AGS422 A3 Podcast

Sustainability and sustainable futures in a rural landscape are complex issues that require a holistic approach. Systems thinking allows us to understand the interconnectedness of different factors, such as people, communities, the environment, and the impacts of climate change. Rural sustainability encompasses not just agricultural production, but also social dynamics, economic pressures, and land use. Solutions need to consider the ripple effect on all components of the system. Resilience is crucial in maintaining order during challenges like natural disasters and climate change. Each rural landscape is unique and requires localized solutions that balance social dimensions, economic growth, and environmental conservation. It is important to recognize our biases and practice empathy in understanding the perspectives of others. Systems thinking helps us navigate the challenges of climate change by considering community engagement, policy formation, and collaboration in rural communitie Hi and welcome to my Contemporary Issues in Agriculture reflection. I'm Charlotte and today we'll be discussing sustainability and sustainable futures in a rural landscape. Systems thinking allows us to consider sustainability through a more holistic approach, looking at issues of interconnected systems each influencing and being influenced by the other. These are known as feedback loops and recognize that no decision is made or received in isolation. This approach is relevant to sustainability in that it acknowledges that rural landscapes are part of a broader socio-ecological system where people and communities, the environment and natural resources, economies and more recently the impacts of climate change are all deeply intertwined. Now wicked problems. Being dynamic, complex and often multifaceted in nature they are known to be difficult to define, let alone solve. Rural sustainability embodies these characteristics by incorporating not only agricultural production but also factors from rural communities and social dynamics to economic pressures and land use. Sustainability is a wicked problem that can be hard to effectively define a scope and boundary for understanding at any scale because the connections are so far-reaching and variable. For example the difference between governmental policy compared to localized community interactions and dissemination of the same policy and applications. By utilizing systems thinking we can look at the system as a whole, not just its elements. It's like looking at a forest instead of just looking at the trees. It also means that sustainability isn't about just solving one issue, it's recognizing that resolutions need to be considered as a ripple effect to all adjoining components. For example changes in agricultural practices don't just affect the producer, they impact the environment as well as livelihoods of rural communities. Resilience has become an integral component of socio-ecological systems, evaluated based on the system's capacity for self-organization, its potential to foster learning and adaption, as well as its tolerance for change while retaining control of the structure and function. Considering obstacles like urbanization and climate change that contest an idealized sustainable rural landscape, fostering solutions that are specific and localized to recognize diversity within communities is vital. Part of this is managing the delicate balance between social dimensions such as identity, lifestyles, values and impacts of urbanization, as well as between economic growth and environmental conservation. Every rural landscape is unique and interconnected. Resilience is important in measuring a system's ability to maintain order during hard times, like during natural disasters, floods, droughts, which with climate change is going to happen so much more often. You can only ever know part of a problem by asking different questions, aiming to create a full picture or mind map, identifying links and players by incorporating communities and resilience, but only as you see it through personal views. Asking these questions is just as important, if not more so, than determining the context and extent of wicked problems. Many aspects of these systems are viewed only through our perception, through our reality, influenced by personal identity, values and experiences, and we must accept that our perception represents our personal reality and that we are outsiders when it comes to the issues of others, with everyone having their own distinct realities. While we can't change everyone's realities, we can practice empathy by recognizing their feelings and actively listening to their stories. In this sense, systems thinking allows us to consider our bias in relation to the relevant boundaries of sustainability in a rural landscape. An example of systems thinking in terms of sustainable futures in a rural landscape is considering the current response of rural communities to climate change. Literature by Bias 2011 suggests that there is conflicting views in communities on how climate change is conceptualized, as well as varying degrees of concern for its occurrence and future implications. Along with confusion about the issue itself and how it positively or negatively impacts stakeholders, local industry roles are unclear, leading to a lack of willingness of rural communities to adapt practices and thoughts to facilitate the reduction of actions that to facilitate the reduction of actions that contribute to climate change. Adams 2011 proposes a fix on a multi-scale level by integrating community engagement with policy formation, but personally I'm not sure how this will be facilitated if people are unsure of what the issue is in the first place. Davis 2009 offers an alternative suggestion, reasoning that local leadership needs to change to foster collaboration in rural communities and understanding to promote participation. In general, there are a number of scenarios that need to be considered in relation to climate change, as Key in 2013 mentions, including future considerations of adaption and migration of people, as well as social stresses from natural disasters on farmers, their families, the community, particularly through drought. Overall systems thinking is important in identifying relationships and interactions that will change in the future, and being able to manage this through effective networking and knowledge distribution. Thank you for listening.