Exploring Coastal Challenges Through Systems Thinking

09.10.2026

Dr. Eduard Nedelciu

From September 14 to October 2, students in the Coastal Communities and Regional Development master’s program at the University Centre of the Westfjords took part in the course People and the Sea: Systems Thinking for Coastal Communities, taught by Dr. Eduard Nedelciu.

The course introduced systems thinking as a way of understanding the complex sustainability challenges facing coastal communities. These challenges can range from global issues such as climate change and ocean acidification to more local concerns, including biodiversity loss, energy security, connectivity in remote areas and gentrification.

Dr. Eduard Nedelciu has this to say about teaching the course at UW:

I tell the students that learning systems thinking is like learning a new language. There´s a steep learning curve, and you´re required to think very differently. I like teaching the course at UW because every year I get the privildege to interact with a small group of highly diverse, competent, and engaged students. This always results in novel perspectives, in-depth discussions, and creative uses of systems thinking tools. Both I and the students finish the course having learnt new things, or thinking about an issue in a new perspective.

Rather than examining individual problems in isolation, systems thinking encourages students to look at the wider connections between social, environmental and economic factors. Through this approach, students explored how different parts of a system influence one another, how changes can have long-term and sometimes unintended consequences, and where intervention may have the greatest impact.

During the course, students became familiar with a range of systems thinking tools, including behaviour-over-time graphs, feedback loops, causal loop diagrams and leverage points. Field trips gave them opportunities to apply these methods to real-life situations in the Westfjords, while regional development challenges discussed in class provided further case studies for analysis.

Eduard particularly emphasizes the importance of the field trips:

A unique advantage for students studying at the University Center is the fieldtrips. Students get to experience first hand how development plays out in reality, while simultaneously getting access to the contact network established betweeen the university and local actors. During our first field trip, students were introduced to the development history of Isafjordur by Dr. Matthias Kokorsch. We touched on issues such as fisheries, cruise ship tourism, housing, and urban planning. For our second field trip, we visited the maritime museum in Bolungarvik, and discussed the development of the fisheries and aquaculture industry in town, as well as the importance of road infrastructure between Bolungarvik and the rest of the country.

The course strengthens students’ ability to analyse complex regional development issues from multiple perspectives and to distinguish between linear and systemic approaches to problem-solving. It also provides practical tools for exploring how coastal communities can respond to change in more resilient and adaptive ways.

Dr. Eduard Nedelciu holds a PhD in Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Iceland and Stockholm University. His research focuses on sustainable natural resource management and economic transitions in the context of sustainability transformations. He is currently an affiliated researcher with the System Dynamics Group at the University of Bergen. He also teaches systems thinking and system dynamics modelling at the University of Iceland.

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