Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37751553›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2023

Progress in modeling dynamic systems for sustainable development.

Noelle E Selin, Amanda Giang, William C Clark

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. The power of bridging decision scales: Model coupling for advanced climate policy analysis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Showcasing advances and building community in modeling for sustainability.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  5. Equity and modeling in sustainability science: Examples and opportunities throughout the process.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  6. Sustainability transitions in consumption-production systems.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Noelle E SelinInstitute for Data, Systems, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.ORCID 0000-0002-6396-5622
Amanda GiangInstitute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-0146-7038
William C ClarkJohn F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.ORCID 0000-0001-8994-5251
Harvard University · USMassachusetts Institute of Technology · USUniversity of British Columbia · CA

Funding

Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) RGPIN-2018-04893Italy Ministry for Environment, Land, and Sea n/aNational Science Foundation (NSF) 1924148
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This Perspective evaluates recent progress in modeling nature-society systems to inform sustainable development. We argue that recent work has begun to address longstanding and often-cited challenges in bringing modeling to bear on problems of sustainable development. For each of four stages of modeling practice-defining purpose, selecting components, analyzing interactions, and assessing interventions-we highlight examples of dynamical modeling methods and advances in their application that have improved understanding and begun to inform action. Because many of these methods and associated advances have focused on particular sectors and places, their potential to inform key open questions in the field of sustainability science is often underappreciated. We discuss how application of such methods helps researchers interested in harnessing insights into specific sectors and locations to address human well-being, focus on sustainability-relevant timescales, and attend to power differentials among actors. In parallel, application of these modeling methods is helping to advance theory of nature-society systems by enhancing the uptake and utility of frameworks, clarifying key concepts through more rigorous definitions, and informing development of archetypes that can assist hypothesis development and testing. We conclude by suggesting ways to further leverage emerging modeling methods in the context of sustainability science.

Indexed as

modeling for sustainabilityplace-based approachsector-based approachtheory-building approachtheory-testing approach

Identifiers

PMID37751553
PMCPMC10556647
OpenAlexW4387040939

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.