Course: Using Systems Thinking to Tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis

We know that our individual decisions as consumers and voters can make a difference when we act together. But have you thought about the fact that the way you make …

We have seen in this course how genuine solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis require us to move beyond superficial and narrow thinking. We certainly need technological and economic …

Tools There are many tools available to help with systems thinking. If you would like to explore the different methods in detail, links are provided here and in the further …

It might seem late in the course to introduce the concept of systems thinking but actually, you’ve been doing it all along! Systems thinking is not a single academic field. …

The population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have seen an alarming average drop of 68% since 19701. Scientists agree that we are in the midst of a …

If we accept the premise that our mindsets and culture are both the root cause and potential solution to the environmental polycrisis, then the obvious question is, how can we …

Kayden’s fingers flash over the keyboard. He takes a slurp of lukewarm coffee and breathes a deep sigh of relief. It always feels satisfying to complete a code and to …

Imagine it’s 2030 and the fields around every city are filled with the buzz of tiny drones. It seems a long time since 2018 when US company Walmart filed the …

Welcome to Week 2 of ‘Using Systems Thinking to Tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis’. Last week you looked at why depending on economic and technological solutions alone, won’t avert …

There’s a new nature conservation strategy in town. And it means business. From the 1970s to 1990s, the main tactic to protect wildlife was highlighting the plight of charismatic ‘flagship’ …

What is the relationship between economic growth and the planetary environmental crisis? Some influential thinkers have argued that countries need to build and sustain wealth to have sufficient capacity to …

Sustainable Development Goal 2 is ‘End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.’ Not only is this good for the people living on Earth, it’s good …

A planetary polycrisis It seems bad news about the environment is everywhere. On news websites, Twitter, even TikTok, it’s almost inevitable you’ll find stories about the decline of the world’s …

Take a look at the following infographic containing quotes from reports and people in some of the leading global institutions concerned with addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis. Quotes from …

I’m Tom Oliver, Professor of Applied Ecology and Research Dean for Environment at the University of Reading. In this video, I explain why we need to think differently about the …