  Transitions from turbulence to order are studied experimentally in thin fluid
layers and magnetically confined toroidal plasma. It is shown that turbulence
self-organizes through the mechanism of spectral condensation. The spectral
redistribution of the turbulent energy leads to the reduction in the turbulence
level, generation of coherent flow, reduction in the particle diffusion and
increase in the system's energy. The higher order state is sustained via the
nonlocal spectral coupling of the linearly unstable spectral range to the
large-scale mean flow. The similarity of self-organization in two-dimensional
fluids and low-to-high confinement transitions in plasma suggests the
universality of the mechanism.
