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Science-Driven Societal Transformation, Part III: Design

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Abstract
Climate change, biodiversity loss, and other major social and environmental problems pose severe risks. Progress has been inadequate and scientists, global policy experts, and the general public increasingly conclude that transformational change is needed across all sectors of society in order to improve and maintain social and ecological wellbeing. At least two paths to transformation are conceivable: (1) reform of and innovation within existing societal systems (e.g., economic, legal, and governance systems); and (2) the de novo development of and migration to new and improved societal systems. This paper is the final in a three-part series of concept papers that together outline a novel science-driven research and development program aimed at the second path. It summarizes literature to build a narrative on the topic of de novo design of societal systems. The purpose is to raise issues, suggest design possibilities, and highlight directions and questions that could be explored in the context of this or any R&D program aimed at new system design. This paper does not present original research, but rather provides a synthesis of selected ideas from the literature. Following other papers in the series, a society is viewed as a superorganism and its societal systems as a cognitive architecture. Accordingly, a central goal of design is to improve the collective cognitive capacity of a society, rendering it more capable of achieving and sustainably maintaining vitality. Topics of attention, communication, self-identity, power, and influence are discussed in relation to societal cognition and system design. A prototypical societal system is described, and some design considerations are highlighted.

Suggested Citation

  • John C. Boik, 2020. "Science-Driven Societal Transformation, Part III: Design," Working Paper 0012, Principled Societies Project.
    • Handle: RePEc:psp:wpaper:0012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John C. Boik, 2020. "Science-Driven Societal Transformation, Part II: Motivation and Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-23, September.
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    6. Mohamed Rabie, 2013. "Capitalism and Democracy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Saving Capitalism and Democracy, chapter 0, pages 61-76, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Scoville-Simonds, Morgan & Jamali, Hameed & Hufty, Marc, 2020. "The Hazards of Mainstreaming: Climate change adaptation politics in three dimensions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Catrien J.A.M. Termeer & Art Dewulf & G. Robbert Biesbroek, 2017. "Transformational change: governance interventions for climate change adaptation from a continuous change perspective," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(4), pages 558-576, April.
    9. John C. Boik, 2014. "First Microsimulation Model of a LEDDA Community Currency-Dollar Economy," Working Paper 0001, Principled Societies Project, revised Oct 2014.
    10. Lyle Scruggs & Thomas J. Hayes, 2017. "The Influence of Inequality on Welfare Generosity," Politics & Society, , vol. 45(1), pages 35-66, March.
    11. John C. Boik, 2014. "Economic Direct Democracy: A Framework to End Poverty and Maximize Well-Being," Book, Principled Societies Project, number 0004.
    12. Andreas Muhar & Christopher M. Raymond & Riyan J.G. van den Born & Nicole Bauer & Kerstin Böck & Michael Braito & Arjen Buijs & Courtney Flint & Wouter T. de Groot & Christopher D. Ives & Tamara Mitro, 2018. "A model integrating social-cultural concepts of nature into frameworks of interaction between social and natural systems," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(5-6), pages 756-777, May.
    13. Nathan J. Bennett & Jessica Blythe & Andrés M. Cisneros-Montemayor & Gerald G. Singh & U. Rashid Sumaila, 2019. "Just Transformations to Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-18, July.
    14. Johanna Hornung & Nils C. Bandelow & Colette S. Vogeler, 2019. "Social identities in the policy process," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(2), pages 211-231, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. John C. Boik, 2020. "Science-Driven Societal Transformation, Part I: Worldview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-28, August.
    2. Rudy Vannevel & Peter L. M. Goethals, 2021. "Structural and Contentual Complexity in Water Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-46, August.
    3. Seung-Ju Choe & Seung-Hoon Han, 2021. "Applicability of Assessment Indices for Hanok-User Sensory Comfort Based on Visual and Tactile Comfort Evaluation Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-23, October.
    4. John C. Boik, 2020. "Science-Driven Societal Transformation, Part II: Motivation and Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-23, September.
    5. John C. Boik, 2021. "Science-Driven Societal Transformation, Part III: Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-26, January.
    6. Huijie Li & Jie Li, 2021. "Risk Governance and Sustainability: A Scientometric Analysis and Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    transformation; systems change; sustainability; complexity; complex systems; complex adaptive systems; societal cognition; wellbeing; well-being; local currency; community currency; complementary currency; digital currency; democracy; economic democracy; direct democracy; environmental economics; climate change; global warming; biodiversity loss; active inference; free energy principle; self-organizing criticality; SAILS; LEDDA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General
    • P41 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Planning, Coordination, and Reform
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

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