Associations & Academic Organizations
American Society for Cybernetics
Founded in 1964, the Society encourages the advancement of cybernetics as a science, the development of cybernetic research methods and techniques that improve the manageability of complex systems, the systematic accretion, evaluation and exchange of cybernetic knowledge and its application across disciplinary, national and ethnic boundaries, and the application of cybernetics towards improving the informational condition of man and the social use of communication and information processing technology, and the practice of self-government.
AECT Council on Systemic Change
“The Council on Systemic Change exists within Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) primarily to advocate fundamental changes in educational practice to improve learning and to enable technology to achieve its potential for supporting this improvement.”
Society for Chaos in Psychology and the Life Sciences
The Society is an international forum bringing together researchers, theoreticians, and practitioners interested in applying dynamical systems theory, far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics, self-organization, neural nets, fractals cellular automata, and related forms of chaos, catastrophes, bifurcations, nonlinear dynamics, and complexity theories to psychology and the life sciences.
International Society for the Systems Sciences
“The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is one of the oldest and most broadly based transdisciplinary organizations in the world…ISSS is one of the few societies world-wide that studies processes that go across disciplinary lines in its search for systems methods and systems analogies…The Society is structured to encourage research and facilitate communication between and among scientists and professionals from various disciplines and professions at local, regional, national, and international levels.”
United Kingdom Systems Society
“The United Kingdom Systems Society is a non-profit making professional society committed to the development and promotion of ‘systems’ philosophy, theory, models, concepts and methodologies for improving decision-making and problem-solving for the benefit of organisations and the wider society.”
Systems Science & Related Sciences
Autopoiesis and Enaction: Observer Web
The premier web site for the Biology of Cognition, Autopoietic Theory, and Enactive Cognitive Science – the theories of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela.
Whole Systems
After a brief introduction to the philosophy of “whole systems”, this site consists of an extensive list of links to various resources related to the whole systems view.
Emergence: Complexity and Organization
Emergence: Complexity & Organization (E:CO) is an international and interdisciplinary conversation about human organizations as complex systems and the implications of complexity science for those organizations.
Systems Conferences
Journals
Journal of Applied Systems Studies
“The mission of the Journal of Applied Systems Studies is on the development of methodologies based on the laws and rules of various sciences. New designs and functional methodologies are composed for applications in business, operational and social, as well as biological phenomena. The objectives of the Journal of Applied Systems Studies are to widespread the science of systems and present the research and application results of its domain.”
Cybernetics & Human Knowing Journal
“Cybernetics and Human Knowing is a quarterly international multi- and interdisciplinary journal on second order cybernetics and cybersemiotics. The journal is devoted to the new understandings of self-organizing processes of information in human knowing that have arisen through the cybernetics of cybernetics, or second order cybernetics and its relation and relevance to other interdisciplinary approaches such as semiotics (cybersemiotics).”
Systems Research and Behavioral Science
The official journal of the IFSR, “Systems Research and Behavioral Science provides a forum for the exchange of new ideas and knowledge relating to the use of systems thinking for the development, management and assessment of activities, programmes and organizations.”
Soziale Systeme
” ‘Soziale Systeme’ is a journal which focusses on the interface of systems theory and sociological theory. It is obviously inspired by recent developments in systems theory, related to names such as Niklas Luhmann, Humberto Maturana and Heinz von Foerster. Furthermore it tries to cultivate a catholic interest in developments in sociological theorizing. Therefore interdisciplinarity and the conceptual identity of sociology as a discipline function as two poles of an intellectual spectrum the journal tries to advance.” Site is in German and English.
Systems Thinking/Chaos Theory Network / PATTERNS Newsletter
An affiliate of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), this network “explores the new evolutionary cosmology and the emergence of new science which includes the human spirit. It recognizes the importance of creativity and imagination in a re-enchantment of learning and teaching. It supports the development of a design culture in which we learn to create our futures.” STCT publishes the newsletter PATTERNS.
World Futures
“World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution is dedicated to the study of irreversible, nonlinear, system-structuring–that is, evolutionary–change in nature and society…The journal’s aim is to promote the transfer of evolutionary models, theories and approaches within and among the natural and the social sciences; and to encourage the development of evolutionary models, theories, and approaches to concrete and urgent problems of human and social interest.”
Consulting Firms and Non-Profit Organizations
Aurora Now Foundation
“Aurora Now is a publicly supported 501(c)3 education and research foundation whose mission is to raise personal and social awareness and responsibility by inspiring people – especially young people – to use their unique skills, perspectives and gifts in a collaborative way; to creatively address complex, interconnected problems from a more holistic perspective. And through this collaboration, to help youth, their families, organizations and communities co-create healthy and sustainable futures.”
The Co-Intelligence Institute
“The non-profit Co-Intelligence Institute (CII) promotes awareness of co-intelligence and of the many existing tools and ideas that can be used to increase it. The CII embraces all such ideas and methods, and explores their integrated application to community problems, organizational development, and global crises. Ultimately, the goal of the CII is the conscious evolution of culture in harmony with nature and with the highest human potentials.”
CWA, Ltd., Interactive Management Consultants
CWA, Ltd. is a management consulting firm specializing in Interactive Management, a science of human cognition, communication, and decision-making. CWA’s CogniScopeTM is a highly successful collaborative design and decision-making methodology that is systemic in its approach, democratic in philosophy, and designed for highly complex situations.
Ecocosm Dynamics
Ecocosm Dynamics, Ltd. is a non-profit corporation that supports an international research team of multidisiplinary analysts who are dedicated to studying the Earth’s environmental crisis from a system perspective, and to searching for a solution.
GEMS Learning
Gabriele Educational Materials and Systems (GEMS) creates educational products and services for ESL, English language or language arts lessons utilizing a “whole grammar” approach to “whole language” classroom methods.
Sustainable Systems International
“SSI provides consulting services to help businesses, organizations and communities throughout the world to transform themselves from mere goal-seeking-reactive organizations into ideal-seeking-pro-actively-adaptive systems.”
Syntony Quest
Syntony Quest is a private, tax-exempt educational organization geared to helping those who wish to learn how to cope with organizational change and uncertainty in ways that foster community and sustainability. SyntonyQuest provides consulting, custom workshops, and the co-design of learning resources for evolutionary change. Syntony Quest was created by Alexander Lazlo and Kathia Castro Laszlo.
Systems-thinking tools and methods for conducting participatory organizational and human systems change. Includes commentary on organizational change management, implementing a change model, and creating a change strategy.
Higher Education in Systems Thinking and Design
Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center
University of Hull (UK) Centre for Systems Studies
Institute for Systems Science at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz (Austria)
George Mason University – Institute for Advanced Study in the Integrative Sciences (IASIS)
California Institute of Integral Studies
Seattle Antioch University Whole Systems Design
Open University (UK) Systems Discipline
Portland State University Systems Science Program
Networked Social Action
Exploration of issues related to living in a globalized, interconnected world.
Site for objective policy research on public policy and social issues. Takes a systemic perspective. Focused on fostering greater direct democracy and providing greater power to the people by keeping citizens informed about American society and its issues. Provides information to inspire greater political action by citizens.
CIVICUS
CIVICUS is an international alliance dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world.
Netaid.org
“Netaid.org uses the Internet to empower people to take action on extreme poverty around the world. We are a hub of many online activities generating positive impact in ending poverty. This growing one-stop-site facilitates direct interface among people in developing and developed countries, creating opportunities for giving, learning, and building fruitful relationships.”
VolunteerMatch
VolunteerMatch utilizes the power of the Internet to help individuals nationwide find volunteer opportunities posted by local nonprofit and public sector organizations.
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This post was written by Doug on September 28, 2008
