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1 Industrial Ecology and Systems Engineering – a Perfect Match?
Author(s) -
Asbjornsen Odd A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
incose international symposium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2334-5837
DOI - 10.1002/j.2334-5837.1999.tb00138.x
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , foundation (evidence) , term (time) , politics , ecology , industrial ecology , mass media , engineering ethics , sociology , engineering , political science , public relations , environmental ethics , management science , law , biology , physics , quantum mechanics , sustainability , philosophy
The greatest threat to the acceptance of industrial ecology is the imprecise nature of the handling the topic in the mass media. Popular slogans pass for scientific proclamations without any foundation in physics or thermodynamics. This paper presents a clear and beneficial role that systems engineering can play in educating the public and politicians to make informed decisions. The marriage of the two disciplines offers an alternative to media manipulation and political agendas in decisions that have long‐term consequences affecting future generations. The same message has relevance to practising Systems Engineers by focusing attention on the long‐term effects of decisions made today under contract or other pressures that lead to sub‐optimal choices.