Water Temples Sustain Intricate Systems Balinese farmers who maintain their ancient terraced rice fields and self organized networks of villagers cooperating in an intricate system of irrigation and shared decisions achieve rare successes. Without central planning, their planting practices create fractal patterns of growing that promote resilience and optimal harvests. The collective water systems are
If students come from families who are deeply skeptical about climate change, how can a teacher provide instruction on climate science while simultaneously acknowledging their values? The Idaho State Legislature in February voted to eliminate reference to climate sciencefrom the state’s new science curriculum. Surveys show fewer than half the adults in Kootenai County, where Coeur
‘Their Body Clocks are in Some Time Zone West of Us’ When children enter puberty, their circadian rhythms change, which means early school start times maybe turning many of them into sleep-deprived zombies prone to moodiness and sub-par academic performance. As long schools start when kids need to be asleep, says sleep researcher Mary Carskadon,
During the week, Dr. Michelle Carnes is a public health anthropologist in American Indian and LGBTQ youth suicide prevention, cultural preservation and restoration. On weekends, she eats fire. And escapes rope ties. And swallows swords. Michelle Carnes’ evolution to professional sideshow stuntress is rooted in her own resolve to conquer fear. At first, it’s hard
Adaptive Positive Deviance is a powerful way to make big improvements through small (and maybe a few large) changes. For over a decade, Plexus Institute has helped guide organizations and communities to see, understand and address the “sticky” and complex issues hampering success. Plexus’s work emphasizes practical methods and practices that are based on principles
‘Works of Bricolage,’ Sideshows, and Survival When Lucille Conlin Horn was born in 1920, a fragile infant weighing only two pounds, she was not expected to live. Her twin sister died. But Lucille Horn did live for nearly a century, with a career, marriage and five children. Her survival is part of an extraordinary story of the
When the solutions to complex problems transcend traditional questions and answers! Plexus Institute was founded with the purpose to address real-world challenges through the understanding, advancement and diffusion of ideas and practices rooted in the principles of complexity. The original mission chosen by the founders of Plexus Institute was inspired by the rapid pace of complex
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