Controllability of Complex Networks for Sustainable System Dynamics

Successful implementation of sustainability ideas in ecosystem management requires a basic understanding of the often non-linear and non-intuitive relationships among different dimensions of sustainability. This basic understanding includes a sense of the time scale of possible future events and the limits of what is and is not likely to be possible. With this understanding, systematic approaches based on control theory can then be used to develop policy guidelines for the system. Therefore, controllability of the system is very important to determining long term sustainability of the system. A recent article in the journal Nature presents a new analytical approach to study the controllability of complex systems. We apply this approach to three dynamic systems developed to study the sustainability of our planet. We argue that controllability of these systems is linked with the long term sustainability, and we present our arguments in the light of previous studies of these systems.