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Introduction
To achieve good social well-being, it is essential to pay attention to various factors and address specific issues, and all the steps have to be part of a tightly coupled system. For example, well-functioning institutions and governments, developing technologies, provided services and goods, and employment and education opportunities together are those life support systems that ensure sustainable development and growth. It may happen that in some of these vital areas, there is a problem that prevents them from functioning correctly and therefore needs to be identified and addressed. Certain interventions may or may not appear to be helpful and effective, and precisely social-environmental systems are useful for this process.
Dynamics of the Social-Environmental System
In order to achieve better results by improving predictions of how particular interventions are likely to affect social well-being, it is vital to understand how social-environmental systems work. These systems are rather complex adaptive processes that consist of numerous interconnected components interacting in various ways. Depending on their negative or positive feedback and reactions, it is possible to get an understanding of a new intervention’s most likely effect and consequences. These social-environmental systems are generally evaluated, defined, and explored at various temporal and spatial scales depending on a taken case study. Further, to understand and evaluate these systems, five primary “stock” assets, namely, knowledge, human, social, manufactured, and natural capitals, are used. Many different processes control the flows in and out of them, and the key ones are the processes of increased levels of consumption and production.
The Water-Food-Energy Nexus
One of the primary concepts of social-environmental systems is the Water-Food-Energy Nexus. As mentioned above, consumption is increasing rapidly. Being driven by a number of factors, namely, economic growth, changing diets, rising incomes, rapid urbanization, higher living standards, and a rising global population, demand for goods and services, primarily for water, food, and energy, increases every day. Since enormous amounts of the world’s freshwater resources are consumed by agriculture, while global food supply and production require more than one-quarter of the overall energy, these resources have to be managed thoroughly.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states that the securities of food, energy, and water are interconnected and depend on each other. In other words, there should always be a balance in the consumption of these three sectors in order for people to maintain proper social well-being. Any changes or actions in any of these sectors are likely to cause particular modifications in the other two. Sustainable development, reduction of poverty and unemployment, and human well-being depend on food, energy, and water distribution.
In this concept, there is a nexus approach that is required to plan inherently interconnected systems correctly. It allows to highlight and define possible synergies, as well as identify the most severe conflicts and issues that need to be addressed. Water, energy, and food securities are defined as access to safe drinking water, affordable and clean energy for various purposes, and nutritious and sufficient food, respectively. These three resources have to be provided for people equally, notwithstanding psychological resilience and extreme situations.
Complex Social-Environmental Systems of Sweden: National Reform Program
Complex social-environmental systems of the country and some valuable initiatives are described in “Sweden’s national reform programme 2017” [1]. In this document, it is mentioned that several studies have been done to evaluate the complex social-environmental system of the country [1]. They are, for instance, “a pre-study, “More Pathways to Entry,” financed by the European Social Fund,” “the Rural Accelerator, the pre-study upon which the Innovation Centre was based,” and some other researches [1].
Feedback Interactions
Feedback interactions describe how usually positive changes in one element of the systems can later cause modifications in another, affecting the initial element. In “Sweden’s national reform programme 2017,” it is stated that the country has some energy projects, including Fossil Free Energy Districts and The Energy Efficient Enterprise project [1]. Though these are rather promising interventions, it is possible that they will affect the water element, which in turn will impact energy.
Invisibility
Invisibilities in space and time describe those consequences that are not evident now but may appear later because of some interventions. The analysis of Sweden’s program allowed highlighting possible invisibility that may occur because of the country’s intention to produce “biogas that can replace fossil fuel-based energy” [1]. Though this initiative is beneficial, it can also lead to an unintentional increase in food prices.
Complexity
The complexity of social-environmental systems is evident through the example of fossil fuel-based energy being replaced by biogas.
Tipping Points
A possible tipping point that social-environmental systems of Sweden can cross is the fact that more sophisticated technologies are introduced to capture and pump methane, which costs significant amounts of money, and even a small perturbation can alter the functioning of the system [1].
Vulnerability
Though the initiatives and interventions described in “Sweden’s national reform programme 2017” are rather promising and thought through, some external factors may interfere with the process. For example, climate changes, natural disasters, or the lack of money due to investments into other problems can alter the process.
Governance in the Social-Environmental Systems of Sweden
A good governance system is essential for achieving sustainability, social well-being, and adequately working social-environmental systems. It is the governance that is responsible for decision-making, setting and achieving goals, identifying weaknesses and problems, and creating and enforcing rules. If there is weak governance in a country, it is likely that there will be unaddressed overfishing, rural poverty, and pollution. In Sweden, it is possible to say that the governance is working correctly, and no challenges are detected. In “Sweden’s national reform programme 2017,” the government’s initiatives are mentioned frequently [1]. The country’s governance protects citizens’ rights and introduces regulations; has an interest, power, and capacity to solve issues; and makes correct decisions to control the flows in and out of the five primary “stock” assets.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, one can say that understanding how social-environmental systems work is actually essential to achieve better results as it becomes possible to improve predictions of how particular interventions are likely to affect social well-being. At the same time, these systems are extremely complicated as their interconnection can be both beneficial and destructive. On the one hand, positive changes in one system can cause useful moderations in others without the necessity to spend money on aimed interventions. On the other hand, even well-thought steps in a system can have severe adverse effects on others. As for Sweden, it is possible to say that its social-environmental systems are well managed, though some initiatives require more thorough analysis. To be more concrete, the governance, for example, “intends to develop a framework for welfare measurements that augment GDP in order to shed light on the long-term sustainability of the economy and people’s quality of life” [1]. Further, it also invests money in various studies and initiatives “in relation to environmentally harmful subsidies” and energy and climate transitions [1].
Reference
Government Offices of Sweden, “Sweden’s national reform programme 2017,” [Online], Web.
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