Lessons for Sustainable Science Education: A Study on Chemists’ Use of Systems Thinking across Ecological, Economic, and Social Domains
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Which broad sustainability-related systems is chemical research embedded in?
- What elements of systems thinking can be presented on the non-hierarchical concept map model?
2. Theoretical Background
2.1. Sustainable Development and Sustainability
“…recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth—all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.”[33]
2.2. Sustainability-Related Systems
2.3. Systems Thinking
- 1.
- Identify the components of a system and processes within the system.
- 2.
- Identify relationships among the system’s components.
- 3.
- Identify dynamic relationships within the system.
- 4.
- Organise the systems’ components and processes within a framework of relationships.
- 5.
- Understand the cyclic nature of systems.
- 6.
- Make generalisations.
- 7.
- Understand hidden dimensions of the system.
- 8.
- Think temporally: retrospections and prediction.
- Recognise a system as a whole, not just as a collection of parts.
- Examine interconnections and relationships between the parts of a system and how those interconnections lead to cyclic system behaviours.
- Identify variables that cause system behaviours, including unique system-level emergent behaviours.
- Examine how system behaviours change over time.
- Identify interactions between a system and its environment, including the human components of the environment.
2.4. Elements of Systems Thinking
- Interconnectedness and complexity: These are foundational attributes of any system. A systems thinker should possess the ability to recognise the components of a system and identify their interconnections, as well as possess the capacity to navigate the complexity that emerges from this web of interactions.
- Cyclic nature: Systems often exhibit feedback loops, typically modelled using causal loop diagrams. These diagrams elucidate the cyclic interplay within the system, in which an effect circulates through the structure, returning to its starting point, as either reinforcing or balancing feedback. For instance, climate change demonstrates both types of feedback: the thawing of permafrost may release methane, exacerbating global warming (a reinforcing loop), whereas increased water vapour could lead to more cloud formation, potentially cooling the planet by reflecting solar radiation (a balancing loop).
- Stocks and flows: These represent accumulations (stocks) and transfers (flows) of materials, information, or other resources within a system. Stocks, such as a population, change slowly over time, while flows, like birth or death rates, can increase or decrease these accumulations. These dynamics are often visualised through stock and flow diagrams.
- Emergence: This is the phenomenon whereby a system exhibits properties and behaviours not evident from its components alone, underscoring the principle that systems are more than the sum of their parts. The iceberg model is a common tool for illustrating emergence.
- Temporal thinking: This involves contemplating the potential evolution of a system. While precise predictions may require graphs or simulations, it is crucial to acknowledge the likelihood of change and consider various future trajectories.
- Leverage points: These are points within a system where small interventions can lead to significant impacts. Identifying these points can be relatively easy in an intuitive sense, yet, as Donella Meadows noted, intuition often leads to counterproductive actions.
- Delay: This is a fundamental aspect of systems that is intuitively understandable. Delays represent the time lags within system processes and can significantly influence system behaviour.
- Hierarchy and boundaries: These entail the ability to delineate a system from its environment and to conceptualise it as being composed of subsystems. As an example, this concept helps in understanding how a cell can be seen as a system containing organelles (subsystems) and, simultaneously, as part of larger systems such as tissues and organisms. Defining system boundaries is crucial, even though these boundaries can sometimes be ambiguous.
3. Methodology
Analysis
- Concept mapping is simple and is easy to learn. It is a well-established teaching methodology and is likely to be familiar to pre-service teachers to some degree.
- Concept mapping is a visualisation technique focused on presenting connections between elements, hence it is suitable for presenting the multiple elemental aspect of systems thinking. Concept mapping was found to be an efficient tool for observing and assessing six out of the eight systems thinking abilities listed by Assaraf and Orion (1. identify the components of a system and processes within the system; 2. identify relationships among the system’s components; 3. identify dynamic relationships within the system; 4. organise the systems’ components and processes within a framework of relationships; 5. understand the cyclic nature of systems, and in some cases, extend them; 8. think temporally: retrospections and prediction) [27,50].
- The concept map is a simple format that can be elevated to include aspects of systems thinking, such as delay, leverage points, and future perspectives, that arose from the interviews.
4. Results
4.1. Sustainability-Related Systems (RQ1)
- Direct connection: Chemist 5 developed new methods to recover and reuse metals, especially REEs.
- Indirect connection: Chemist 4 is developing applications for polymers that are derived from a waste stream.
- Direct connection: Chemist 1 developed new methods for the molecular-level recycling of cellulose fibres, such as cotton clothes.
- Direct connection: Chemist 4 is developing biobased alternatives for fossil-based materials.
- Indirect connection: Chemist 1 is developing ways to recycle biobased materials, so they can be reused.
- Direct connection: Chemist 5 is working on solutions that will partly help secure the availability for materials that are going to have a drastic increase in demand due to green transition.
- Direct connection: Chemist 5 is developing a metal recovery method that will likely lead to new types of recovery plants and production.
- Direct connection: Chemist 4 is researching applications for materials, which will be produced in new production lines of plants if they can be commercialised.
- Direct connection: Chemist 1 has developed a method of a dissolution technique that has led to a new production plant.
- Direct connection: Chemist 5 possesses influential mechanisms as an expert advisor and has recommended the establishment of a national stockpile for REEs.
4.2. Elements of Systems Thinking That Can Be Presented in Concept Maps (RQ2)
- Looking at the larger picture, seeing the network of different elements.
- Identifying components of the system.
- Recognising the interconnections between the parts.
- Identifying leverage points.
- Noticing delay.
- Temporal thinking.
- Cyclic nature.
- Identifying subsystems.
“…the recovery technologies being developed, for example, the fact that we can demonstrate our capabilities to recover and recycle these specific raw materials, offers a kind of political leverage to the major players in the (global) market.”—Chemist 5
“The Chinese hold a ninety-five percent share in the trade of these metals.”—Chemist 5
“…if there is a system in place that performs cellulose dissolution from, say, paper pulp, there could be another line that aims at chemical modification, meaning that it could produce, for example, water purification chemicals or possibly something resembling plastic, like mobile phone cases. But it’s still utopian that all these could be realised.”—Chemist 1
“My response highlighted the long-term nature of such developments, suggesting that we were looking at a timeline spanning perhaps five, ten, or even 20 years into the future. This was a candid way of grounding the conversation in realism, without making premature promises about the feasibility of our project. Yet, it also reflected a belief in the potential of our idea.”—Chemist 1
5. Discussion
5.1. Sustainability-Related Systems
5.2. Elements of Systems Thinking
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Interview Questions
- How is sustainable chemistry, or sustainability more broadly, related to or connected with your job or research?
- How is the specific research topic selected?
- How do you define your work community?
- Do any external parties have a direct or indirect impact on your work within your work community?
- In what situations do you use systems thinking in your work?
- What kinds of systems is your work involved in?
Appendix B. Concept Map 1—Case of Neodymium
“Over the last year, there has been a dramatic change, especially at the level of the European Union, awakening to the fact that these are, in fact, a group of metals whose availability must be secured in one way or another.”
“As an example, the recovery of rare earth metals from permanent magnets could be mentioned; these are the metals that are widely used in various contexts, including in wind turbines which utilize neodymium-iron-boron magnets. Similarly, such metals can also be found in mobile phones.”
“However, without electric motors that contain powerful magnets, those electric cars wouldn’t go anywhere, regardless of how good the batteries are.”
“…to meet the needs of the industry so that there would be enough, and then indeed, this aspect of security of supply and availability. I have been strongly involved in advocating for the creation of stockpiles for certain metals…”
“…the recovery technologies being developed, for example, the fact that we can demonstrate our capabilities to recover and recycle these specific raw materials, offers a kind of political leverage to the major players in the (global) market.”
“The Chinese hold a ninety-five percent share in the trade of these metals.”
“It has been estimated that, for instance, when comparing carbon dioxide emissions from the developed process, where we dissolve electronic scrap with acids and recover metals through a hydrometallurgical process, the carbon dioxide emissions from recycling those metals are just 5% of what they would be for metals extracted from virgin mineral resources.”
Appendix C. Concept Map 2—Case of Lignin–Carbohydrate Complex
“The ability to utilize raw materials more efficiently would bring cost-effectiveness to the process, generate more revenue, reduce carbon footprint, and decrease waste. And it would create something new. A biopolymer that could potentially replace polymers made from fossil sources or, in this case, starch in our project. In fact, this works in many of the same applications as starch, and we think that starch comes from the food chain.”
“From the perspective of a chemistry corporation, our clients are so large that our current production capacity wouldn’t suffice for us to start selling this product. The corporation joined this project because we received funding from the EU. This research is just the first step; once we prove its viability, we need to think about how to scale up production and deliver it to customers. No one has ever heard of such things as this biopolymer while starch or synthetic products we use, which are incredibly cheap. They’ve been in use for decades. This is part of a broader bioeconomy program, and such initiatives are needed for companies to dare to test and advance high-risk research. External funding is necessary. This isn’t yet a ready business case, but it’s an ideal research topic and a perfect subject for industry-academic collaboration and even a thesis.”
Appendix D. Concept Map 3—Case of Cellulose Dissolution
“From a chemical standpoint, there are no wastes, only raw materials that may be challenging, such as carbon dioxide, if considered an emission. Yet, it is an excellent starting material for various applications, but then we encounter a scale problem: whether it can be utilized on a sufficiently large scale and how this can be achieved. Part of the challenge arises from the fact that we could start building a society that forgets all fossil fuels, but that comes at a high cost. It costs much more than the materials we are accustomed to today, and it means that sustainability comes into play, where things need to be genuinely sustainable and recyclable. Not just because of their cost, but because a disposable culture might not be a good idea from a chemical perspective, and this is exemplified by for instance, our work with textiles.”
“At its best, this could mean that a significant amount of wood-derived paper pulp is used for making textile fibres, and the same chemistry also allows for the recycling of, for example, used newspapers or cotton clothing. Almost any bio-based material, such as silk, can be dissolved and then transformed back into fibre. This is closely related to, for example, biorefineries or bioproduct plants and what the new products could be, in addition to or alongside paper pulp. And on the other hand, if there is a system in place that performs cellulose dissolution from, say, paper pulp, at, there could be another line that aims at chemical modification, meaning that it could produce, for example, water purification chemicals or possibly something resembling plastic, like mobile phone cases. But it’s still utopian that all these could be realized.”
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Interviewee/ Chemist (C) | Background Information | Aspects of Interviewees’ Work Based on Interviews |
---|---|---|
C1 | Professor of Organic Chemistry, Head of the Chemistry department; career 20 years or more; primarily worked in the public sector; basic and applied research. | Professor, head of the department, development research |
C4 | Researcher at the company’s research institute at a leading chemical industry company. Career over 10 years. Ph.D. researcher. | Researcher, project manager |
C5 | Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Circular Economy; career 20 years; worked in the public sector; applied basic research. | Leader of the research project, researcher, EU expert consultant |
Chemist—Concept Map—Case | Main Focus | Description |
---|---|---|
Chemist 5 (C5)—Concept Map 1 (CM1)—The Neodymium Case | Recovery of metals from electronic waste | The Neodymium Case is presented as a case for rare earth element (REE) recovery, importance, and connection to different domains. |
Chemist 4 (C4)—Concept Map 2 (CM2)—The Lignin–Carbohydrate Complex Case | New applications for a new biopolymer | The Lignin–Carbohydrate Case depicts aspects of the developmental work for new biomaterial in co-operation between a large chemistry company, a startup, a researcher conducting their PhD study including supervision from a university, and with public funding. |
Chemist 1 (C1)—Concept Map 3 (CM3)—The Cellulose Dissolution Case | Dissolution of cellulose | The Cellulose Dissolution Case depicts an aspect related to cellulose dissolution as a fibre recycling method, specially connected to clothes. |
Title 2 | Title 3 | Title 4 | |
---|---|---|---|
Circular Economy | X | x | X |
Bioeconomy | X | x | |
Green Transition | X | ||
Emergence of New Industrial Sector/Production | X | X | X |
National Security of Supply | X |
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Vuorio, E.; Pernaa, J.; Aksela, M. Lessons for Sustainable Science Education: A Study on Chemists’ Use of Systems Thinking across Ecological, Economic, and Social Domains. Educ. Sci. 2024, 14, 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070741
Vuorio E, Pernaa J, Aksela M. Lessons for Sustainable Science Education: A Study on Chemists’ Use of Systems Thinking across Ecological, Economic, and Social Domains. Education Sciences. 2024; 14(7):741. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070741
Chicago/Turabian StyleVuorio, Emmi, Johannes Pernaa, and Maija Aksela. 2024. "Lessons for Sustainable Science Education: A Study on Chemists’ Use of Systems Thinking across Ecological, Economic, and Social Domains" Education Sciences 14, no. 7: 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070741