Tracing the history of observations of sunspots by Galileo, flares on the Sun and geomagnetic storms by Carrington, and aurorae, the reader is introduced to the field of space weather: the discipline that studies how energy from the Sun impacts Earth’s technological systems and human society. Background material on the structure of the atmosphere, quantitative reasoning, and systems science are provided as tools for better understanding and conceptualizing the complex interactions of the Sun on modern civilization.

“Community Rule” considers the reception of Classical ideas about systems and sustainability in Late Antique and early Christian thought with a particular focus on The Rule of St. Benedict. It also probes some of the Rule’s surprising modern legacies, including Scott and Helen Nearing’s homesteading experiments in Vermont and Maine and Pope Francis’s encyclical on climate change and inequality, Laudato Si’.

This chapter provides an insight into the role of systems science for sustainability assessment. In the first part, we present seven axioms that have been derived from system-theoretical perspectives and show their relevance for sustainability assessment. Following these axioms, we propose a way to structure and analyse systems following four system characteristics: (1) system boundary and interactions with the external environment; (2) purpose, goals, and associated decision-making drivers and criteria for the system; (3) system structure (subsystems, elements, and their interactions), dynamics, and emerging behaviour; and (4) system information, outcomes monitoring, and learning. These four characteristics were applied to study, first, the historical development of the energy system analysis and, second, an Australian urban systems-transformation initiative. The systems-analysis framework presented provides a good basis for putting the elements of a system analysis into their broader context, and designing purposeful interventions. Especially for more transformational change, the alignment of stakeholder values, institutional arrangements, and available knowledge become key leverage points.