Supplementary data for: A systems thinking governance framework for large-scale sustainability synthesis

This dataset supports the paper “A Governance-Aware Systems Thinking Architecture for Sustainability at Scale.” The study addresses a key challenge in large-scale sustainability research: how to ensure transparency, consistency, and auditability when integrating heterogeneous evidence and systems thinking approaches.

The paper introduces STAI³RS, a governance framework designed to ensure rigor and reproducibility in sustainability synthesis. STAI³RS stands for Scalable, Transparent, Analytical, Interpretable, Reliable, Reproducible, Robust, and Systematic, and provides cross-cutting principles and procedural cues for applying systems thinking methods at scale.

Building on this governance layer, the paper presents SEEDS (Systems Evidence Extraction and Decision Support), a six-component operational model that structures sustainability synthesis from problem framing to decision support. SEEDS integrates boundary governance, evidence extraction, harmonization, synthesis, and iterative learning into a transparent and auditable workflow.

The dataset includes materials that document the governance diagnostics and operational implementation of these frameworks. In particular, Table S2 presents a case study demonstrating the SEEDS workflow in practice through a large-scale feedstock evidence mapping study spanning over 130,000 peer-reviewed studies across biomass- and waste-to-X conversion technologies. This case study illustrates how governance rules, audit trails, and harmonization procedures enable reproducible synthesis across three large scientific corpora.

SEEDS_components_in_practice

These materials support reuse, verification, and extension of governance-aware systems thinking approaches in sustainability research and decision support.