Impact Trust • Working glossary
Provisioning systems
The interconnected systems providing essential goods and services for daily life - food, water, energy, housing, mobility, and healthcare.
Details
Our Take
Reframes sector-by-sector thinking into how communities actually survive and thrive. When a crisis hits, it does not respect sector boundaries -- food, water, shelter, health, and social connection all fail together. 'Provisioning systems' centres the community's lived experience of interconnected needs rather than the institutional architecture of disconnected responses.
Examples of Use
Ecological economics, foundational economy, Climate-KIC
Synonyms/Variants
Essential services; Basic needs systems; Foundational economy (related); Life-support systems
Typical everyday wording
The living systems that keep communities alive.
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