The recursively generative nature of complex agri-eco-socio-technical systems a transdisciplinary approach to developing a low carbon footprint farming system

Abstract

Farming procedures have intensified to the point where they significantly impact on the environment, the social fabric of the communities involved and the political and financial stability of regions. Traditional design procedures do not take the recursive and adaptive nature of these systems fully into account. The author starts from the premise that the feedback loop and recursive causal nature inherent to agri-eco-socio-technical systems make them inherently wicked1. The design of a low carbon footprint farm takes this into account and uses a transdisciplinary approach to consider the solutions from a broad stakeholder group. An initial solution design is presented that shows how the problem was structured and what factors were considered for a model based approach.