Thread by @AndrewLFanning

*NEW ARTICLE ALERT* 📢

Provisioning systems for a good life within planetary boundaries (with @DrDanONeill and @mmbuchs) published in Global Environmental Change.

authors.elsevier.com/a/1bXYa3Q8oQ6n… (link expires Sep 26)

I learnt so much writing this paper!
[Thread]

The starting point is the brilliant analytic framework created by @JKSteinberger, @DrDanONeill and @lamb_wf that proposes the concept of ‘provisioning systems’, which mediate the links between resource use and social outcomes... 2/
doi.org/10.1038/s41893…

But the general characteristics of provisioning systems are not well understood, so this paper dives deep into what provisioning systems are, and how we can understand the ways in which they influence variation in levels of resource use and social outcomes across societies 3/

So, following Donella Meadows (of course!) - who shows all systems have elements, relationships and a purpose - we define a provisioning system as:

"a set of related elements that work together in the transformation of resources to satisfy a foreseen human need"

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Then - guided by Meadows again on the power of transcending paradigms - we analysed six established theories (writ large) hoping they could help us better understand the complex relationships within provisioning systems, in the context of @KateRaworth’s Doughnut 5/

We don’t find a single theory that encompasses the full scope of provisioning in the Doughnut (i.e. sustainable resource use and sufficient social outcomes).

But we do find lots of overlaps, and some gaps, which help guide our thinking. 6/

For me, the biggest contribution of this paper is to introduce the concept of ‘appropriating systems’, which explicitly remind us to investigate how institutions and technologies may be rigged in favour of privileged groups.

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Then, drawing on our analysis of the theories, we integrate 3 additional pieces into the original framework to better understand how provisioning systems may mediate relationships between resource use and need satisfaction….

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(1) We envision each human need, such as access to energy or food, is satisfied through its own specific provisioning system, but they share common elements, which leads to a set of overlapping provisioning systems at the societal level

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(2) Although there may always be some degree of rent extraction in complex societies, the strength and legitimacy of appropriating systems need explicit attention because they maintain powerful actors entrenched in the status quo

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(3) Within provisioning systems, we identify 6 provisioning elements – two technological elements (techniques and material stocks), and four institutional elements (households, commons, state, and markets) – that are linked via feedbacks and power relations

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Anyway, there's more but that’s enough from me EXCEPT to say that we tried really hard to make this paper jargon-light (no ontology or epistemology here!), so please do take a look and let us know your thoughts.

13/ authors.elsevier.com/a/1bXYa3Q8oQ6n… (link expires Sep 26)

Too many ppl to acknowledge, but big thanks go to @DocSteveHall and to everyone who came to our workshop (back when we could sit in real rooms together). Also thanks to @srileeds, especially the @liliproj (led by @JKSteinberger), for so many amazing thinkers (and doers!)