Arresting the Collapse of the City Through Systemic Education: A Case Study of Melbourne

Abstract

Though it is claimed that Melbourne is one of the most liveable cities in the world, a systemic examination, based not on mechanistic and utilitarian foundations but on a humanist, systemic science reveals that a variety of modalities of its social fabric are threatened and will drive the city to eventual collapse. As usual, the worst impacted are the most defenceless: the poor, the elderly and especially the young. We propose that an education that emphasises vision and ethics and that integrates the humanities with the natural sciences in a systemic approach should be the prime instrument of intervention. We describe a new Master of Arts degree designed on these principles to re-orientate young professionals towards the community and away from big business and commerce.

Sustainable Community Development: A Brief Introduction to the Multi-Modal Systems Method

“…For these authors, a Hebraic perspective of life, with the personal involvement of God in the universe and in the questions of human life, provides a view of life that is more than just existence. This approach is opposite to the Greek perspective, which sees the world as impersonal and mechanic (de Raadt 2002). To deal with these issues MMSM aims to:…”

“…In what way should a sustainable community serve its members so that in turn, its members may work to develop it? (de Raadt 2002;de Raadt 2000). In the opinion of these authors, these questions are pertinent even in Sweden, a country where they lived and worked; a country that is considered to have an excellent social infrastructure and a government that offers a diversity of public policies that aim to meet a great diversity of socio-economic demands for the well-being of its population.…”

“…In small villages in rural regions of the country, such as Rosvik in the north of Sweden where research has been conducted, a significant loss of population has been registered to the point that local authorities had begun to reduce the number of grades offered in the local school. Within this context we can distinguish two types of poverty-material and spiritual (de Raadt 2000). The first one is more easily identified, through hunger, violence, disease and a high mortality rate; these create oppression and are characterised by the lack of financial resources.…”

“…In response to this, it becomes indispensable for a new scientific approach and a new method of application (de Raadt 2002) that is able to ''help communities and other social systems ensure their viability and manage the crisis they confront'' (de Raadt 2000, p. 19). Viability is here understood as a state where life is preserved in its full expression, including all its diverse aspects-natural and cultural, which are at the same time, systemically interlinked (de Raadt 2001). These linkages are present in all spheres of life including artistic, intellectual, social, familial-including marriage, work, voluntary service, preservation of traditions, learning, religious ethic, and social, economic and cultural development.…”

“…The multi-modal systems method (de Raadt 2000;de Raadt 2002) referred to from now on simply as MMSM, which captures knowledge from philosophy, theology, cybernetics, management, sociology and informatics, may provide a viable starting point to provide the answers needed. The present article aims to provide a general introduction to MMSM examining the main points covered by the authors in a diverse number of articles and books, emphasising some of the elements that are relevant to enriching the debate about sustainable development in communities and its potential to apply its method in a practical way.…”