Systemic Management Practices—Enabling Local Governments to Adapt in Response to Complexity

The authors explore the impact of accelerating change and increasingly complex global and local challenges on the city as a complex socio-ecological service ecosystem (SES) and its capacity to ensure sustainability or ecosystem health. Drawing on systems science and the service ecosystems perspective, they present a framework for systemic management that prioritizes holistic, integrative, adaptive, and collaborative governance. They identify three critical conditions for successful implementation: securing senior-level management commitment, enabling change across management functions, and developing new and enhanced capabilities. The paper positions local governments as key leverage points and provides practical guidance for applying systemic strategies in public policy, research, and institutional practice.