation group
  • 2. We talk about different systems (nested)  Cropping systems  Livestock systems  Farming systems  Livelihood systems  Agricultural systems  Land-use systems  National systems  Global systems  Innovation systems
  • 3. And we talk about systems (and how they change) differently.  Systems seen as:  ‘Machines’  ‘Organisms’  ‘Meanings’  ‘Psychic prisons’  ‘Arenas of struggle’  ‘Rules’  Change strategy:  Optimise towards a goal  Re-balance and adapt  Dialogue, learning, agreement  Shock therapy  Coalition building, competition  Change incentives
  • 4. ‘Our’ systems are intertwined configurations
  • 6. ... mediated by human practices, and associated with social outcomes ...
  • 7. ... that are shaped by wider social conditions and practices ....
  • 8. ... that are again shaped by other bio- material and social phenomena ...
  • 9. So how do complex configurations change? And what/how can research contribute?
  • 10. So how do complex configurations change? Key challenges for us:  There is no central steering and control  Farmers cannot change if others do not simultaneously change  Disagreement and diverging interests  Actors experience uncertainty (a.o. about others)  There are always multiple simultaneous scaling processes involved (intended and unintended)
  • 11. Intensifying milk production: Multiple scaling processes at farm-level Milk production/cow No. of dairy farms Milk production/farm Use of herbicides Use of antibiotics Use of growth hormons Manure production Farmer income Grassland biodiversity Automation of farm management Groundwater quality Education level of farmer Productive life of cow Methane gas emission No. cows outside (field) No. of pasture birds Cow fertility
  • 12. ... and beyond farm level ... Milk production/cow No. of dairy farms Milk production/farm Use of herbicides Use of antibiotics Manure productionGrassland biodiversity Automation/hightech in farm management Education level of farmer Productive life of cow Methane gas emission No. cows outside (field) No. of pasture birds Cow fertility Groundwater quality Diversification to non-agrarian income Societal concerns re: animal welfare Cost of business acquisition Rural population Cooperation Collaboration No. of potential wives for farmers Available services Image of dairy farm amongDutch citizens Specialisation in subsectors/ nichemarket
  • 13. In hindsight: what where the key triggers that enabled to this re-configuration?  Guaranteed / subsidized prices (followed by quota)  Land-reform / land consolidation  Promotion of entrepreneurship identity/ideology  Cooperative, public and private service delivery (e.g. credit, extension, veterinary)  Cooperative, public and private technology development  Driven by: Common vision, shared story and corporate organisation and investment
  • 14. I.e: a combination of individual, institutional and technical leverages arising from shared purposes  ‘Individual’ reasons for behaviour (KAP++)  Formal and informal institutions  Property / access rights  Market / pricing rules  Standards / certification  Organisational set-ups  Incentive systems  Procedures  Regulation / litigation  Patronage / clientilism
  • 15. So what can systems research contribute? (What is our ToC about the role of research?)  Integrative description/understanding of systems?  Identifying key areas of leverage?  Responsible experimentation with technical and institutional options?  Becoming a leverage in its own right?
  • 16. Integrative description/understanding of systems?  Trying to understand the complexity ● Describe diversity ● Investigating dynamic interrelations between variables / levels (modelling) ● Predict how scaling of one phenomenon relates to scaling of other phenomena (trade-offs)
  • 17. Integrative description/understanding of systems?  Worries: ● notoriously difficult to integrate social aspects ● data intensive and time consuming ● hard to make contextual ● hard to link to contextual/stakeholder questions ● is detailed targeting really needed/efficient/possible?
  • 18. Identifying key areas of leverage: Opportunity, foresight and visioning  Analysing emerging windows of opportunity ● Trend analysis: what is already scaling up or down? ● How / what could we connect to that for development purposes?
  • 19. Identifying key areas of leverage: Addressing constraints  Analyse individual, institutional, technological constraints ● What are the key barriers for scaling best bet solutions? ● Which strategies and leverages may effectively address such barriers?
  • 20. Responsible experimentation with technical and institutional options: Creating variation  Varieties  Land tenure contracts  Litigation platforms  Pricing systems  NRM surveillance  Transport modalities  Water governance  Weeding practices  Etc.
  • 21. Responsible experimentation with technical and institutional options: Creating variation  Evaluating forward looking scaling questions such as: ● Who is likely to benefit? How will risks be distributed? ● What other impacts can we anticipate in the future? ● What is it we do not know? ● Who will take responsibility when things go wrong? ● What is the legitimacy basis for pursuing this option?
  • 22. Becoming a leverage in its own right?  None of these forms of research are likely to have much impact in an isolated / extractive mode ● Not so much because users may not hear about the results ● Not so much because we would be unable to capture local knowledge and understanding
  • 23. Becoming a leverage in its own right?  But because research processes have a greater potential to contribute to impact than eventual research results! ● meeting, talking, bridging, sharing, working, fighting  Help to solve critical challenges at the level of the configuration! ● No central steering, interdependence, disagreement, uncertainty  Ex-post diffusion strategies do not deal with these
  • 24. Becoming a leverage in its own right? This process potential is why R4D / innovation platforms are critical
  • 25. This requires us to refine RBM, Impact Pathways and Theories of Change
  • 26. This requires us to refine RBM, Impact Pathways and Theories of Change  Widen array of ‘research inputs’ ● e.g. demand/agenda articulation, visioning, mediation  Widen array of ‘research outputs’ ● e.g. new relationships, trust, visions, agreement, coalitions  Widen array of ‘research outcomes’ ● e.g. shifting pressures, discourses, institutional change
  • 27. We may also consider different scaling pathways  ‘Go with the flow’ ● connect to what is already scaling / ongoing ● societal experimentation with multiple options to enhance the chances of a fit ● foster reflection on responsible innovation questions
  • 28. We may also consider different scaling pathways  ‘Overthrow the system’ (system innovation) ● emphasis on vision and coalition building ● focus on identifying leverages – individual, institutional, technical ● societal experimentation with multiple issues to create leverage (an enabling environment)
  • 29. ‘Going with the flow’ vs ‘Overthrowing the system’ require different process strategies
  • 30. Thank you for your attention! 30