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James Martin

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Oct 28, 2021, 7:20:11 AM10/28/21
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From: newsl...@isss.org <members=isss...@vrmailer3.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 4:06 AM
Subject: ISSS Newslette Nov 2021
To: <mart...@gmail.com>


ISSS Newslette Nov 2021
 

 
 
 Newsletter: November 2021, Vol 0:2
 
 
 
 
Regular features:

Message from the President
Upcoming Mini-Symposia
General ISSS News
Book Club
Web Feature of the Month
SIG news
Events promoted by members
Systems Science
Conferences

In this issue we have special contributions from other systems organisations:
IFRS
STIP
ANZSYS

Thanks to all the contributors!
Roelien Goede
Editor

To contribute to any of these, please send an email with sufficient detail to: newsl...@isss.org
To receive this newsletter you must sign up on our main isss.org page under "Newsletter Sign Up". 

 

Message from the President

Greetings ISSS Systemists, 
​
I wanted to give everyone a heads-up on what is happening with our Saturday/Wednesday sessions and a peek at where I hope we can go in the future. We will be taking a break as we get closer to the December holidays and resume after the start of the New Year. So, for the remainder of this Fall season, we have a series I've been calling "The Systems View of the Global Problematique". The detail of the speakers appears on the next section of the newsletter.

I'm hoping that this series of talks and discussions has triggered a lot of thinking in the membership regarding the systemic approaches to these global and systemic problems. For the last several years many members have voiced their concerns that systems science and thinking should be able to help secure the future of civilization. I hope that hearing the thoughts of this group of world leaders in applying systems thinking to those problems has been and will be inspiring for the ISSS.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and ideas/suggestions for how we can continually improve the society and its role in making the world a better place. Email me at gmo...@uw.edu.

George
 
 
 Upcoming ISSS Mini-Symposia  

More detail on the upcoming speakers:
Gail Tverberg - Oct. 30/Nov. 3 - Models that Explain the Predicament the World Economy Is Facing
Robert Johanson - Nov. 6/10 - His proposal for a SIG to address Holism
Joseph Tainter - Nov. 20/24 - "Complexity and the Productivity of Innovation"
William Reese - Dec. 4/8 - Something re: ecological footprint but TBD

These speakers are world leaders in applying systems thinking to some of the most pressing (existential) problems that humanity faces. This series started with Charlie Hall's presentation of his interpretation of the 50-year update of the Limits To Growth model and it's anticipations of consequences of unlimited population growth to civilization. We heard from Ugo Bardi, a member of the Club of Rome that initially sponsored the Meadows team in producing that report. We will hear from Gail Tverberg (of the blog, Our Finite World) regarding the relations between energy costs and economic vitality next. Then Joe Tainter, author of the classic "The Collapse of Complex Societies" will update us on his thinking about complexity and its effects on social systems. And finally, Bill Reese, one of the co-developers of the widely used Ecological Footprint analysis will regale us with his latest thinking (title to be determined).

Then, starting after the New Year I am hoping to start a new series of reflections on the ISSS from the perspective of Past Presidents. I will be contacting the Trustees and hope to enlist some of them in Sat/Wed sessions in which they will reflect on their experiences with the ISSS and the systems movement in general. I hope we can capture some history of the society and continue to review the thoughts and aspirations of the society over the years.

I hope to continue to intersperse these mini-symposia with our thus-far very successful and warmly welcomed "open mic" sessions. These will continue into the new year. But the success of these sessions depends on you to forward stimulating questions. The continuing discussions going on in the membership list-serv email list after Janos Korn's provocative challenge is indicative of the value of these sessions. The attendees have an opportunity to express their views and share their ideas with all. That kind of community communication can only help the society resolve its purpose and mission. Please, members, if you have burning questions regarding the world of systems and/or the ISSS specifically, send them to me to motivate future open mic sessions.
George Mobus


 
 
News on the IIIS Futures Report

IAt the ISSS AGM we communicated that a report had been compiled to consider the future of the ISSS and that we were looking for contributions from the members.

We promised that all ideas would be welcome and that we would produce an update of the report in Q4 as a basis for a roadmap.

At the time of the 1st draft the report coincided with the world entering a global crisis. The first perhaps of more to come as we reach the limits to growth. “The unprecedented crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic is causing major disruptions to the ‘normal’ processes and has triggered a spasm of self-reflection and self-realization that the ‘normal’ was not sustainable nor desirable.”

“Our paper describes the phenomenon of a society, the ISSS, becoming self-aware and self-reflective, a consideration of its identity and its purpose. In the context of the new conditions of the larger world society it is meant to serve, what is our vision for the future, mission and objectives?”

Briefly the report covers the following topics:

  • A brief history of the ISSS
    •        Origin
    •        Fragmentation
  • Reflections on the current organisation
    •        What is for the future?
    •        ISSS, how viable a system?
    •        Status of the SIGs
  • The regenerative design of society
    •        What the pandemic has reviewed about the human societal system
    •        What the crisis has revealed about the ISSS
    •        A rich diversity for regeneration
  • Towards a systemic organisation
    •        Mission, Vision, Objectives
    •        A general body of knowledge
    •        Relationships with other system communities
  • Regeneration
    •        A shared community of practice
    •        A call for renewed collaboration
    •       The products, services, and systems of the ISSS

It is not too late to contribute. The report distributed to all members at the AGM can also be found on googledocs https://docs.google.com/document/d/18oSdYDETm5eHv1NX6M9fdcs1z-XqGiOUK_8HPKybV3Y/edit?usp=sharing


Contributions can be sent directly to our VP of system practice, Gary Smith. Grs...@gmail.com


 
 
ISSS News
Howard Silverman was elected to the ISSS Board of Directors as VP Conferences 2021-2022: 
Howard teaches applied systems thinking and strategy+foresight in the Collaborative Design MFA / Design Systems MA programs at Pacific Northwest College of Art. Formerly, he was senior writer and analyst with the nonprofit Ecotrust, working at the intersection of social-ecological relationships in food, fisheries, forestry, green building, and so on. Based in Portland, Oregon, USA, Howard is a trustee of the American Society for Cybernetics and a certified Warm Data Lab host.

 
 
A new SIG: Holistic Systems 
​

The Holistic Systems SIG invites the creative exploration of Holistic Systems Theory (as philosophy, theory, methodology, and practice) by systems thinkers of today who wish to integrate the various holisms into a single coherent theory. As a holistic enquiry it will focus on understanding the variety of meanings that different people give to holism. All levels of understanding are encouraged to join as the SIG is about learning together. Through presentations, conversations, and debate, the objective of integration will be followed down a path of inquiry that seeks harmony in diversity. The goal is not to develop the jargon of a new specialty, but a general inter-disciplinary vocabulary. It is hoped that Holistic Systems inquiry will ultimately promote a deeper understanding of the ethical choices implicit in systems design. As part of ISSS praxis, it will allow for a deeper understanding of decision-making processes at the different levels of a hierarchy, and the nature of communication between the different levels of a system.

At the Saturday morning mini-seminar on November 6th on Cybernetics and Psychology I will present my approach to holism.

Robert Johannson SIG Chair

 
 
ISSS.org Web Focus: Library
​
On the ISSS website is a menu option called library. The organization has a 65 year history. Much of that history is in the library as a digital record. 

One section of the library contains videos created by one of the founders James Grier Miller. There are two sets of video series. The first set is 19 interviews with leading systems scientists including several Nobel prize winners.  https://www.isss.org/dr-james-miller-interviews/

The second set contains lectures on living systems theory. I would particularly encourage you to view the first lecture as it contains significant information on why the founders of the society formed the society when it did.

 
 
News from the Book Club
​
Join us next month as we start our next book! For November, we will read Sam Harris’s book Free Will, described as follows by Amazon:

A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.

In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.

Our next meeting is on November 18 from 12:30-2:00 pm Eastern time. We will be taking December off for the holidays and will begin the new year with Stafford Beer’s The Heart of Enterprise. You can always check the Book Club webpage (https://www.isss.org/isss-book-club/) for more information or contact Marty Jacobs at marty.ja...@gmail.com.

Hope to see you next month!
Marty
 
 
News from IFRS
​​
 
 

 
 

From 1981 to 2018 the IFSR (the International Federation for Systems Research) published the IFSR Newsletters and has thus accompanied the IFSR and the world of Systems Sciences from the beginning. The Newsletters appeared 2-4 times a year and provided a world-wide, reliable communication channel for the members of IFSR’s member societies. The number of IFSR’s  member societies grew and also the number of  their members and  therefore the number of readers multiplied. The Calendar of Events was a key link between readers until it reached its obsolesce in 2000.

Paging through the newsletters provides a fascinating perspective of the status and the development of Systems Sciences, with contributions from or about prominent systems scientists, mentioning, remembereing and praising many individuals. Past events come back to life.

Gerhard Chroust,  on behalf of the IFSR, had all Newsletters scanned and collected. In 2021 the complete set of 74 Newsletters, a total of approx. 830 pages with a size of 88Mbyte  was donated to the ISSS  (the International Society for the Systems Sciences). They are now accessible in the Digital Library of the ISSS (for ISSS members only: https://www.isss.org/ifsr-newsletters/).

The IFSR wants to thank the ISSS for its support.

Gerhard Chroust                                               Peter Tuddenham

Secretary General of IFSR 1993-2018             ISSS Past President & Web Admin


 
 

 
 
STIP@50 Open Univeristy: Systems Thinking In Practice 
​

The Open University celebrates 50 years of Systems education (now branded as STiP, systems thinking in practice) development and provision in 2021. The OU is perhaps the largest and most experienced provider of STiP education and scholarship in the world (with a substantial archive accessible to the public). A series of activities to celebrate this achievement have begun through the auspices of ASTiP (Applied Systems Thinking in Practice) group in the School of Engineering and Innovation – see ‘News’ for notice of future events and see YouTube for up-to-date recordings of previous events.

OUSTiP@50 marks a significant unique coupling in 1971 between provision of Supported Open Distance Learning at the OU (from 1969) with tertiary level teaching of systems thinking in the UK and beyond. A short history of OU systems thinking is available to download through the following link: Systems Thinking at the Open University: 50-year celebration (OU Systems @50) (Ison, 2021).



 
 

Update from Anzsys

News from Down Under 

The ANZSys conversations are continuing with invited visitors giving talks.

Since the conversations with David Snowden at the 65th ISSS meeting, we had Colin Smith, CEO of The International Centre for Complex Project Management give a talk on

‘Harnessing Emergence in Complex Projects: Rethinking, Risk, Opportunity and Resilience’.

The International Centre for Complex Project Management also featured the activities of ANZSys in their September newsletter titled ‘Complexity Conversations – Down Under by Dr Shankar Sankaran and Dr Terence Love’ and invited its members to participate in systems related conversations. For more information see: https://iccpm.com/.

Next ISSS past President Professor Shankar Sankaran followed up on the panel discussions we had at the 65th ISSSS meeting to expand the conversation on energy justice with a conversation titled: ‘Energy Justice Issues with Renewable Energy Projects’

We then invited prominent Systems Scholar Dr. Derek Carbrera from Cornell University to engage in a conversation on why it is important to think about systems daily with a topic titled

‘Systems Thinking in Daily Life’ and shared his interesting DSRP Theory.

See also https://blog.cabreraresearch.org/get-started2 about the DSRP Loop.

 The recordings of all these presentations are available at www.anzsys.org.

 ANZSYS:Australia and New Zealand Systems Society including South Africa, India and Oceania


Shankar Sankaran


 
 

 Upcoming talks promoted by members and other systems groups


 
 
Systems Science Conferences and Tracks at General Conferences
  • On December 9 and 10, 2021, a Conference will be held dedicated to the creative heritage of A.A. Bogdanov (Malinovsky) – the founder of a new scientific direction that anticipated the development of systems theory and systems analysis in the 20th century.The Conference is organised by the Department “System Analysis in Economics” of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation together with the Central Economic and Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the University of Hull (UK).  Details: https://bogdanov.systemeconomics.ru/
  • The workshop, Social Responsibility of Algorithms 2022, will be held virtually on 13-17 June 2022.SRA22 is an inherently interdisciplinary workshop, designed to start a conversation aimed at fostering innovative technology and policy development in the context of climate change and socio-economicuncertainty.  Workshop organised by algorithm...@anu.edu.au.  
  • Design Research Society (DRS) conference 25th June- 3rd July 2022. Track on Systems. Important dates: Deadline for full papers: 24th November 2021. Notification of accepted papers: February 2022. Details: https://www.drs2022.org/theme-tracks/

 
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James
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