5. Systems Mapping and Analysis Level

Townsville City Council
Accelerated Sustainability Planning


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5. Systems Mapping and Analysis Level

TCC Manager Fleet Services and Deputy Mayor
presenting natural sustainability systems.

Objectives for this Level:

Develop a basic understanding of system terms and connections
Draw a System Map for your Compass Point
Choose 7 interrelated System Elements for each Compass Point
Report on the results
Make linkages across the Pyramid between the Compass Point systems

Systems are linked groups of elements that interact with each other. Often those interactions are predictable -- they follow certain rules or laws, resulting in recognisable patterns of behaviour.
Systems can be physical, mechanical, technical, social, cultural, natural, biological; intellectual … systems are truly all around us. By learning to understand systems -- the elements, the linkages, the rules of cause and effect that govern them -- we can understand the sometimes-hidden mechanisms that often lie underneath problem situations.

Indicators, measurements, are our windows into systems.

	Sustainability Systems (from Pyramid)
	Economy	Society	Wellbeing	Nature
1	Training	Alignment of Local, State and Federal policies that support sustainable development	Travel	Waterway / stormwater
2	Learning networks	Financial incentives to adopt best practices	Purchase of goods	Industry / parks - water efficiency & management
3	Intellectual capital	Sustainable practices and innovation awards	Community engagement	Wastewater management & efficiency
4	Education pathways	Regular reporting of programs (news)	Climate	Energy management & opportunities
5	Sustainable strategy	Media campaigns	Education	Catchment management
6	International competitiveness	Point of sale education campaigns	Community security	Home / water conservation
7	Value adding	Lead by example	Employment systems	Regulatory –appropriateness & effectiveness

Note: Ranking of Systems does not imply priority or relative importance

Representatives of Queensland Department of Public Works, Community, and Ergon Energy.

FIVE KEY SYSTEMS CONCEPTS

Source - where something originally comes from - a material, a resource, even an idea.
Flow - the movement of something through a system, from one place to another. Flows cause changes in Sources, Stocks, and Sinks.
Stock - the supply of something -- anything -- somewhere in the system. The supply of water in a reservoir -- or in a canteen. (The water flows from one stock to the other.) The supply of equipment in a stockroom: something gets purchased and flows in; something gets used and flows out. The "stock" of morale in a team: morale goes up when the team receives inspiration or achieves victory; morale can get reduced if they don't get the training they need.
Sink - where something finally ends up. This can be a physical location or a "non-physical" one (a garbage dump, the bottom of a lake, somewhere in your memory or in your attitudes).
Feedback Loop - information about what's happening in the system -- that, in turn, influences what happens in the system.

The following are systems diagrams for Townsville in the four headings Economy, Society, Wellbeing and Nature.

Economy

Society

Wellbeing

Nature

Managers from Townsville City Council Health Services, Parks Services and Queensland Government EPA demonstrate support for a city-wide Closed Water Cycle Management approach.

Townsville City Council Engineers working on the innovative ‘Pod Car’ (low cost, remotely piloted public transport) and ‘Sizzle-o-Meter’ (a sustainability performance monitor).

Council Managers demonstrate innovation in disaggregated power generation (wind powered energy absorbers rise from the ground to meet the oncoming cyclonic winds).

EPA Sustainable Industries, Director State Development, Planning and Environment Manager, Townsville Port Authority, and TCC Manager Financial Accounting, and Planning Program Facilitator, listen to a presentation.