Bryan Hopkins
July 2024

Making sense of environmental problems using systems thinking approaches

Environmental problems are never just problems in the natural world - they are also always intimately connected with human activities, which have social and economic dimensions.

Systems thinking provides a set of principles and tools to help us make sense of the complex, interacting web of factors that create and often reinforce environmental problems. This webinar looks at some basic concepts underlying systems thinking, and then, as a case study draws on the environmental problems currently being seen in the River Wye, use some basic diagramming techniques to show how to apply these concepts to make sense of what is happening and so identify potential useful strategies.