Eco tipping point

An EcoTipping Point is a “lever” that sets in motion a turnaround from environmental decline to restoration and sustainability.

Origins

The expression "tip point" was first used by Grodzins (1957) to refer to a very particular threshold. The "tip point" was the percentage of non-white residents in a previously white neighborhood that would precipitate a "white flight," switching the neighborhood to total occupation by non-whites. Wolf (1963) used the phrase "tipping point" to describe the same phenomenon, and Schelling (1978) applied "tipping point" to other social phenomena as well.

The "tipping point" phrase was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's best-selling book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Gladwell 2000). It used "tipping point" to represent the point in time when a new idea "takes off," spreading rapidly through a society. Though Grozdins, Wolf, Schelling, and Gladwell did not use systems jargon such as "feedback loops," their use of "tipping point" reflected the amplifying effects of feedback loops and the power of feedback loops to engender change.

An environmental or eco tipping point is a lever that can "tip" an eco-social system from one set of mutually reinforcing processes (called a "stability domain" or "attractor basin" in systems jargon) to a stability domain that carries system change in a completely different direction. EcoTipping Points are catalytic, turning the system from decline to health and sustainability (Marten 2005, Marten et al. 2005, Marten and Williams 2006, Suutari & Marten 2007).

How EcoTipping Points work

EcoTipping Points set in motion a cascade of effects that reverse feedback loops responsible for environmental decline. A vicious circle is transformed into a “virtuous circle” that propel the eco-social system toward sustainability. The ensuing proliferation of positive effects CREATES additional virtuous cycles that “lock in” the benefits. Environmental success stories point to EcoTipping Point ingredients that make it all happen.

EcoTipping Points are typically an environmental technology (in the broadest sense), coupled with the social organization to put it into effective use. They are catalytic. EcoTipping Points set in motion a cascade of far-reaching effects through the system.

Feedback loops explain why vicious cycles are so hard to break. But they also expose the strategic points at which the cycles can be reversed. Like Aikido, the martial art that turns an attacker’s thrusts back on the attacker, EcoTipping Points can identify critical maneuvers for reversing the currents of ecological destruction. Instead of continuing to wear the system down, the same forces begin to build it back up. Environmental decline can be turned around if the vicious cycles responsible for decline are reversed. Environmental tipping points connect to vicious cycles with the force necessary to do that. Once reversed, the vicious cycles become “virtuous cycles”, driving positive change with the same power that drove the negative change. In effect, the virtuous cycles mobilize natural, social, and economic forces to work for sustainability instead of against it.

Communities that have experienced environmental tipping points from around the world

The following are examples of environmental tipping points in action
*A marine sanctuary at Apo Island (Philippines) set in motion community fisheries management that reversed a vicious cycle of destructive fishing and depletion of fish stocks (Marten 2005; Marten et al. 2005; )
*Community gardens in New York City reversed a vicious cycle of urban decay, neglect, and population exodus (Marten et al. 2005; )
*The revival of rainwater catchment dams in Rajasthan (India) reversed a vicious cycle of depleted aquifers, dried-up wells and rivers, fuelwood depletion, and population exodus (Marten et al. 2005; )
*“Non-Pesticide Management” by cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh (India) reversed a vicious cycle of pesticide resistance, heavier pesticide use, human pesticide poisoning, and debt (Marten & Williams 2006; )
*Community mangrove management in Trang Province (Thailand) reversed a vicious cycle of mangrove destruction, coastal fisheries depletion, and local inhabitants forced into destructive activities as resources deteriorated (Suutari & Marten 2007;
*Agroforestry and community forest management in Nakhon Sawan Province (Thailand) reversed a vicious cycle of deforestation, watershed deterioration, declining soil fertility, dependence on expensive agricultural inputs, debt, and population exodus.

Common qualities of EcoTipping Points

• EcoTipping Points are catalytic, setting in motion a cascade of effects through ecosystem and social system.
• The cascade of effects ties into vicious cycles with sufficient force to turn them around, transforming the vicious cycles into “virtuous cycles” that mobilize nature and natural social processes to propel the system toward sustainability.
• EcoTipping Points are typically an environmental technology (in the broadest sense of the word) combined with the social organization to put the technology into practice. The social organization includes a “social commons” that connects to the “environmental commons” addressed by the EcoTipping Point.
• EcoTipping Points usually require outside stimulation and facilitation.
• EcoTipping Points are associated with strong local democratic institutions and enduring commitment of local leadership.
• EcoTipping Points often generate powerful symbols that mobilize community action to carry the “positive tip” forward.
• EcoTipping Points lead to rapid success, which stimulates further efforts towards success.
• EcoTipping Points are co-adaptive. They generate mutually reinforcing improvements in both social system and ecosystem, which progressively adjust to each other so they function more sustainably together.
• EcoTipping Points frequently transform ‘waste’ (e.g., degraded/abandoned land or buildings, sewage, garbage, marginalized people) into valued social or material capital.
• EcoTipping Points use social and ecological diversity as a resource to expand choices. They similarly use social and ecological memory as a resource.
• EcoTipping Points enhance resilience, “locking in” the system to resist "negative tips" that threaten to carry it into unsustainability. (See the Resilience Alliance website for a comprehensive exploration of resilience, including the roles of ecological and social diversity and memory.)
• EcoTipping Points typically “scale-up” by replicating local success. People come to see what’s happening and decide to try it back home. In other instances, EcoTipping Points originate on a larger scale that fits the problem. For example, citizen-based metropolitan regional planning.

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References & Further Reading

Malcolm Gladwell. 2000. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston.
Morton Grodzins. 1957. Metropolitan segregation. Scientific American 197(4):33-41.
G.G. Marten, 2005, Environmental tipping points: A new paradigm for restoring ecological security, 20: 75-87.
G.G. Marten, S. Brooks, and A. Suutari, 2005, Environmental tipping points: A new slant on strategic environmentalism, 18(6): 10-14.
G.G. Marten and D.G. Williams, 2006, Getting clean: Recovering from pesticide addiction, 36(10):50-53.
Thomas Schelling. 1978. Micromotives and Macrobehavior. W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
A. Suutari and G.G. Marten, 2007. EcoTipping Points: How a vicious cycle can become virtuous, 22(2):26-31.
Eleanor Wolf. 1963. The tipping-point in racially changing neighborhoods. Journal of the American Institute of Planners 29(3):217-222.
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