An evolutionary systems approach to policy intervention for achieving ecologically sustainable societies

This paper describes an approach to policy intervention aimed at achieving sustainable relations between humans and their ecosystems. Following the Introduction, Section 2 defines an ecologically sustainable and economically healthy society, and advances the premise that the achievement of sustainable societies is impossible without the reorientation of social values. Sections 3 and 4 summarize the main principles of the theory of dissipative structures and add an ecosystem basis to this paradigm to develop a conceptual model for the purpose of evaluating alternative forms of intervention to influence the evolution of a society along a sustainable and healthy path. Section 5 outlines a methodology for assessing, evaluating, and tracking the system's transition from its current state to one that is within the acceptable definition of sustainable functioning. The final section proposes application of this approach to policy development problems in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.