CAS 4P framework and the specific CAS characteristics
| Dimension | CAS characteristic | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Place | a) Boundaries | The spatial and temporal limits of the system, which define its scope and identity |
| b) Path dependence and local rules | The historical and contextual factors that influence the system's behaviour and outcomes | |
| 2. People | c) Complex interdependencies | The relationships and interactions among the agents in the system, which create synergies or feedback loops |
| d) Adaptive and self-organising | The ability of the agents to learn, innovate, and coordinate their actions or structure in response to changes in their environment without central control | |
| 3. Purpose | e) Nonlinearity | The sensitivity of the system to small changes which lead to unpredictable or disproportionate effects, and explains why small changes can lead to significant, often unexpected outcomes |
| f) Emergence | Phenomenon where complex patterns, structures, or behaviours arise from the interactions of simpler components within a system, which describes how new properties, innovations, or organisational forms can spontaneously develop from the collective actions of individual agents, often in unpredictable ways | |
| 4. Process | g) Hierarchy | The nested and layered structure of the system, which reflects different levels of complexity and scale |
| h) Feedback and delays | The information and signals that influence the system's behaviour and outcomes can be positive or negative, immediate or delayed and can also be interpreted as a mechanism by which the output of a system influences its input, creating cyclical patterns of cause and effect |
| Dimension | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Place | a) Boundaries | The spatial and temporal limits of the system, which define its scope and identity |
| b) Path dependence and local rules | The historical and contextual factors that influence the system's behaviour and outcomes | |
| 2. People | c) Complex interdependencies | The relationships and interactions among the agents in the system, which create synergies or feedback loops |
| d) Adaptive and self-organising | The ability of the agents to learn, innovate, and coordinate their actions or structure in response to changes in their environment without central control | |
| 3. Purpose | e) Nonlinearity | The sensitivity of the system to small changes which lead to unpredictable or disproportionate effects, and explains why small changes can lead to significant, often unexpected outcomes |
| f) Emergence | Phenomenon where complex patterns, structures, or behaviours arise from the interactions of simpler components within a system, which describes how new properties, innovations, or organisational forms can spontaneously develop from the collective actions of individual agents, often in unpredictable ways | |
| 4. Process | g) Hierarchy | The nested and layered structure of the system, which reflects different levels of complexity and scale |
| h) Feedback and delays | The information and signals that influence the system's behaviour and outcomes can be positive or negative, immediate or delayed and can also be interpreted as a mechanism by which the output of a system influences its input, creating cyclical patterns of cause and effect |
Sharing content requires targeting cookies to be enabled. Please update your cookie preferences to use this feature.