| CSS Newsletter |
May 2023 Issue - System Prospects |
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| A message from the Editors (CSS) |
We take great pleasure in welcoming you to the first edition of the refreshed newsletter of the Centre for Systems Studies (CSS), University of Hull, UK. In the spirit of our previous newsletter, we have retained the name, Systems Prospects.
With a legacy dating back over three decades, the CSS is a world-class institute for the research and promotion of systems thinking and systems practice. Through our research, advisory, and education tracks, our reach and impact are felt across the world in the public, private and third sectors.
This newsletter intends to bring together important news and updates from the systems world that will include invited articles, curated lists of conferences and seminars, latest publications from our members and visiting fellows/professors, news of successful funding and bids won, details of new collaborations with external bodies, and updates from professional bodies, such as the International Society for the Systems Sciences, the Operational Research Society, the System Dynamics Society, and the International Federation for Systems research, among others.
We are excited that this first issue carries an article from Professor Mike Jackson OBE, where he shares his views on the opportunities and contentions in critical systems thinking and practice. For the future editions, we will invite prominent systems scholars and consultants to contribute similar pieces of value for our readers.
We are grateful to Amanda Gregory and Gerald Midgley (the Co-Directors of CSS) for extending their support for this newsletter, and we are also grateful to Sophie Turner for her work on the production side.
We will do our best to publish this newsletter every two months. If you would like any news or updates to be published in Systems Prospects, please send an email with your thoughts/updates to systemsp...@hull.ac.uk.
Hope you enjoy the read!
Thank you.
Matt Lloyd and Raj Chowdhury.
Apologies if this is the second time you have received this newsletter - we have been consolidating our mailing lists. It won’t happen again. |
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| A Note from the CSS Directors |
Since the launch of the Centre for Systems Studies some thirty-plus years ago, a newsletter has been an essential part of the CSS strategy for engaging the systems community through the sharing of relevant and valuable news in a timely manner. For many years, the newsletter was distributed in hard copy format, but in recent years it has moved online and taken a more ad hoc form. As we look for new and more effective ways of engaging our community, we are grateful to Matt and Raj who are stepping into the role of newsletter co-editors. Matt, as a current, part-time CSS doctoral student, and Raj, as a CSS Masters and doctoral alumnus, are suitably skilled and positioned for this role. We are confident that this change in the editorship of the newsletter will bring enthusiasm and insight, with both Matt and Raj having expressed their desire to ensure that the newsletter not only truly reflects the interests of the CSS community, but they also want to actively develop it and advocate on its behalf.
As you have done previously, please do send your news items for inclusion in the newsletter. Remember the newsletter is by the CSS community and for the CSS community, so its sustainability relies on your input and support.
Amanda Gregory and Gerald Midgley
CSS Co-directors |
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| Thought Piece from Mike Jackson: The Past and Future of Critical Systems Thinking Practice
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Research in Critical Systems Thinking and Practice (CST/P) began at the University of Hull in the early 1980s and became formalized when the Centre for Systems Studies was established in 1992. The photo shows Russ Ackoff opening the Centre with its then co-directors, Bob Flood and myself.
There have been four achievements over that time period, which all critical systems thinkers can (I believe) endorse:
- A thorough critique of the variety of systems approaches and methodologies, pointing to the theoretical and practical strengths and weaknesses of each.
- Establishing the argument for pluralism in systems thinking. This has helped end the ‘paradigm wars’ that plagued systems thinking in the 1970s and 1980s.
- Enhancement of the practical orientation in systems thinking, particularly by developing guidance for and engaging in multi-methodological practice.
- Ensuring that issues of marginalization, disadvantage, empowerment, and emancipation are always to the fore.
There remain at least two points of contention which, if resolved, would help CST/P to fulfil its potential.
The first concerns agreement on a coherent philosophy upon which CST/P can be grounded and further developed. I believe that pragmatism provides the answer. The three pioneers of the systems approach – Bogdanov, von Bertalanffy, Wiener – all adopted a pragmatist orientation in seeking to get to grips with ‘organized complexity’ and to secure improvement in the world. By explicitly embracing pragmatism, CST/P can realize the hopes of the original pioneers and chart a bright future for itself. A shared philosophical position will bring greater mutual understanding and unity of purpose to the systems movement. CST/P can actually assist pragmatism in achieving what it set out to do – make philosophy relevant to everyday affairs.
The second matter concerns how best to present CST/P to practitioners - making it more user friendly while not distorting its central premises. My preferred solution is to relate back the different systems methodologies to five fundamental ‘world hypotheses’ which, in pragmatic terms, have historically had success in guiding human engagement in the natural and social worlds. The mechanistic, organismic, cultural/political, societal/environmental and interrelationships ‘systemic perspectives’ have served this purpose. They can operate as an initial classificatory device, which is warranted by philosophy, social theory, and organization studies, while also being intelligible to the layperson.
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Big News about the Centre for Systems Studies Online Seminar Series
The Centre for Systems Studies has been hosting seminars from internationally-known and up-and-coming speakers since it was first founded in 1992. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we moved our seminar series online, and started advertising events widely on Facebook and LinkedIn. This significantly boosted international participation.
Now, in early 2023, we can announce a new innovation. We have gone into a seminar-series partnership with the Systems Thinking Special Interest Group of the Operational Research Society and the Systems Thinking Community of Inquiry at Linnaeus University, Sweden. We expect significant further growth in interest in our seminars.
One event has been run so far – Alexander Christakis talking about the methodology of Structured Democratic Dialogue – and the next will be from David Lilley (City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Australia). David will be talking about his systems approach to renewing Sydney’s housing for health, well-being and equity. Further details will be announced shortly, but for now, pencil into your diary, 1.30pm to 3pm on 24 May 2023. You will either be able to view this online or come onto the Hull campus and meet David personally.
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An Invitation to all Systems Studies Students to join the Systems Students' Community
2023 saw the launch of a reimagined Centre for Systems Studies Students Circle, this time in the form of an online community that enables mutual support between systems students regardless of academic institution, level of academic pursuit, or location around the world.
We have spent the first months finding our feet, and testing whether Discord could meet our needs as a suitable platform to bring us all together and enable conversations. Discord started life as a platform to connect gamers, but we’ve found it does the job admirably for us too. In addition to the benefits of Discord, we also run a programme of hour-long meetings on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 1700 BST. In every quarter, two of these meetings are informal discussions, whilst the third is an opportunity to hear from distinguished systems academics invited to stimulate thinking with a presentation, and perhaps set a challenge.
We now have a rhythm underway, so the time is right to make a little noise and invite systems students everywhere to join the community. Membership is free – all we need is that you email us (Chris, Matt or Jen, the current administrators), and we’ll get you enrolled and connected.
We’d like our members of the community to feel totally safe within it, regardless of where they are in their learning journey. We therefore have a place and opportunity to both ask for support, and to respond with it. That’s a benefit not easily accessed elsewhere, at least not at a level which transcends geographical and institutional boundaries, as we hope to do. Whilst the community exists exclusively for students, and is wholly administered by them, I should add that friends are welcome too.
To join the Systems Student Community, please contact the administrators:
Chris Abbott – C.N.Abb...@Hull.ac.uk
Jen Makar – J.Maka...@Hull.ac.uk
Matt Lloyd – M.Lloy...@Hull.ac.uk
Do please spread the word. Thank you.
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Announcements
The Centre for Systems Studies (CSS) has become a member of the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). This is a professional society that has research institutes and other professional societies as its members. It is a meta-organization that seeks to promote systems thinking and systems science on the global stage. Our membership offers a pathway for increased international influence for CSS, and we are well placed to exercise that influence, as Amanda Gregory (Co-Director of CSS) is the editor of the IFSR journal, Systems Research & Behavioral Science.
Congratulations to Gerald Midgley (Co-Director of the Centre for Systems Studies) who has been appointed as an Honorary Member of the Andean Institute of Systems (AIS) in Peru. This is in recognition of his contribution to systems thinking, and also his collaboration over many years on bids for research funding with Ricardo Rodriguez-Ulloa, the Director of AIS.
- Gerald Midgley will give two keynotes at international conferences this Summer: at the 2023 Cornell University International Systems Thinking Conference, May 11-12, 2023; and the 67th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), on 17-23 June 2023 at the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Both keynotes are shared with Rachel Lilley (Birmingham Leadership Institute, University of Birmingham, UK), and they will be explaining their research on the implications of contemporary cognitive science for systems methodology and practice.
- Gerald Midgley has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Paddy Ashdown Forum, a think tank advocating systems thinking, social justice and internationalism. It is named after Paddy Ashdown, not to honour his political career or affiliations, but in recognition of his extraordinary diplomatic career after he retired from politics. The think tank is deliberately global in outlook.
- Gerald Midgley has also been appointed to the International Editorial Board of Health Systems – a journal for systems thinking, operational research and information systems applied to health. If you want to check out the journal, here’s the link to it: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/thss20
- Gerald Midgley (Co-Director, CSS) is the lead author of a report on a recently-completed research project funded by the US Department of Agriculture. The report is entitled, Toward System Change to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance: Improving the Voluntary Stewardship of Antimicrobials in US Agriculture.
- The passing of Tim Haslett: It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that Tim Haslett died a few weeks ago. He was a well-known system dynamics practitioner from Australia, and a lynchpin of ANZSYS – the Australia and New Zealand Systems Society. Gerald was concerned a short while ago, when Tim posted on social media, that he had had a particularly nasty fall for no apparent reason. Then he was given a diagnosis of motor neuron disease. Last week, he prepared the following brief statement to be posted upon his death:
- “Few people have the luxury of choice of the time and place of their death.
- I am so fortunate to do this supported by my wonderful and patient wife Di and my two strong sons Andrew and Nick”.
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CSS Events
The CSS Online Community Café commenced on 5th May with a soft launch and involved talks by Dr. Raghav Rajagopalan and Dr. Ashish Dwivedi, on sustainable food and related projects. If you are interested in participating in future Cafe events then please contact Dr. Amanda Gregory (a.j.g...@hull.ac.uk) for further information.
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Events
Metaphorum on Emancipation for Viability. Angela Espinosa (Emeritus Fellow) is leading the organization of the next Metaphorum conference, to be held on 8-10 June 2023 in Manchester. The theme of emancipation for viability is a nice one for many of us. More information can be found here: https://metaphorum.org/conference-2023
‘Systems Thinking for the Professions’ is the theme of the 67th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS), which is being held on 17-23 June 2023 at the Kruger National Park, South Africa. There are three keynote speakers from CSS this year – we are not aware of any previous single institution being invited to contribute three keynotes in the 67-year history of the ISSS. Our keynotes are being delivered by Raghav Rajagopalan (Research Associate, CSS), Maya Vachkova (Visiting Fellow, CSS) and Gerald Midgley (Co-Director, CSS). Gerald’s keynote is being co-presented by Rachel Lilley (Birmingham Leadership Institute, University of Birmingham, UK). The conference web site is at: https://www.isss.org/2023-kruger-national-park/
Building resilience and ensuring the sustainability of diverse social-ecological systems of our planet need systemic changes and effective and ethical transformations.
The biennial Transformations 2023 Conference will be held in Sydney from 12 -14 July, and details can be found here: https://www.transformationscommunity.org/conference2023. The theme for the 2023 Conference is Transformative Partnership for a Better World . The University of Technology Sydney is the lead host of the conference, with CSIRO as a co-host.
Gerald Midgley (Co-Director, CSS) is co-organizing a Systems Thinking stream at the 65th Annual Conference of the Operational Research Society (OR65 for short), which will be held in Bath (UK) on 12-14 September 2023. Our systems streams are always the largest at the conference, often attracting over 60 presenters. The atmosphere will be buzzing! We would like to encourage as many of you as possible to come to the conference and present your work. If you want to do that, here is the conference web site: https://www.theorsociety.com/events/annual-conference/ Go to the ‘call for papers’ and submit an abstract, which will be sent to Gerald and colleagues for review and hopefully approval.
The International System Dynamics Conference is an annual event where people from all over the world interested in the practice of System Dynamics and systems thinking gather. Now in its 41st year, the Conference appeals to audiences across industry and academia. These conferences introduce newcomers to the field, keep practitioners aware of current developments, and provide unparalleled networking opportunities. Participants come from businesses, universities, K-12 education, not-for-profits, government, consulting, the healthcare sector, and beyond. The ISDC2023 will be a hybrid event, with virtual access for all attendees and opportunities for authors to present work virtually or in Chicago. Further information can be found here: https://systemdynamics.org/conference/
The UK Systems Society are hosting an international Conference on the 14th and 15th September 2023 in Oxford, with the title, “Systems: Transition to a Sustainable World”. Keynote Speakers are Rodney Irwin and Ray Ison. The conference is currently looking for papers to be submitted across several different topics. Additional information can be found here: https://www.systemsforum.org/ukss-international-conference-2023/
2023 Cornell University International Systems Thinking Conference, May 11-12, 2023. This year’s theme is, “Think [X]”, building off of the universality of systems thinking and its application to any topic (i.e., the variable “X” represents any topic). This year’s conference showcases the breadth and depth of the application of systems thinking (DSRP Theory), systems leadership (VMCL Theory), advances in systems thinking, new empirical developments, and new project work in Agent Based Approaches (ABAs) to social policy issues and socio-technical systems. Gerald Midgley (Co-Director of CSS) is one of the keynote speakers, sharing the platform with Rachel Lilley from the Birmingham Leadership Institute (University of Birmingham, UK). The conference is being delivered online, and further information can be found here: https://blogs.cornell.edu/systemsthinking/2023-conference/
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Upcoming issue of 'Systems Research and Behavioral Science', the official journal of the International Federation for Systems Research
- Bet on Innovation, Not ESG Metrics, to Lead the Net Zero Transition by Bartley Madden
- A systems approach to enabling student-led critical discussion by Shavi Cooray and Donna Champion
- Method to integrate asynchronously produced individual influence maps into an extrapolated population influence map following the face-to-face stage of a structured democratic dialogue by Yiannis Laouris
- Digital transformation of management and organization theories: A research programme by Steffen Roth
- Understanding perceived influencers on project outcomes and quantifying disciplinary similarities in academic literature by Casey Eaton, Amanda Banks, Kristin Weger, Bryan Mesmer and Robert Moreland
- Deviation from a state of perfect uniformity: An indicator of structural complexity in projects by Seyed Ashkan Zarghami
- An integrated systems thinking approach for achieving sustainability in project-based organizations by Avinash Singh, Devendra Pathak and Sabyasachi Patra
- Transitioning towards human–robot synergy in agriculture: A systems thinking perspective by Eirini Aivazidou and Naoum Tsolakis
- Role of international strategic alliances in internationalization of business group affiliated firms—A system dynamics approach by Divya Mishra, Amita Mital and Samir Srivastava
- Application of community-based system dynamics for the management of rural households' vulnerability to the drying of Urmia Lake by Rasoul Maleki, Mehdi Nooripoor, Zeinab Sharifi and Dacinia Crina Petrescu
- Deprivation and fire injury by Mark Taylor, Hulya Francis, Gary Oakford, Debbie Appleton and John Fielding
- Simulating the influence of Facebook fan pages on individual attitudes toward vaccination using agent-based modelling by Muhammad Al Atiqi, Shuang Chang and Hiroshi Deguchi
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