Systems Science Organizations
From SystemsWiki
Presently there are a number of societies and organizations endeavoring to promote awareness and understanding of the value of a systemic perspective. If you're aware of an organization that should be listed please send into to Gene Bellinger.
American Society for Cybernetics
The American Society for Cybernetics is an American non-profit scholastic organization, founded in 1964 in Washington, DC, as an organization for the advancement of cybernetics as a science and the interdisciplinary collaboration and synthesis of cybernetics. The society wants cooperation around the research and development of cybernetics methods and techniques to manage complex systems.
Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science
In December 2004 a group of scholars met in Vienna who were tied together by the attempts to save the Bertalanffy archive for the public: six banana boxes containing letters of Ludwig von Bertalanffy from after World War II when he left Austria to 1972, when he died, and a lot of books which belonged to his private library in Buffalo suddenly – in spring 2004 – appeared in the United States for auction (see Chroust G, Hofkirchner W. 2006. Ludwig von Bertalanffy returns home. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 23:701-703). It was the constitutional meeting of the BCSSS. The BCSSS is an association by Austrian law. Its domicile is Vienna, Austria. It is member of the IFSR.
The Bertalanffy Center is open for members of the systems movement, be they individual or organisational, who have an interest in promoting metatheoretical thinking.
Creative Learning Exchange
The Creative Learning Exchange was founded as a non-profit in 1991 to encourage the development of Systems Citizens in K-12 education who use systems thinking, system dynamics, and an active, learner-centered approach to meet the interconnected challenges that face them at personal, community, and global levels
The Creative Learning Exchange encourages an active, learner-centered process of discovery for 5-19 year old students that engages in meaningful, real-world problem solving through the mastery of systems thinking and system dynamics modeling.
International Federation for Systems Research
THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR SYSTEMS RESEARCH (IFSR), founded 1981, is a non-profit, scientific and educational agency, constituted of member organizations from various countries. The overall purpose of the Federation is to advance cybernetic and systems research and systems applications and to serve the international systems community.
International Society for the Systems Sciences
The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is among the first and oldest organizations devoted to interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems, and remains perhaps the most broadly inclusive. The Society was initially conceived in 1954 at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, and Anatol Rapoport. In collaboration with James Grier Miller, it was formally established as an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1956. Originally founded as the Society for General Systems Research, the society adopted its current name in 1988 to reflect its broadening scope.
The initial purpose of the society was "to encourage the development of theoretical systems which are applicable to more than one of the traditional departments of knowledge," with the following principal aims:
- to investigate the isomorphy of concepts, laws, and models in various fields, and to help in useful transfers from one field to another;
- to encourage the development of adequate theoretical models in areas which lack them;
- to eliminate the duplication of theoretical efforts in different fields; and
- to promote the unity of science through improving the communication among specialists.
In the intervening years, the ISSS has expanded its scope beyond purely theoretical and technical considerations to include the practical application of systems methodologies to problem solving. Even more importantly, it has provided a forum where scholars and practitioners from across the disciplinary spectrum, representing academic, business, government, and non-profit communities, can come together to share ideas and learn from one another.
International Systems Institute
The International Systems Institute (ISI) is a community of scholars, practitioners, consultants, change professionals, and institutions exploring the question of how individuals, organizations, communities, and societies can collaboratively create their futures through a relatively new kind of inquiry and way of life called participatory social systems design.
ISI’s purposes and objectives are carried out through self-organizing research teams that discuss a variety of topics pertaining to how systems thinking can be applied to changing organizations, families, and societies. The collaborations are conducted year-round through a series of virtual and face-to-face conferences where scholars and practitioners engage in dialogue about their own situations and share approaches and findings with others.
International Systems Institute is a member of the International Federation for Systems Research.
System Dynamics Society
The System Dynamics Society is an international, nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging the development and use of system dynamics and systems thinking around the world. With members in fifty-five countries, the Society provides a forum in which researchers, educators, consultants, and practitioners in the corporate and public sectors interact to introduce newcomers to the field, keep abreast of current developments, and build on each other's work.
Systems Thinking in Schools
Systems Thinking in Schools a Waters Foundation Project operates with a vision to deliver academic and lifetime benefits to students through the effective application of systems thinking concepts, habits and tools in classroom instruction and school improvement. Their mission is to increase the capacity of educators to deliver student academic and lifetime benefits though the effective application of systems thinking concepts, habits and tools in classroom instruction and school improvement.
UK Systems Society
The UK Systems Society (UKSS) is a non-profit making, professional society registered as an educational charity.
The Society is 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.
- Southern Region website
- The network for Systems Practice for Managing Complexity (SPMC) is hosted by UKSS.
References
| Systems Thinking World Discussions Systems Thinking World Q&A * Gene Bellinger |
