If you have so integrated and intuitive understanding of ‘the meaning of something’ it is sometimes difficult to define it and explain it for other people. Some people ask me what do you mean with systems? What is a system? I like the definition of Donella Meadows, a great referent in sustainable development (form scientific sector). She says:

A system isn’t just any old collection of things. A system* is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something. If you look at that definition closely for a minute, you can see that a system must consist of three kinds of things:

– elements,

– interconnections, and

– a function or purpose.

For example, the elements of your digestive system include teeth, enzymes, stomach, and intestines. They are interrelated through the physical flow of food, and through an elegant set of regulating chemical signals. The function of this system is to break down food into its basic nutrients and to transfer those nutrients into the bloodstream (another system), while discarding unusable wastes.

In a System all parts are interconnected and have a common purpose. If we can learn to think, act and create like (natural) systems do, we will be able to achieve better solutions for our current and future challenges.