Table 1 Overview of leverage points, system characteristics and business interventions to mobilize change for sustainability transformations
From: Conceptualizing the potential of entrepreneurship to shape urban sustainability transformations
The 12 leverage points developed by Meadows (1999) | Description of four system characteristics as aggregated by Abson et al. (2017) as target areas for interventions | Business interventions that change internal operation and influence external urban dynamics | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constants, parameters, numbers (such as subsidies, taxes, standards) | Parameters | Parameter interventions target the quantifiable properties within a system, such as energy and waste streams or the number of employees. This intervention targets system characteristics described by Abson et al. (2017, 32) as “modifiable” and “mechanistic,” such as a company’s debt, its profit margins, the assets write-off rate or physical elements of a system, such as sizes of stocks or rates of material flows” building on the leverage points of parameters, buffers, and stock-and-flows (see Meadows 1999, 5–8). Generally speaking, related interventions “turn the faucet of environmental degradation” (Meadows 1999: 5), thereby altering the rate or speed of a particular system dynamics without interfering with its nature. This can include tinkering with levels of material consumption (such as increasing efficiency) or the adjustment of social parameters (such as income or paycheck raises). Importantly, parameter interventions do not interfere with behaviors of a system (such as a firm or a city). As a result, these interventions are likely to gain most system impact when they trigger additional interventions that affect the nature of system dynamics. | Resource interventions | Changes that tinker with quantifiable characteristics and increase the efficiency of business operation by doing more with less and reducing generated waste. Related initiatives included clean manufacturing, environmental management, as well as product design and longevity. Businesses may influence external dynamics by reusing and upcycling materials as well as substituting finite for renewable resources as illustrated through closed-loop business models and sustainable urban metabolism. | Internal operations • Reduce energy and water usage. • Integrate recycling systems and renewable resources. External dynamics • Install pollution prevention systems • Reduce city-wide waste. • Improve quality of natural resources (e.g., natural habitats, water bodies, urban canopy cover). |
The sizes of buffers and other stabilizing stocks, relative to their flows. | |||||
The structure of material stocks and flows (such as transport networks, population age structures) | |||||
The lengths of delays, relative to the rate of system change | Feedbacks | Feedback interventions target the relationships between elements that contribute to the nature of system dynamics, such as the practices, routines and knowledge of people. These interventions target system characteristics described by Abson et al. (2017, 32) as “the interactions between elements within a system of interest that drive internal dynamics (e.g., dampening or reinforcing feedback loops) or provide information regarding desired outcomes (e.g., the effectiveness of a given incentive scheme)” building on the leverage points of delays, balancing feedbacks, and reinforcing feedbacks (see Meadows 1999, 8–12). Generally speaking, feedback interventions address the patterns that emerge from a specific set-up but do not interfere with the rules that govern the behavior of a system. Accordingly, related interventions offer people new ways of doing things and support reflections on activities for determining if satisfactory outcomes are generated. | Transactive interventions | Changes that modify practices and interactions of people connected with the business and its product/services. Related initiatives may require education of customers and training of employees in order for a business model to become effective in achieving its goals. Businesses may influence external dynamics by supporting the uptake of sustainability-oriented routines, supporting cross-sectoral partnerships, and delivering product/services that change the cityscape. | Internal operations • Develop customer reward systems to alter consumption practices (e.g., bring own mug or reusable bags). • Promote employee behavior change (e.g., carpool; active transport; teleworking). External dynamics • Facilitate spaces for young entrepreneurs to develop their businesses and ideas. • Alter practices for developing infrastructure (e.g., sustainable building design). |
The strength of negative feedback loops, relative to the impacts they are trying to correct against | |||||
The gain around driving positive feedback loops | |||||
The structure of information flows (who does and does not have access to what kinds of information) | Design | Design interventions redefine structures of agency and authority by reallocating patterns of recognition, resources, and power that determine who controls the governance of the system. This intervention targets system characteristics described by Abson et al. (2017, 32) as being “related to the structure of information flows, rules, power and self-organization,” building on the leverage points of information flow, rules, and self-organization (see Meadows 1999, 12–16). This means that design interventions can change lines of accountability as well as redefine who gets to decide on the appropriateness of actions and what goals are legitimate to pursue. While design interventions can fundamentally alter the organization of a firm or a city, they do not question or change the goal orientation of a system. | Organizational interventions | Changes that reconfigure agency and power through informal and formal rules that realize shared ownership and collaborative decision-making within the business. Firms may influence external dynamics by shaping urban governance and the involvement of firms in establishing rules and building systems of authority in a city. | Internal operations • Lead collaborative design with clients to show the environmental impacts of their projects. • Establish new positions to guide sustainability-oriented mandate (e.g., sustainability coordinator). External dynamics • Empower marginalized communities and individuals to obtain employment. • Engage with policymakers to influence changes to regulations to improve access to livelihood in a community. |
The rules of the system (such as incentives, punishments, constraints) | |||||
The power to add, change, evolve, or self-organize system structure | |||||
The goals of the system | Intent | Intent interventions target the goals of a system, its identity and the values that inform how and what actions are pursued with what intensity. These interventions target system characteristics described by Abson et al. (2017, 32) as “the norms, values and goals embodied within the system of interest and the underpinning paradigms out of which they arise,” building on the leverage points of goals, paradigm, and transcend paradigms (see Meadows 1999, 16–19). Generally speaking, intent interventions target the deepest underlying goals that organize a business as it influences the worldviews and beliefs that shape its operations (e.g., monetary valuation captures something real, growing is good, a business is constituted by people that produce something with everything else being considered as outside) (Meadows 1999). Such interventions may change the purpose of a business (i.e., why a company does business) and the values that inform how a city functions and how its identity is defined. Often the intent or goals are not necessarily deducible from what people say but from the way they go about doing things. | Value interventions | Changes that transform the underlying logic of business operations and orient activities toward generating human and natural well-being. This reorganizes economic profits from ends to a means that empowers a business to become purposeful endeavors. Businesses may also influence external dynamics by transforming the idea or goal that constitutes a city or a neighborhood. Collectively businesses may reshape the identity of urban areas by establishing hubs for specific activities, shaping the material fabric and mental perception of an area. | Internal operations • Reorient internal decision-making towards participatory and equitable procedures; from profit to not-for-profit; focusing on social and environmental objectives as the core of the business model. External dynamics • Develop innovation or cultural hubs to alter the perceptions and purposes of neighborhoods. |
The mindset or paradigm out of which the system—its goals, structure, rules, delays, parameters—arises | |||||
The power to transcend paradigms | |||||