Panarchy - An interesting complex model

Came across the panarchic model through one of those serendipitous link perusals on the web. There are appealing characteristics of this model:

• It is layered
• Layers operate at different time scales
• It is cyclical. Going through repeating cycles of exploitation, conservation, release, and reorganization.

These characteristics give it a fractal nature which has deep resonance with the nature of the universe we happen to inhabit. Here is an abstract of these ideas from the source:

Panarchy focuses on ecological and social systems that change abruptly. Panarchy is the process by which they grow, adapt, transform, and, in the end, collapse. These stages occur at different scales. The back loop of such changes is a critical time and presents critical opportunities for experiment and learning. It is when uncertainties arise and when resilience is tested and established. We now see changes on a global scale that suggest that we are in such a back loop. This article assesses the possibility of using the ideas that are central to panarchy, developed on a regional scale, to help explain the changes that are being brought about on a global scale by the Internet and by climate, economic, and geopolitical changes.

There is of course a book on the topic. There is also a paper applying this model to the global situation.