Environment

The environment of a system consists of all of the factors which may separately or in combination change its state. These include both essential variables, which are defined as those which may effect the system's viability, and those variables which may change the behavior of a system. The determination of what is in die system and what is in file environment is often highly subjective and is also subject to redefinition as the purposes of a system change or are better understood. Communication between a system and its environment takes place through transducers which operate at the boundary between them. A disturbance in the environment must be taken into account by the system. Environments of systems are also conceived recursively. The environment of the suprasystem indudes the environments of its subsystems plus the environment it interacts with as a whole system, which may often be incompatible with the subsystem's viewpoint The interaction between systems and environments includes both intended and unintended effects. While we commonly think of file natural world of air and water, flora and fauna when we speak about 'the environment', file concept of an environment applies equally well to organizations, markets, political and cultural contexts and abstract ideas. # SOURCE Environment comes from an Old French word meaning to encircle or surround. Its early use was primarily to denote surrounding territories; more recently it has been frequently applied to biology and ecology. # EXAMPLES • the market for a product • the climate of public opinion in which a government initiative takes place • the state of the world economy on an export business • the internal state of a company when a group within suggests an innovation # NON-EXAMPLES • Opinion leaders who do not affect the opinions of the actual market • System behavior dose to the boundary which is misperceived to be in file environment • Behavior so for removed from a system as to have only a negligible effect # PROBABLE ERROR • not noticing when a boundary between a system and its environment has moved, • not making explicit the definitions of system and environment being used • misperceiving file boundaries in the well known saying 'God grant me the courage to change what ought to be changed, the patience to endure what cannot be changed and the wisdom to know the difference' # SEE System Boundary; Transducer; Openness in Systems

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Everything outside an organism or organization that is essential for its survival and flourishing, including all the external threats.

When we think of neighborhoods their environments are particular but they provide the Context and many of the interactions with each of the Essential Needs of each neighborhood.