This paper describes and evaluates work carried out in the social housing context in the United Kingdom using a systems thinking approach called ‘lean systems’ (LS). The work, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was designed to test whether LS could improve the efficiency of delivery of housing management and maintenance services. A pilot programme was developed in which three...

This paper describes research undertaken to investigate the possibility of using systems to model productivity in construction. In particular, it concentrates on the use of systems dynamics and project level productivity. The literature identifies 34 factors affecting productivity but based on a survey of professionals, five of these are recognised as important. They form the basis of a systems...

Accepting new paradigms are important to advancing scientific knowledge. Over the history of humanity, discoveries have been made because of the availab ility of new facts that would be either prev iously impossible or improbable for mult iple reasons. However, whenever one contextualizes the importance of leadership within the contemporary period of existence, one would find it difficult to di...

Resilience thinking is increasingly promoted to address some of the grand challenges 21 st century: providing water, energy, and food all, while staying within limits Earth system that undergoing (climate) change. Concurrently, a partially overlapping body literature on water–energy–food (WEF) nexus has emerged through realization systems are intricately linked—and should therefore be understoo...

As systems become more complex, the roles involved in developing and managing such systems also become more complex. As such, there is increasing interest in training engineering professionals to think systemically. However, sufficient data are missing to understand the mechanisms that most effectively and efficiently develop systems thinking. This article discusses preliminary findings on enab...

As hubs of culture, business, and innovation, cities have been placed at the center race to net zero. However, despite offering numerous opportunities decarbonize infrastructure, energy, mobility, our ways living, are complex systems that likely require tailored solutions.

Günümüzde ekolojik ve toplumsal alan ile ilgili ciddi sorunlar karşı karşıya kalmış durumdayız. İklim değişikliği, su krizi, sosyal ekonomik adaletsizlikler gibi sorunların karmaşık yapısı bu sorunlara nasıl yaklaşılması gerektiği belirsizliklere neden olmaktadır. Çünkü söz konusu tek bir disiplin bağlamında çözümü zordur; için bütüncül bakış açısının gerekli olduğu aşikârdır. Sorunların çözüle...