Co-adaptation and Co-evolution

A Complex Adaptive System (CAS) both reacts to and creates its surrounding environment. In other words, changes in the system both shape and are shaped by changes in the environment. Dynamic interaction/relationship between the system and its environment – in addition to dynamic interaction among the subsystems – take us from issues of simple adaptation and evolution to issues of co-adaptation and co-evolution. Schemata of CAS co-adapt and co-evolve with schemata of its surrounding environment.

That’s due to belief in co-adaptation that LTH, in line with the third mission of Lund University, has very close collaboration with its surrounding environment like industries/businesses, organizations, and society in general. New schemata (like strategies, regulations, technologies, and infrastructures) of the surrounding environment influence the schemata of LTH. On the other hand, the schemata of LTH also influence those of its surrounding environment.
That’s why education and research at LTH is both theoretical and practical (applicable by surrounding environment). We follow the seal of the Lund University; "Ad utrumque: Prepared for both"! It has also been formulated by university as: Förstå (Understand), Förklara (Explain), and Förbättra (Improve)! Our understandings, explanations, and improvements at LTH both change and are changed by those of our surrounding environment.

However, increasing the diversity of collaboration may open the doors to co-evolution. Diversity can happen by: collaboration with different types of industries/businesses and organizations; horizontal collaboration with different universities; collaboration with different types of people; and collaboration at different local, regional, national, continental, and global levels. The art is to make an optimal diversity and collaboration among resources, courses, and research groups/projects.

Changes in the supply chains also both shape and are shaped by changes in the surrounding environments. Surrounding may relate to natural-, organizational-, business-, or social environments. Supply and demand for goods and services in the surrounding environments shape the supply chains. Supply chains are also shaped by available infrastructures, technologies, resources, as well as surrounding natural environments. On the other hand, changes in supply chains like launching new products and services re-shape the existing surrounding environments.

The new schemata for governing sustainable supply chains should encourage adaptation of emerging sustainability oriented technologies, norms, and behavior. Sustainability schemas of supply chains co-adapt and co-evolve with increasingly emerging clean- technologies, services, infrastructures, and regulations.