Rural System's

Modern Wild Faunal Resource System Management

[ Web site Home | The Course's Home | Table of Contents | The Finder | Glossary ]

The 5 E's

Ecology
Economics
Esthetics
Energetics
Enforcement

When modeling or designing any system it has been my experience that one of the following themes is useful. Like the 4 parts of any resource, these 5 parts may be the essence of any large important system. To go down one path or theme exclusively is to assure being wrong and being "caught" later by failures in at least one of the other 4 areas or dimensions of thought and work. "Ecosystem management", for example, has a name too-strongly implying an ecological approach. Names and words are important to many people but some people live as Alice in wonderland assuming names mean what we want them to mean. All ducks are waterfowl but waterfowl are not ducks. I suggest evaluating projects and large activities to see into which category of the 5 that things on which you work may fall. Are all present. Which can be omitted for the long run? Do you know of a project or program that has failed because of omitting one or more of the other "E" topics?

I worked for years with 4 E's (ecology symbolizing major biophysical structure and function or processes; and esthetics and economics symbolizing major social processes), but later realized that I must add enforcement or some controlling system, re-phrased, I ignored a feedback function or system component.

Ecology
Economics
Esthetics
Energetics
Enforcement

Perhaps now (in 2004) I'll add Expectancy for the feedforward function reminder. Maybe I'll use Equity as that future signal.I'm thinking about it.

Go to the top.

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Send an email message - Questions, revisions?
Last revision January 15, 2004.