Evolutionary Systems Design

Abstract

This article takes a look at how Evolutionary Systems Design (ESD) may be used as a pragmatic platform for sustainable development initiatives that focus on individual and community empowerment. It begins with a review of ESD as a praxis that draws on General Evolution Theory and Social Systems Design methodology, in addition to Critical Systems Theory, to engage in lifelong learning and human development in partnership with Earth. The origins and foundation of ESD are portrayed as providing the basis for a framework that bridges evolutionary consciousness and evolutionary action. The roots of ESD are traced back to General Evolution Theory on the one hand and to the notions of evolutionary stewardship that grew out of the action-inquiry encounters fostered by the International Systems Institute on the other. It is described how these notions were given operational viability through the methodology of Social Systems Design. Distinctions between growth, development, and evolution are made in order to clarify the principles of sustainability as both a product and a process of ongoing emergence. The fundamental tenets of ESD are presented and discussed by way of a fourstage evolutionary learning framework. Finally, the vehicle of the Evolutionary Learning Community through which ESD operates is shown to embody the potential for individuals and groups to think, live, and act in harmony with the dynamics of which they are a part as a means to guide the conscious creation of sustainability.