Systemic Properties of Key Production and Consumption Areas - Case studies from the core systems: Food, Energy, Mobility and Housing
Creators: name: Lorenz, Ullrich
name: Keypour, Javad
name: Sudikatis, Nike
name: Konrad, Jens
Publisher: name: ETC ST Report 2024/2, EEA, Copenhagen
Year: 2024
Subjects: Systems thinking
Systems archetypes
Causal Loop Diagrams
Rebound effect
Limits to growth
Fixes that fail
Shifting the burden
Food system
Housing
Mobility
Energy

description: The European Union has unveiled the European Green Deal (EGD) and the 8th Environment Action Programme (8EAP), initiatives that represent the most comprehensive and forward-looking policy frameworks to date. Central to these programmes is the 'Systemic Change' concept, which has garnered significant political support as a fundamental approach to achieving environmental sustainability goals. It is imperative to acknowledge that the intricacies of environmental challenges demand a nuanced understanding of their systemic nature.

Oversight of systemic phenomena such as non-linear dynamics, rebound effects, lock-ins, burden-shifting, and trade-offs during the policy formulation stage can result in unintended deleterious outcomes and the redistribution of burdens. Consequently, analysing systemic attributes is increasingly vital for informed policy guidance. Such systems-based perspectives will serve for the anticipated State of the Environment Report 2025, designed to facilitate robust policymaking.

This report aims to identify and communicate some essential systemic properties pertinent to 'systemic change' and the journey towards sustainability. It examines various potential systemic properties across production-consumption systems, including energy, food, mobility, and housing, aligning with EEA thematic domains and corresponding policies. For each thematic domain, selected cases are analysed, utilising causal loop diagrams (CLDs) to visualise and assess systemic properties.

The report does not aim for an exhaustive literature review but instead seeks to present illustrative and, at times, provocative scenarios to probe the effectiveness of CLDs in exploring and articulating systemic properties.

The systemic properties analysed in the cases include:



Direct and Indirect Rebound Effects highlight the paradox where efficiency improvements lead to increased consumption.

'Fixes that Fail' illustrates the pitfalls of short-term solutions that neglect underlying issues, resulting in recurring, more complex problems.

'Shifting the Burden' is where short-term remedies prevent the resolution of root causes by fostering dependency.

'Limits to Growth', underscoring the unsustainable nature of indefinite growth when natural limits are reached.

‘Growth and underinvestment’ is a systems archetype that describes the scenario when growth potential is hindered by insufficient investment in capacity, leading to performance shortfalls and curtailed growth.


The report ventures partly into more speculative thought experiments, such as the complete shift from meat to vegan diets, to explore the implications of drastic changes within complex systems. Despite the speculative nature of these experiments, they underscore the slow pace of systemic change and the potential for rebound effects, highlighting the necessity for comprehensive political measures across the food value chain.

In addressing the energy transition, the report emphasises the imperative of moving towards a carbon-neutral, renewable energy system, spotlighting the role of hydrogen technology. It critiques current mobility policies' narrow focus on technological upgrades at the expense of broader systemic reforms, advocating for a more integrated approach to sustainability.

Furthermore, the report examines the EU's ambition to double the annual energy renovation rate by 2030, considering systemic factors such as cost reduction, material usage, and the promotion of circular economy principles to overcome barriers to building renovation.
description: Framework Partnership Agreement Concerning the European Topic Centre on Sustainability Trends (2022-2026) OCP/EEA/CAS/21/007-ETC ST