Increasingly, environmental decision making is like playing a multidimensional game of chess. With interactions between the atmosphere, the litho-hydrosphere, and the biosphere, the game is at once a measure of complexity, uncertainty, interdisciplinary acuity, social-environmental sustainability, and social justice for all generations. As such, it demands a systemic point of view. Decision Making for a Sustainable Environment: A Systemic Approach gives readers the tools to replace the dysfunctional, symptomatic decision making that has plunged the world into environmental crises with a systemic approach that fosters social-environmental sustainability. A New Paradigm for Environmental Decision Making Based on the author's more than 45 years of research and broad, international experience, this book guides policy makers and managers to work with-rather than within-theoretical and methodological frameworks to achieve multidimensional and multilayered policy decisions. It discusses systemic thinking as a rational, viable alternative to competitive, materialistic, and symptomatic decision making. Insights, Approaches, and Examples for Leadership Organized into three parts, the book begins by describing the inviolable biophysical principles that define the limitations of human choices. The second part examines in depth why the conventional command-and-control form of decision making tends to become dysfunctional and fails. It also explains how to break the cycle of such behavior. A case study by Jessica K. La Porte explores the challenges of creating a program of environmentally sustainable decision making. The third part of the book explores what it takes to be a psychologically mature decision maker. A Peaceful Path toward Social-Environmental Sustainability for All Generations Proposing new ways of thinking and problem solving, this book provides readers with the ideas, language, approaches, and examples to move toward genuine social-environmental sustainability. It offers counsel on how to be a psychologically mature trustee of planet Earth and leave a more viable legacy for future generations.
NATURE'S URGENT MESSAGE TO THE WORLD'S DECISION MAKERS The Principles of Biophysical Sustainability The Waterbed Principle The Law of Cosmic Unification Nature's Inviolable Biophysical Principles Decision Making and Nature's Rules of Engagement Every Decision Has Its Antithesis The Inviolable Rules of Decision Making WHEN THE DECISION MAKING BECOMES SELF-SERVING The Stages of an Environmental Agency Introduction An Introduction to Command-and-Control Decision Making The Inception of an Agency We Are the Agency Stages in the Cycle of an Agency When Dysfunctional Decision Making Creeps In The Homeostatic Command-and-Control of Decision Making The Mythology of Abnegating Personal Responsibility The Unpredictability of Environmental Laws Setting the Stage for the Engagement of Coping Mechanisms How Coping Mechanisms Influence the Effectiveness of Decision Making Dissonance within Duplicity: Sustainability Programs at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a Case Study Jessica K. La Porte, PhD Breaking the Dysfunctional Cycle of Environmental Agency Decision Making How Job Descriptions Limit Professional Decision Making Leaders and Managers Make Fundamentally Different Kinds of Decisions Categories of Value Why a Vision Is Important Understanding a Vision WHAT MAKES A PSYCHOLOGICALLY MATURE DECISION MAKER? The Essence of a Responsible Decision Maker Personal Values and Philosophy of Life Characteristics of an Effective Decision Maker Coping with the Responsibilities and Pressures of Social-Environmental Decision Making Introduction Circumstances Faced by Decision Makers Being and Disclosing Yourself Perfectionism and the Fear of Making Decisions Coping with Someone You Dislike Imagine Yourself as Different People Inspiring Performance Nurturing Creativity Making Do with What You Have Establishing Realistic Objectives The Need for Urgency Give Counsel, Not Advice The Questions We Ask Maintaining Viability as a Leader Social-Environmental Decision Making within Organizations Giving Children a Voice in Their Future through Shared Decision Making The Great American Irony: Children Have No Voice in Their Future Changing Our Adult Thinking The Ultimate Democratic Revolution in Decision Making: Giving Children a Voice in Their Future Afterword Appendix: Common and Scientific Names of Plants and Animals Index All chapters include a summary and notes.
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