connect the dots and change the game--linda booth sweeney
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Linda Booth Sweeney
October 19, 2010
Living SystemsNatural Resources
Water quality
Leadership and
Management
Family Health
Economic Development
Crops and Livestock
Youth Leadership
Lots of moving parts
Differing goals among stakeholders
Situations that are chronic, seemingly intractable
Policies that have met resistance, or worse, back fired
Multiple levels of complexity
Systems Approach
A Systems Approach
Understand systems
Make systems visible
Work with systems
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html
A Heap:
What is a System?
A System:
• A collection of parts • Two or more parts interacting as a whole, within some boundary
• Not changed by adding or taking parts away
• Behavior changes if elements are added or taken away
a soccer team laundry a family
Heaps and Systems
a school a CD collection
Heap or System?
Turn to a partner…
1. Tightly interconnected
Some of what we know about…
Living Systems
2. Actions and results are separated
3. Whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
4. Change happens through feedback
Midnight the Pony
Sheep
Cows
Mia the Goat
animal waste
4. Change occurs through feedback
duck weed
water quality
insects
turtles/frogs
storm water
WETLAND HEALTH“Before”
nitrogen
High quality water supports a variety of insect life
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
(“AFTER”)
Turtles and frogs eat duckweed
Duckweed covers pond, blocking light and reducing oxygen flow
duckweed
turtles & frogs
manure
+
water quality
insects
-Insects are food for turtles and frogs
-
Less nitrogen reaches pond
People depend on wetlands for our water supply
people
swale
retention area
Gravel and sand in swale filter our particulates
Retention area holds water away from pond
plants
Filtering plants absorb excess nutrients (nitrogen)
L. B. Sweeney, Drumlin Farm, CLE, 2010
Principles of Living Systems
Childhood Obesity
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Almost 20%: number of overweight in children in the U.S.
What factors influence childhood obesity?
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-349378/Eight-factors-childhood-obesity.html
Birth weight
Obesity in one or both parents
Time spent watching TV
Amount of sleep
Size in early life
Rapid weight gain in 1st year
Rapid catch-up growth between birth and 2 years
Early development of body fatness in pre-school years
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Childhood Obesity: Laundry List
Most factors that influence obesity do not work in isolation.
Whack-A-Mole!
City of Somerville 75,000 residents
Ethnically diverse
4.1 square miles with 3% of its land area as open space
Median household income is $46,315
• A community-based, participatory, environmental approach to reduce undesirable weight gain.
• A 3 year controlled trial to study 1st – 3rd grade culturally and ethnically diverse children and their parents from 3 cities outside Boston.
R06/CCR121519-01 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Additional support by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, United Way of Mass Bay, The US Potato Board, Stonyfield Farm, and Dole Foods
RESULTS:
SUS reduced approximately one pound of weight gain over eight months for an eight-year-
old child.
This method brings researchers and communities into partnerships for systemic and systematic investigation,
with the collaboration of those affected by the issue being studied, for purposes of education and taking action or
effecting social change.
Community-Based Participatory
Research (CBPR)
Sound familiar?
Community Engagement Model
CommunityMapping:
Understanding connections
ParticipationAssessment:
Identifying partners
Information Gathering &
Delivery
Capacity Building:
Making it happen
Model Adapted from National Resources Canada
Employ The Social Change Model of Leadership Development
Hold community meetings
Community council formation
Perform environmental assessments
Logo and brand development
Conduct focus groups &key informant interviews
Listen…Build Relationships
&
Establish Trust
Identify the problem as a community priority
Capitalize on social injustices
Identify champions
Food Advertising/Marketing Aimed
at Children
Plethora of low cost/energy
dense foods
Physical Education and Recess
Cuts
Development of Childhood Obesity
Multi Media Saturation
Increased Portion Sizes
Energy IN
Energy OUT
Sugar Sweetened Beverage Consumption
Frequent Eating Away from Home
Declines in Physical Activity
Changing Built
Environment
Media
School: food services, curriculum, teacher development
Built Environment: safe, well-lit parks, walking school bus
Food Systems: farmers markets, restaurants
8 Interacting Systems Effects
Community: Healthy eating/active living
S.U.S./University Partnership
Family: parent outreach
Child -- in-school, after-school, at home
8 Interacting Systems Effects
The Built Environment Effect
Expenditure of Calories
Amount of NewPhysical Activity
Improvement to Built Environment
Collaborative Partnerships with Community
Gap between current reality
& ideal environment
CommunityInfrastructure
Changes
Shifts…
Insider looking in
RelationshipsParts (silos)
Straight lines A-->B Closed loops
Static Dynamic
Outsider looking in
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Let’s Try It: Connecting the Dots
L.B. Sweeney
Silos System
1. Pick an issue.
2. What are the key factors or players? List them.
3. How are those factors/players interrelated? (Draw a sketch, if so inspired).
4. What are the benefits of viewing these factors as part of an interconnected system?
School lunch
Families
Economy
Access to Healthy
FoodYouth as Leaders
From Open to Closed Loops
Let’s try it!
Right-Hand Fist
Left-hand Rest on Neighbor’s Fist
From Open to Closed Loops
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chicken manure pollutant
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chicken manure
healthy cows
The Egg Mobile
healthy soil
Scratch! Scratch! Yum! These bugs are tasty!
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parasites & flies & undigested grains
growth of grass & plants
decaying plants & animals
cow manure
“
milk and beef
healthy chickens
Integrated Farming System
Pasture Poultry System
control flies
Fixing Broken Windows
Criminalbehavior
Prosecuteall crimes
Can you close the loop?
Effort toprosecute
small crimes
Criminalbehavior
Visible signs of
successful crimes
Sense oforder
People outside
(feeling of safety in neighborhood)
Where can you close the loop…
… and let the system do the work for you.
•Turn to a partner.
• Where can you create closed, reinforcing loops?
• Are there ways for your efforts to trigger reactions in the wider system that sustain the positive effects of your actions?
• Where can small results “snowball” into large results?
Questions?
Cooperative Extension exists to bring the resources of
the University of Wisconsin to you, where you live and work.
Cooperative Extension you
?
We teach, learn, lead and serve, connecting people with the
University of Wisconsin, and engaging with them in transforming lives and
communities.
….and…
The Cooperative Extension is uniquely capable of uniting communities to meet common goals and
enjoy shared benefits.
Educators, healthcare providers, spiritual leaders, businesses and town halls intersect in their need
for learning , strong local economies, land stewardship, food security and a new generation
of informed and contributing community members.
That point of intersection is the Cooperative Extension.
Dedicated to Rosemarie H. Booth
Norfolk Country, MA -- Cooperative Extension
“Summa Cum Laud Volunteer Teacher”
“People who don’t have a concept of the whole, can do very unfortunate things…”.
Joseph Campbell
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