Viable Systems Approach for territory development

From the early considerations developed during research meetings at the University of Salerno in the late eighties, the theory of Viable Systems Approach (VSA) has been greatly expanded, consolidated and formalized. Like all conceptual constructs, it went through an alternate path, characterized by acceleration, deceleration, at times afterthoughts . The current state of the art shows a sufficiently stable, flexible, easy to use architecture, theoretically resting robust, in the words of Isaac Newton, ‘on the shoulders of giants’ . The initial configuration of the conceptual matrix, which is a general pattern, useful to explain the process by which all pre-ordered change of context can be achieved, leads to the identification of typical ‘forces’ for viable systems, able of acting to address the dynamics of transformation of the context. The definition of variables describing the intra and inter systemic interacting ways, such as relevance, consonance, resonance and, last, the composition of the information variety, as the logical container which the ‘knowledge’ of the viable system has been organized, has led to the creation of interesting studies on aspects, either structural or systemic, typical of social systems and, in particular, of entrepreneurial organizations . One of the most interesting aspects of the theoretical construct of (VSA) is the capacity of the proposed conceptual scheme to provide a description, either functional or operational, for organizations, in a broader sense. So, for example, it is possible to use viable system models not only to represent entrepreneurial organizations, but also to illustrate the dynamic behavior of agencies, institutions and more or less formal organizations, such as territorial systems, entrepreneurial districts, supply chain systems, but also political bodies, cultural, religious and lobbying movements, and so on. The ideas developed in the following pages intend to bring the typical issues of to the study of the territory as a viable system to a possible supply chain system that can be developed starting from the territory. In particular, attention is focused on the identification of those ‘components’, ‘relations’ and ‘interactions’ that characterize and make explicit, the mechanisms involved in the capacity of some viable systems to create and deliver value.