Autonomous Innovations in Rural Communities of Developing Countries II—Causal Network and Leverage Point Analyses of Transformations

Shion Takemura (), Hidetomo Tajima (), Juri Hori, Mitsutaku Makino, John Banana Matewere, Dorothea Agnes Rampisela and Tetsu Sato
Additional contact information
Shion Takemura: Fisheries Resources Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Yokohama 236-8648, Japan
Hidetomo Tajima: Fisheries Resources Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Yokohama 236-8648, Japan
Juri Hori: Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute, Ohtsu 520-0022, Japan
Mitsutaku Makino: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8564, Japan
John Banana Matewere: Sustainable Cape Maclear, Monkey Bay P.O. Box 110, Malawi
Dorothea Agnes Rampisela: Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
Tetsu Sato: SDGs Promotion Office, Ehime University, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-16

Abstract: Solving complex system challenges such as natural resource management in social-ecological systems (SESs) is fraught with great uncertainty. To cope with these challenges, socially vulnerable people in developing countries have created various autonomous innovations. This study focuses on the concept of leverage point (LP) to understand the emergence of innovations and the transformation mechanism of SESs. An LP is a part of a complex system where a small change can cause transformations in the entire system and can be identified from causal networks in an SES. This study analyzed the emergence processes of autonomous innovations as causal networks through transdisciplinary collaboration with innovators in communities and succeeded in visualizing the initial conditions, outcomes, and challenges. We constructed a new definition of LPs based on graph theory and classified LPs into three types based on their characteristics. The network analysis of the causal networks of two innovations in developing countries revealed that the three types of LPs functioned synthetically in complex systems to promote transformation. Based on these results, we propose the potential ways of interventions for the transformation of complex system networks including plural LPs and discuss their effectiveness as boundary objects in transdisciplinary processes collaborating with diverse stakeholders. Further research is expected to accumulate knowledge for solving the various challenges faced by SESs.

Keywords: system thinking; social-ecological system (SES); transdisciplinarity; graph theory; betweenness centrality; leverage centrality; intervention; boundary object (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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