DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00390

Summary
The flow of materials and energy through society is an integral but poorly visible element of global sustainability agendas such as the Planetary Boundaries Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Given that the primary activities of chemistry are to analyze, synthesize, and transform matter, the practice of chemistry has a great deal to contribute to sustainability science, which in turn should play an increasingly important role in reshaping the practice of chemistry. Success in integrating sustainability considerations into the practice of chemistry implies a substantial role for chemistry education to better equip students to address the sustainability of earth and societal systems. Building on the framework of the IUPAC Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education (STICE) project, we develop approaches to using systems thinking to educate students about the molecular basis of sustainability, to assist chemistry to contribute meaningfully and visibly toward the attainment of global sustainability agendas. A detailed exemplar shows how ubiquitous coverage in general chemistry courses of the Haber–Bosch process for the synthesis of ammonia could be extended using systems thinking to consider the complex interplay of this industrial process with scientific, societal, and environmental systems. Systems thinking tools such as systems thinking concept map extension (SOCME) visualizations assist in highlighting inputs, outputs, and societal consequences of this large-scale industrial process, including both intended and unintended alterations to the planetary cycle of nitrogenous compounds. Strategies for using systems thinking in chemistry education and addressing the challenges its use may bring to educators and students are discussed, and suggestions are offered for general chemistry instructors using systems thinking to educate about the molecular basis of sustainability.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
Systems thinking moves chemistry education beyond reductionist approaches that provide fragmented knowledge of chemical reactions and processes to a more holistic understanding of how knowledge of chemistry connects to the dynamic, complex social, technological, economic, and environmental systems at work in our world.
The profession of chemistry has responded to its role in achieving sustainability agendas in a variety of ways, including the following:
• The evolution of environmental chemistry as a multidisciplinary science.
• The development of green chemistry principles and practices.
• The application of life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA considers all steps from the acquisition of raw materials to the disposal or recycling of waste- and end-products. It brings together green chemistry approaches and knowledge of toxicology, environmental dispersal and degradation routes, and ecology of the relevant surroundings, creating an overall picture of the likely energy and material inputs and environmental releases, facilitating comparison of alternatives for products and processes.
• The development by the International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD) of the concept of “one-world chemistry”. This seeks to reposition chemistry as a sustainability science for the benefit of society, recognizing that the healths of human beings, animals, and the environment are interconnected and require the adoption of systems thinking and cross-disciplinary working.

Point of Strength
Systems-oriented concept maps (SOCMEs) are introduced in the reactive nitrogen example to help educators and students visualize how the core Haber–Bosch reaction is interconnected with other subsystems such as the chemical and energy inputs, the reaction conditions, the products arising from the Ostwald process, and the intended and unintended uses of those products, with consequences for society. Teaching complexity is an inherent challenge built into the study of systems and their interactions. Systems thinking provides tools to manage this complexity, including SOCME visualizations to select boundaries around those subsystems that are congruent with student learning outcomes for a particular course or topic within a course.