Meadows intervention

[Jeff Bullock]

Im looking for an article I saw, written by Donella Meadows, on systems
intervention. I seem to remember the list serve repeating such a list
from Dr Meadows. Ive been told the article is in Whole Earth but no
library or magazine stand in Portland Oregon seems to have it. Can
anybody tell me where to get a copy? I think she does great work and I
would like to refer it a national body for which I work. Thanks, Jeff
Bullock

From: Jeff Bullock <jbullock@earthlink.net>

[Andrew Jones]

Dear SD folks:

I think the article being sought is "Places to Intervene in a System (In
Increasing Order of Effectiveness" by Donella Meadows, in Whole Earth
Review, Winter 1997.

It has a ten-point build-up of general leverage points (numbers, stocks and
flows, negative loops, positive loops, information flows, system rules,
self-organization, system goals, paradigm, transcending paradigms) -- a more
detailed classification than the events/behavior/structure order I usually
use. It has many anecdotes about successful and unsuccessful attempts to
change system behavior, written in Danas accessible style.

I keep a few extra copies of it around to send to people who are seeking a
simple introduction to system dynamics and systems thinking. If you cant
find the Whole Earth Review anywhere (most libraries should have it) and
want a copy, write me and Ill send you one unless my stock is empty.

Sincerely,

Drew Jones
System Dynamics Consultant

Andrew Jones (704) 236-0884 (w)
118 Coleman Avenue (704) 252-1266 (h)
Asheville NC 28801-1304 apjones@cheta.net (e)
USA

[Bill Buchanan]

Gem sites for Complexity lovers.

IIASA Home Page http://www.iiasa.ac.at/
NECSI - New England Complex Systems Institute http://necsi.org/
Welcome to the Santa Fe Institute http://www.santafe.edu/

From: Bill Buchanan <waba@scientist.com>

["Heinzen Manufacturing, Inc."]

Dear SD folks:

A little follow-up on the subject of Dr. Meadows articles--

The "Interventions" article appears in the Winter issue of Whole Earth,
formerly Whole Earth Review. Back issues are available from Whole Earth
(see following).

A previous incarnation of WE, CoEvolution Quarterly, published an
apparently famous article by Dr. Meadows in Summer 1982. WE advises as
follows:

>>>Thank you for your inquiry.
>>>Yes we have Summer 1982 (#34).
>>>However, it is one of the endangered issues (very limited stock)
>>>and the cost is $50.00;
>>>
>>>You can order by check or credit card number (email will do)
>>>and send it to my attention.
>>>
>>>I am also sending subscription information.
>>>
>>>Annual subscriptions (4 issues) to Whole Earth magazine are: USA $24,
>>>Canada $30, and $40 internationally. We accept Visa, Mastercard, personal
>>>check or money order, or we can bill you. Send orders to: Whole Earth, PO
>>>Box 3000, Denville, New Jersey 07834-9879; call toll-free 800/783-4903; fax
>>>973/627-5872; or email wer@well.com. All prices are postpaid with shipping
>>>and handling included.
>>>
>>>
>>>Thank you again. I look forward to hearing from you.
>>>Anna Lee

Hope some of you find this information useful.

By the way, I have enjoyed "lurking" this mailing list, and hope to have
questions and input as time goes on.

Fred Sampson


Heinzen Manufacturing, Inc.
Voice 408-842-7696 x114
Fax 408-842-6678
E-mail: purchase@heinzen.com
Web: www.heinzen.com/heinzen

["William J. Costello"]

Jeff and et al,
Donella Meadows column, "Global Citizan" is available at the IISD
(International Institute for Sustainable Development) website, go
to:http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/. This site, along with the World
Resources Institute site (www.wri.org) provide a wealth of research and
data in this area.

will

Will Costello
Waters Center for System Dynamics
Burlington, VT
802-658-0337
will@middlebury.edu

[Bradd Libby]

======
From: Jeff Bullock <jbullock@earthlink.net>:
Im looking for an article I saw, written by Donella Meadows, on systems
intervention.
======

Jeff,

I have no information to provide regarding the article in Whole Earth
specifically, but an interesting early version of Donella Meadows
list "Places to Intervene in a System" is available in an article in
the Rocky Mountain Institutes newsletter on their website,
http://www.rmi.org

The article I refer to specifically is called "The Tao of Systems" and
is available at http://www.rmi.org/newsletters/96sumnl/hunter.html
It wasnt written by Donella Meadows, but instead by a woman named
Hunter Lovins, who I will speak more about in a moment.

Another article that may be of interest to SDers on that website is
called "Blame it on the System" and is available at http://www.rmi.org/
newsletters/97sumnl/system.html. It discusses the economics of
unsustainability...or the unsustainabilty of economics, depending
on the way you look at it...

The Rocky Mountain Institute is an environmental organization founded
by the Lovins, Hunter and Amory, a long-time critic of US energy policy
and advocate for *profitable* environmental friendliness. (Perhaps
Amory Lovins is best known for negawatts, the concept of allowing
saved electricity, in this case, or water, or air, etc., to be traded
as a commodity.) The Institutes main concerns these days it seems,
judging from their website, are with hypercars (light weight,
zero-emission vehicles - Additionally, there is an article about this topic
on Mike Radzickis Sustainable Solutions website as well) and their
consulting services (including a Systems Group on Forests and another group
concerned with water management that apparently uses SD to some degree in
their work) - so if youre interested in those topics, Jeff, you might do
well to check the site out.

Even if you find the Whole Earth article, or receive another copy of
the list that was posted to this mailing group last July (give or take
a month), I would suggest looking at the version posted on the RMI site
as it shows that the list is a living document which has been revised
over the past few years.
The list originally contained 8 points, but was upped to about
12 by the time it reached this mailing list. What I find most surprising
about the RMI version is that the Number 2 item was change the *people*
who make the rules - a very non-SD/ST reccommedation, in my personal
opinion. I think one of most important lessons SD teaches is that it is the
structure of the system and the decision-making paradigm of those charge
that are the primary determinants of a systems behavior, not the people
in charge themselves. It should be noted that this item was suspiciously
absent from the version sent to this mailing list last summer.

Seeing the RMI newsletter added a third dimension,
development over time, to my perception of Dr Meadows list and I would
reccommend a long visit at the RMIs website or a search for the work
of Amory and Hunter Lovins at your local library or favorite web search
engine to anyone interested in these topics.

Happy hunting -
Sincerely,
Bradd Libby.
(bradd@wpi.edu)

[George Richardson]

The article you are seeking, I think, is Danas "Whole Earth Models and
Systems," which appeared in the Coevolution Quarterly in 1982. It is now
reprinted in the collection I edited called Modelling for Management, but
tends to be hard to find otherwise.

...GPR

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George P. Richardson G.P.Richardson@Albany.edu
Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy Phone: 518-442-3859
University at Albany - SUNY, Albany, NY 12222 Fax: 518-442-3398
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