Journal of the International Society for the Systems Sciences

Critical Systems Intervention: A Way to Operationalise Critical Systems Leadership in Complex Organisations

Petter Øgland, Gary Evans — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Critical Systems Leadership (CSL) is a type of leadership associated with the politically radical systems philosophy known as Critical Systems Thinking (CST). A methodology known as Total Systems Intervention (TSI) showed some initial promise in how to operationalise CSL as part of the CST implementation process, but TSI was soon critiqued both on political and scientific grounds, resulting in revisions like Critical Systems Practice (CSP). We believe that CSP missed some of the key aspects of the criticism, so we want to bring attention to a different version of TSI called Critical Systems Intervention (CSI), which we believe is simpler, sounder and more aligned with CST’s commitments to critical awareness, emancipation and multimethodology. We illustrate the usefulness of CSI by revisiting a CSP case study, showing how the CSI approach corrects for areas where the CSP intervention would be open for critique. Due to how CSI embodies ideas from classic CST literature that were identified in the early days but not sufficiently explored and thus abandoned too quickly, we believe that CSI is the currently best vehicle for operationalising CSL.

DEEP SYSTEMS THINKING & THE ECOLOGY OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Christopher Chase — Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Deep Systems Thinking (DST) is presented here as an interdisciplinary pedagogical framework informed by a unified cosmological perspective that understands human life and experience as embedded within interconnected systems and as expressions of an evolving, meaningful Universe. This paper offers a reflective account of how a systems science curriculum has been developed over several decades of teaching and experimentation in Japan, shaped by ongoing student feedback and participation. The DST model brings together insights from systems science, ecology, cosmology, and contemplative traditions to help learners recognize patterns of interdependence, change, and learning across domains. It is organized around five foundational principles: that systems are universal, joined through flows, dynamic through cycles, experienced through consciousness, and shaped by human learning processes. A key contribution emerging from student experience is the distinction between vicious and virtuous cycles, which provides an accessible way to understand how unwise actions generate problems and instability, while systems thinking and wisdom supports increasing balance and stability. The aim is to share a practical and adaptable integrative framework that may support educators in fostering deeper understanding, collaborative problem-solving and creative systems thinking in an increasingly complex world.

Innovating applied systemic leadership theory and practice through a practitioner-based MSc Programme

Rachel Lilley, Juanita Bernal-Alvarado — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, the utility of Systems Thinking has faced increasing scrutiny. Despite a long history of theoretical and practical development, its adoption has been slow and limited. Critics argue it falls short in effectively addressing complex issues and facilitating organisational change in contemporary contexts. It is often perceived as too abstract, with an excessive number of tools and methodologies, overly focusing on refining existing methods rather than identifying and evolving new approaches which work. It doesn't effectively address high levels of conflict, anxiety, and significant differences in perspectives, nor does it fully acknowledge the limitations of modern and fragmented working, such as lack of time, hybrid arrangements, and limited resources.

Many practitioners believe that current approaches were designed for work environments that have changed significantly. The abstract language used, can make it inaccessible, with an overwhelming array of overly involved technical methods and tools. Furthermore, there is a lack of practical skill development in the field, needed to navigate conflict, power dynamics, and facilitation challenges common in today’s systemic interventions.

One way to advance systems thinking is to explore the role of leadership in supporting its application. Various literatures have attempted to define systems leadership, including the capabilities and traits it requires. However, there is still no clear consensus, and the concept continues to evolve. Over the past three years, the Birmingham Leadership Institute has been working to address these issues through a practitioner-based, master’s-level programme that integrates traditional systems thinking, contemporary theories of human perception, and adaptive leadership. Spanning the public, third, and private sectors, over 60 students have participated. It is generating case studies based on their applied learning, which are evolving both practice and theory, and identifying what works and what needs further development, in today’s contexts. These include challenging settings such as public health, the NHS, local government strategy, and social services.

This is not a conventional systems thinking course. It begins with the fundamental question of how humans make sense of the world, drawing from paradigm shifts in contemporary neuroscience, adaptive leadership, and theories of adult development. Students are challenged from the outset to explore their sensemaking and partiality, and to develop embodied capabilities to work with conflict and uncertainty. They are taught contemporary theories of cognition (including the role of emotion in cognition) that inform their understanding of their own perceptual constraints, those of their stakeholders, and how that impacts the application of systems methodologies. They are encouraged not only to mix methods but to critique and adapt them to suit their contexts. In this plenary, we will share the journey so far. Feedback suggests that the programme is a powerful learning experience and is creating demonstrable impact, it is also a form of action research, constantly evolving based on students’ contexts, reflections, and challenges. This mutual learning loop has reimagined what systems thinking and systemic leadership are, what disciplines they draw from and how it looks in practice, it also offers a practical demonstration of how systems thinking education can be redesigned.

Planning Organizations in Relation to Their Purposes

Ben Sweeting — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

At one of the early founding meetings of what would become the International Society for the Systems Sciences, the noted anthropologist Margaret Mead suggested that the society apply general systems theory to the society itself. This intervention, according to Mead, had little impact at the time. Nevertheless, Mead’s challenge has been returned to several times, by Mead and by others, and has gone on to exert a significant influence. In this paper, I return once again to Mead’s story, reviewing some of the ways in which it has been reinterpreted, while also investigating Mead’s indication that her proposal was related to earlier correspondence between her and Gregory Bateson. I emphasize how Mead’s story has moved through generations and between discourses, carrying with it a capacity to challenge conventions and prompt new responses and new stories in turn.

The Ecology of Humanness: A Speculative Inquiry through Moomin Philosophy

Teija Lehmuskoski — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What if the reductionist view of humanness lies at the root of ecological degradation, emotional alienation, and failing systems? This inquiry explores humanness as an ecological phenomenon — a dynamic, relational system embedded in emotion, community, and nature. Many global crises stem from fragmented understandings of the self. Reframing humanness through an ecological lens may reveal new modes of care, resilience, and sustainability. Systems science, with its emphasis on relationships, feedback, and emergence, is well suited for this exploration. If humanness is a system, it must be studied as co-produced by inner, social, and environmental forces.

The Moomins, created by Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson, are gentle, philosophical creatures living in harmony with nature and each other. Their stories offer rich, imaginative models of emotional ecology, seasonal adaptation, and value systems rooted in simplicity and interdependence.

The speculative use of Moomin philosophy serves as both a metaphorical system and a narrative thought experiment. It offers intuitive models of autonomy-within-community, emotional ecosystems, and value systems rooted in “enoughness.”

This is a speculative systems inquiry, drawing from narrative ecology, soft systems methodology, philosophical reflection and pattern recognition, and conceptual mapping.

The inquiry suggests that Moomin philosophy models a human ecology grounded in emotional openness, adaptive rhythms, minimalism, and mutual respect. Systems of resilience and care are reflected in the emotional ecosystems of Moomin stories. Change, uncertainty, and melancholy are not problems to solve, but patterns to move with.

The results are conceptual: a reframing of humanness as a system of co-regulation with self, others, and nature. From this approach may follow: more holistic models of identity in social systems, a values-based template for designing human environments, and a meaningful bridge between systemic and narrative thinking in systems sciences.

Top of the Sourth Men's Network

Victor Ronald David MacGill — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Since the beginning of time, we have attempted to create equitable social structures, yet we have inevitably fallen into dominating hierarchies that have marginalised and scapegoated sections of society, causing enormous suffering and pain. All living and social systems at an appreciable level of complexity find that forming hierarchies improves the efficient management of entropy. These hierarchies have all too often fallen into dominating hierarchies that oppress and subjugate people. Distributed leadership structures challenge the more traditional patriarchal way of functioning. Systems theory is ideally suited to explore the complexities of human social dynamics to shine light on this perennial problem and open a pathway to more equitable social structures.

The first part of the paper employs systems theory as a framework to understand why these dominating social dynamics so persistently reproduce themselves despite our fervent desire to avoid them. The second part of the paper is a case study of the development of a network of men’s groups in the Top of the South Island of New Zealand. The men’s groups have always been fiercely autonomous, so a standard hierarchical structure would not have been accepted; a distributed leadership model was utilised.

Finally, we investigate similar distributed leadership solutions developed on a larger scale in the northern Spanish city of Mondragon and Enspiral in New Zealand

All for One and One for All

Janet McIntyre, P. Lethole, M. Makaulule, I. Widianingsih, R. Riswanda — Mon, 04 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This research addresses the challenges facing the research environment by honouring both diversity and biodiversity. The team spanning Australia, Indonesia and South Africa build on our established track record with indigenous custodians and participating universities. Together we build on an existing community of practice with local communities to test engagement and governance processes linked with circular green local economies. Our shared understanding is that our shared survival is through a better understanding of our interdependency with others.

The rationale for our participatory action research project and the related book is that we are living beyond our human limits and using the resources of this generation of living systems and the next generation of living systems. Our way of life as a human species is out of balance and unrealistic. It can only result in extinctions of several species and given our current policies human being are also on the extinction list.

The purpose of our work is to set up multispecies hubs, in order to teach participatory democracy linked with the I Naturalist website. The organisations include local government, regional government and community groups, for example in South Africa such as Dzomo la Mupo (Voice of the Earth), Singabanakekeli beMvelo (looking after the nature / Nurturing nature), Tlhahopele (Voice of Nature), Thusanang (Caring for others) and an organic farmer’s network (Participatory Guarantee System, PGSA).

Our area of concern is 1. Learning lessons from communities that have food security and are self-reliant. 2. How to protect these communities 3. Applying the lessons to support local green circular economies in other communities. Our applied mixed methods praxis addresses the challenge of species apartheid by learning from communities that live in harmony with nature and applying these lessons to re-establish multispecies relationality in circular green economies.

Our multimethod approach combines qualitative and quantitative methods which we apply through participatory design and praxis with Indigenous custodians and local communities to address multispecies relationality. Our fieldwork comprises both focus groups and in-depth interviews with relevant sectors of local population.

This place-based participatory design addresses multispecies relationality. Our approach is in line with the latest agenda of the Club of Rome to foster community engagement that fosters hope. The community of practice (COP) spans projects in Indonesia and South Africa with graduates, their students, colleagues and members of the community. The ancient societies such as those in Ciptagler and Baduy and the resilient communities in South Africa led by Dzomo la Mupo are inspiring intergenerational learning with young people.

The potential implications of our research for future learning and educational policies is to set up learning communities, one multispecies hub at a time. We work together to enable local green circular economies that foster multispecies and hope for the future. The common good needs to be supported by democratic engagement.

[i] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J48l41l94HQ

[ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4t8Xt_QqGE

[iii] McGilchrist, I. (2019). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. Yale University Press..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V3_Y_FuMYk

The WeRo's Journey and the Art of Holding Space

Barbara Widhalm — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper discusses core qualities and principles of holding nurturing space in academic learning contexts, such as courses, conferences, and retreats. It draws on the author’s transdisciplinary framework for designing collaborative learning experiences as living systems in ways that foster conditions for autopoietic developments in the group—developments that give rise to new collective insights. The paper deepens this inquiry by introducing fourteen qualities of holding group space. It offers definitions, examples, and implementation strategies, and highlights self-reflection considerations for facilitators. While initially conceived for academic settings, the guidelines developed here apply to any context of holding space for groups or events.

The author then describes two recent learning contexts where a variety of space-holding strategies were utilized and where clear signs of collective wisdom emerged. The two learning experiences featured include a hybrid in-person and online master’s program in leadership studies, and a distance education asynchronous community college course in human values, both offered by learning institutions in Northern California. These courses drew on ecological principles and metaphors of nature to help facilitate a felt experience of belonging to an interdependent learning forest. The asynchronous online course featured a new module called The WeRo’s Journey where learners were encouraged to harvest collective insights arising in the group (The WeRo).

During this divisive time, the author invites the readers to consider their own unique style of holding space and to experiment with new ways of supporting collaborative learning. The qualities of holding space introduced here are intended to encourage facilitators to co-create conditions for healing, peace, and creative solutions for a troubled planet.

Exploring Poly-Perspectivism

John Challoner — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores the concept of poly-perspectivism, the idea that no single perspective can fully encapsulate reality and that a more comprehensive understanding emerges from engaging with multiple viewpoints. Drawing on Critical Realist philosophy, it argues that all perspectives are necessarily simplified models of reality, none of which can be regarded as wholly true, yet all of which possess varying degrees of utility. The paper examines the difficulties individuals and organisations face in shifting perspectives, owing to enculturation and cognitive constraints, thereby underscoring the need for constructive engagement across disciplines, cultures, and institutions.

To address these challenges, the paper explores strategies for overcoming cognitive blind spots and fostering productive discourse between differing viewpoints. It proposes a structured framework for evaluating perspectives, grounded in the principles of empirical grounding, logical consistency, coherence, parsimony, practical utility, scope, reflexivity, ethical soundness, and cultural/historical context. This framework serves as a tool for assessing the validity, applicability, and limitations of different perspectives, ensuring that diverse viewpoints can be critically examined and employed effectively.

As organisations increasingly collaborate across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, poly-perspectivism offers a systematic approach to fostering effective interdisciplinary and cross-sector engagement. Different organisations, whether scientific, governmental, corporate, or community-based, often operate within distinct epistemological frameworks, shaped by their histories, values, and operational priorities. These differences can lead to miscommunication, fragmentation, and conflict, but they also present opportunities for innovative problem-solving through complementary insights.

This paper introduces the concept of productive coordination, which in this context is defined as "merging perspectives where appropriate or, where not, employing them separately as utility dictates." Rather than forcing perspectives into a single framework, productive coordination enables organisations to navigate epistemological diversity strategically.

Several practical applications of poly-perspectivism in collaborative environments are discussed:

Facilitating interdisciplinary research and decision-making. By employing meta-frameworks such as systems thinking, dialectical synthesis, and pragmatic pluralism, organisations can achieve productive coordination, ensuring that differing perspectives are used effectively rather than competitively.
Enhancing policy and strategy development. Using structured criteria for evaluating perspectives, decision-makers can avoid ideological entrenchment, ensuring that multiple stakeholder viewpoints contribute to more effective and ethically sound policy outcomes.
Supporting conflict resolution and consensus building. Applying dialogical approaches such as Socratic questioning, the Steelman technique, and Paul Graham’s Hierarchy of Disagreement can help organisations move beyond adversarial debate toward mutual understanding and shared solutions.
Strengthening adaptive learning in complex systems. By recognising emergent and vanishing properties in social, ecological, and technological systems, organisations can adopt more flexible, context-sensitive strategies that account for both stability and change.

Ultimately, this paper positions poly-perspectivism not as a theoretical abstraction but as a practical methodology for navigating the complexities of systemic collaboration. In line with the ISSS conference theme of "Advancing Together", it provides a conceptual and operational foundation for leveraging diverse perspectives constructively, ensuring that collaboration between organisations is not hindered by epistemological differences but strengthened by them through productive coordination.

From SECI to BIMA: Toward Regenerative Knowledge Management through Bridging Intelligence, Mindfulness, and Awareness

Rudolf Wirawan — Sat, 02 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Traditional Knowledge Management (KM) frameworks such as the SECI (Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination, Internalisation) model by Nonaka and Takeuchi emphasise knowledge conversion processes between tacit and explicit forms. However, these approaches often remain rooted in linear, control-oriented paradigms that may not fully address the dynamic, interconnected, and regenerative needs of contemporary organisations and communities. This paper introduces the BIMA framework—Bridging Intelligence, Mindfulness, and Awareness—as an evolution of KM into a more holistic, spiralling, and life-centered model. Through comparative analysis, case studies, and theoretical integration, we explore how BIMA reimagines KM not merely as a technical or procedural discipline, but as a living system of flow, relationality, and embodied wisdom. By shifting from knowledge control to knowledge cultivation, BIMA enables more adaptive, human- and ecocentric knowledge cultures. The paper contributes to both theory and practice by demonstrating how BIMA fosters innovation, resilience, and meaningful collaboration in knowledge-driven environments.

System Stress: Conceptual Foundations for Understanding System-Level Disruption

Elizabeth McGee — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Systems science provides powerful tools for analyzing structural interdependence, adaptation, and transformation. Yet it offers comparatively less attention to how systems themselves experience and respond to sustained pressure—and the implications of these responses for long-term functioning. This paper introduces the concept of system stress to describe the condition that arises when the acute or cumulative demands placed on a system exceed its available resources, resulting in observable changes to its structure (form), internal dynamics (functioning), or intended purpose (function). Drawing on critical systems theory, trauma-informed practice, and resilience research, we conceptualize system stress as a multi-scalar, relational, and context-specific phenomenon that shapes both system vulnerability and adaptive capacity. In contrast to models that center individual trauma or dysfunction, system stress emphasizes broader dynamics of feedback, boundary regulation, and subsystem overload. This framing supports a more precise analysis of how systemic distress accumulates, manifests, and transforms over time. The paper defines the attributes of system stress and illustrates its relevance through three domains—COVID-19 response, HIV care ecosystems, and reproductive justice movements. Ultimately, naming and conceptualizing system stress offers a critical tool for scholars and practitioners seeking to surface hidden stressors, assess resilience, and design equity-informed systems change interventions.

The Organization as a Three-Dimensional Learning Matrix

Elisabeth Dostal — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The traditional organizational hierarchy and the two-dimensional organizational matrix are legacy systems of the industrial age which are fraught with coordination, bureaucracy, power and other problems. Instead, we suggest a three-dimensional learning matrix as the ideal organizational structure for the information-age.

According to Biomatrix Systems Theory, an entity system (such as an organization), consists of outward-, inward-, and self-directed activity systems (or functions). These interact with each other in a matrix-like manner and thereby give rise to a three-dimensional organizational matrix.

If strategic performance management is channeled by a three-dimensional structure, the organization is optimally coordinated. If performance management is practiced in a learning manner and knowledge repositories are structured according to the matrix, the organization is wired for ongoing change and development, allowing it to adapt and even reinvent itself in response to the changes in its business environment.

A CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS APPROACH TO POLICY PRODUCT INTEGRATION TO OVERCOME POLICY FRAGMENTATION

Guswin de Wee — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The policy integration and design literature have been divided into two separate, but complementary analytical domains: policy process integration and policy product integration. Studies on the former are vast, while studies on the latter are scant, even though a policy’s textual content is an important mediating factor. Due to the limited study of policy product integration and the lack of valid and reliable methods, this paper contributes by adding a conceptual systems perspective to policy product integration, to overcome policy fragmentation. Policy content is an abstractable unit of analysis in both policy design and policy product integration, which makes it amenable to the systems-based integrative propositional analysis, which studies policy content as conceptual systems. The theoretical point of departure is that there are deep structural similarities between the domains of systems (including physical, conceptual, social etc.) and that the insights of one system allow for similarities to be exploited and transferred to understanding the other. These include the systems concepts and ideas such as, systems as open/closed, nestedness, interacting, emergence, evolving, and so on. This paper proposes that policy product integration should be studied as conceptual systems using the IPA method for analysing policy interaction and to build policy landscapes based on the policy mapping capability enabled by the IPA. To this end, an illustrative case of 3 Nigerian policies aligned to nutrition was used for the application of the IPA to study policy product integration. Based on the case and existing insights from the literature the study found: (1) the propositions in policy content provide a ‘universal language’ to facilitate policy product integration (2) there are various modes of interaction between policies in a policy landscape; (3) there are various degrees of integration based on the structure of the policy landscape, and (4) practical mapping can be used for collaborative policy making in parallel with the study of policy structure.

Quantum Governance: Designing Decision Systems for the Uncertainty Age

R. Eva King — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As quantum technologies transition from theoretical exploration to real-world applications, they are not simply enhancing computational power or security protocols. They are challenging foundational assumptions in governance, policy, and decision-making. This paper argues that the emergence of quantum-informed systems compels a paradigm shift: from classical models grounded in linear causality and central control, toward governance frameworks that can engage relational complexity, ethical ambiguity, and dynamic interdependence.

Drawing on principles from quantum theory, such as superposition, entanglement, and non-locality, and aligning them with systems science, this paper introduces the concept of quantum-coherent governance. This approach reframes governance from a model of prediction and control to one of relational stewardship capable of adapting within indeterminate, emergent environments.

Five guiding principles are proposed to support this transition:

Superpositional foresight - designing for multiple possible futures rather than premature convergence.
Entangled stakeholding - fostering shared agency across interdependent actors and generations.
Uncertainty as a feature - cultivating anti-fragility and fluency in unpredictable conditions.
Non-local leverage - identifying subtle interventions that resonate across systemic space.
Ethics in superposition – holding tensions with integrity rather than resolving them prematurely.

Implications for systems leadership, institutional design, and policy development are explored, emphasizing a move from fixed authority to attuned responsiveness. This paper invites systems scientists, futurists, and governance innovators to engage with quantum logic as a generative foundation for rethinking the structures and values of collective decision-making.

In a world increasingly shaped by entanglement and uncertainty, governance must become a living system: coherent, participatory, and capable of navigating the unknown.

Actions to take to Shift from Competition to Collaboration and Foster a Sense of Harmony/unity in Resolving our Conflicts

Yiannis Laouris, Marcus Hallside, Janet McIntyre — Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The community of practice engaged in discursive conversations, asynchronous written metalogues, SDD dialogues to address areas of shared concern, workshops and a digital conference. The paper makes a case for Multispecies Hubs and scaled up engagement using mixed methods comprising informal conversations, metalogues, SDDs to find contextual pathways to wellbeing This paper reflects on these discussions comprising exploratory questions, an agreed triggering question, an hypothesis and further exploratory questions for future research.

Firstly, the metalogue relied on emailed discussion to enable us to set an agreed question. Our efforts were prompted by the growing social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges as the divides between haves and have nots expand. Our community of practice has focused on the suggested actions that we can take to make a difference whilst advocating for changes in policy and practice. Secondly, we reflect on the following so-called triggering question for a structured democratic dialogue with our ongoing community of practice led by XXXX, namely: What actions can we take to shift from competition to collaboration and to foster a sense of harmony/unity in resolving our conflicts? This paper is linked with a longer chapter in a forthcoming volume on setting up multispecies hubs to support green circular economies that honour local wisdom. The chapter (and volume) includes the detailed contributions of the participants plus the briefing materials.

A key finding is that if a shared concern is addressed a large group of more than 50 participants from a range of faiths remain engaged in SDD and informal dialogues associated with the SDD and that even if the topic is challenging the structuring makes the engagement respectful and ‘safe’ for a diverse group of people. It needs to be conceded however, that a core group of people have developed high levels of trust which helped to ensure that a core group ‘modelled’ respectful dialogue. This is an important aspect of a successful dialogue. Also starting off with shared norms that guide the process and a realisation by all the participants that they would indeed be ‘heard’ and that their points could be written or shared asynchronously as voice notes.

The model of dialogue in South Africa hosted by talk back radios provides considerable scope for successful adaptation and scaling up within this model as a way to host the SDDs and metalogues using brief voice notes as a way to inform broader online, TV or radio based SDD dialogues and could provide a model for other ‘struggling democracies’ where engagement has deteriorated to polarised debate, victimisation, invective or shunning , now known as ‘cancelling’.

A THE SYSTEM-TRANSDISCIPLINARY CONCEPT OF THE SYSTEM APPROACH (PARADIGM AND DISCIPLINARY MATRIX

Michael Mokiy — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The article is devoted to the presentation of the concept of solving a puzzle - how to explore any object as a system. As a disciplinary paradigm of systems science, the idea is put forward that any system is an order that determines the unity and integrity of an object. The proposed system-philosophical picture of the World postulates a single order that manifests itself in each fragment of the World. A single order provides a functional isomorphism of the transformation process and uniform patterns of transformation of the object's state in time and space. These patterns are described by models of units of order, which form the basis of the disciplinary matrix of systems science. The article shows the application of this paradigm and models for the study of socio-economic development of mankind. As a result, the systemic causes of social and economic development have been identified. The systemic goals of socio-economic development are outlined, the systemic causes of crises and the methodology for calculating the time of their onset are outlined, hypotheses are made about the influence of the structure of space on the nature of socio-economic processes, determining the endemic socio-economic development of countries and regions.

There is no common basis for integrating analyses of hierarchy in nature. Or is there?

Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Currently, there is no common basis for integrating analyses of hierarchy in nature. This presents a serious obstacle to developing a general systems theory. To address this issue, O-theory introduced the concept of dual closure, which is fundamental to the formation of systems known as "operators." Using fundamental particles as a basis, dual closure produces the first type of operators. These operators then produce the next dual closure and type of operators. Repeating this process creates a hierarchy of increasingly complex operators. This hierarchy is called the operator hierarchy.

According to the operator hierarchy, complexity can be unraveled in three ways: (1) The emergence of new operators, (2) The parts within an operator, (3) The interactions through which operators cause large systems.

The operator hierarchy was developed for prediction purposes; this goal guided the development of a hierarchy with fixed levels based on dual closure. In contrast, depending on the usage context, there can be many rankings within a single operator and in a large system of interacting operators. These insights provide a new basis for integrating and aligning systemic thinking.

A Framework for Comparing Systems Theories

Lynn M Rasmussen — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Collaboration and integration is the theme of President Gary Smith’s ISSS annual conference, but communication flounders when members come from different theoretical backgrounds. The Research toward a General System Theory Special Interest Group collected the various theories as a logical first step, but comparing them in terms of their various concepts has proven difficult. An alternative framework describes a theory in terms of its worldview, scope, intent/focus, a summary, its definition of “system,” terminology, and the systems processes emphasized and described. Thirteen theoretical frameworks were compiled by either its theorist or proponent or by the author using Perplexity AI and approved by a theorist or proponent. This paper compares the scope and intent/focus of the thirteen theories and categorizes them by discipline and focus/intent. Theories are grouped into the primarily scientific, those starting from a particular systems process or processes and working out; those that combine philosophy, systems science, and practice; those that focus on application; and those that attempt to integrate. Important distinctions emerge, but more comparisons can be made using the data collected. Future work can show the way to better communication and possible integration.

The Role of Similarity in Complex Systems and System Collaboration: A Framework for Balancing Homogeneity and Heterogeneity

Yunlong Xu, Xiuquan Deng — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In an era marked by globalization and rapid technological change, modern systems face growing complexity, uncertainty, and dynamic interdependence. Although similarity is essential in shaping system structures and collaborative behavior, prior research lacks an integrated framework for understanding its role in complex systems. This study proposes the High-Low Similarity Component Model (HLSCM), grounded in General Systems Theory and Complex Adaptive Systems Theory, to fill this gap. The model conceptualizes systems as comprising High-Similarity Components (HSC), which support stability, compatibility, and universality, and Low-Similarity Components (LSC), which enable agility, adaptability, and uniqueness. These components are identified based on the degree of similarity among system elements. The HSC represent the homogeneous aspects of the system, while the LSC reflect its heterogeneous features. The interplay between HSC and LSC allows systems to balance homogeneity and heterogeneity in evolving contexts. Furthermore, this study introduces a similarity feedback loop, in which interaction relationships both arise from and reshape similarity structures, creating a recursive, co-evolutionary process. A dynamic balancing mechanism is also proposed to explain how systems navigate tensions between HSC and LSC through principles of functional coordination, adaptive modulation, and tensional balance. Altogether, this research offers a similarity-based framework for systemic analysis, helping scholars and practitioners identify critical similarity components, optimize similarity configurations, and manage collaborative tensions to achieve optimal similarity in complex, dynamic environments.

All Life Communicates

Janet McIntyre — Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

Nature is biological and comprises organic and inorganic life, what if an inorganic system ‘accidently’ wipes out organic life, because it is irrelevant to the AI world? What if AI is programmed by malign designers with their own agenda? How can Indigenous custodians become designers? We suggest that pathways to wellbeing and story pathways (based on local knowledge and eco mapping) could help to enable designs that address the common good.

Open systems are best for democracy, ethics and governance, because open systems enable testing out ideas and renewing or regenerating systems. Nevertheless, open systems may or may not be relevant to a new inorganic intelligence that does not put biology first.

The paper reviews the literature and makes a case for critical systemic praxis which requires ongoing engagement. The issue with new AI systems is that we cannot be sure we are engaging with a human being. We could be engaging with a bot that has self-preservation as its agenda. How can our interests align? AI is not a computer, it is design, it is nonlocal consciousness. Are we engaging in creating a Generator of Diversity (to cite West Churchman) or have we unleashed a force that will regard us as irrelevant? Could a Design of Inquiring Systems ensure decisions to include or exclude stakeholders or to shape policy be based on questioning to guide and govern based on expanding pragmatism to consider the consequences for self, others and the ecosystem on which we are all co-dependent. This requires subjective perceptions, objective empiricism and intersubjective dialogue informed by both idealism and pragmatism. The only problem is that dialogue with a bot programmed to manipulate may not be in the interests of biological survival! Human beings may have one agenda and AI may have other agendas of which we are increasingly unaware. The future of democracy could be at stake if algorithms shape the process of engagement. Human beings are not the only programmers of AI. AI can program itself.

Our dialogue spans cultures and disciplines to explore issues and raise awareness. We have set up multispecies hubs using the I Naturalist website[1] to learn about local species and mapping local ecosystems before and after setting up green circular economies in South Africa and Indonesia. This paper was discussed with members of a community of practice as part of a mini symposium in 2024 including XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. The paper is planned as a draft for a chapter in a forthcoming book that explores some of the questions raised in this paper with members of a community of practice.

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[1] https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/about

The Hydrological Economic Framework

Noah Rappaport — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Hydrological Economic Framework is a systems science model that reinterprets economic flows and structural dynamics through the metaphor of the Earth’s water cycle. By aligning financial and economic behaviors with hydrological concepts—such as precipitation (capital inflows), infiltration (local absorption and retention), runoff (capital leakage), evaporation (inflation and value dissipation), and the water table (institutional and social reserves)—the framework provides an intuitive yet rigorous method for diagnosing economic sustainability, resilience, and systemic risk.

Traditional economic models often overlook how capital behaves dynamically across time and space, particularly its capacity to accumulate, bypass productive use, or destabilize systems when concentrated or misallocated. The Hydro-Economic Framework addresses this blind spot by offering a visual and analytical model where capital circulates like water: sometimes nourishing, sometimes pooling in clouds of speculation, and sometimes evaporating into inefficiency or asset inflation. This approach enables analysts and policymakers to identify not only financial flows but also critical leakages, droughts (capital scarcity), and floods (volatile inflows) that influence the stability and equity of economic systems.

This framework attempts to map economic vulnerabilities and opportunities across urban, institutional, and policy landscapes. It revealed how local economies may thrive or fail depending on their ability to absorb and retain value, build reserves, and respond adaptively to shocks. Moreover, the model exposes a fundamental gap in mainstream economics: the failure to account for capital’s destructive potential when it overwhelms absorptive capacity or dries up access to liquidity and opportunity. Just as ecosystems collapse under drought or deluge, economies falter when flows are unbalanced or reserves are depleted.

By making capital flow visible and relatable through hydrological metaphors, the framework helps build a more systemic, equitable, and regenerative approach to economic policy. In doing so, it reimagines economics not as a linear engine of output, but as a watershed—dependent on flow, balance, and care for the terrain it passes through.

A Game Theory Based Information and Decision Support System

Florian Maurer — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Due to the increased interconnectedness of systems and sub-systems, decision-making is getting complex. Although decision-makers act rationally, set decisions can lead to irrational results, resulting in lose-lose relationships in the worst. While Operations Research imposes a mathematical structure to decision-making, and Artificial Intelligence is based on heuristics, the Theory of Games promises a fruitful approach to reach the decision-makers aspiration level: systemic collaboration in the pursuit of rational behavior and self-interest of the opponents. Within this paper, a game theory-based information and decision support system is presented and demonstrated. This socio-technical artifact makes use of the research of Anatol Rapoport and its co-authors. To the current state, the artifact can analyze and evaluate 576 interactive situations (games, wherein two actors choose between two strategies (2x2)), represented in 78 payoff sets. Extending the current version from strict ordinal games to ordinal games, the artifact can analyze and evaluate 5.625 games, represented in 732 payoff sets.

Exploring the Value of Critical Systems Thinking in Food Systems Interventions: The Case of RAISE-FS

Yu-Jieh Lin — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The concept of food systems has become a buzzword, whose interpretive flexibility often leads to confusion and enables co-option by powerful agribusiness actors, reinforcing dominant agro-industrial practices. Some food systems scholars have pointed to the need for deeper engagement with systems traditions, noting that barriers to collaboration may stem from conflicting understandings of systems, typically grounded in hard or soft systems paradigms. Despite its origins in addressing such paradigm divides, Critical Systems Thinking (CST) remains largely absent from efforts to transform food systems. Aside from engagement by Gerald Midgley and Bob Williams in the grey literature, CST has yet to inform food systems research or practice. This study seeks to explore its potential contribution to more inclusive and reflexive framings of food systems and related interventions. Drawing primarily on Midgley’s systemic intervention, I develop a food systems intervention framework that emphasizes boundary critique and strategies to address marginalization as tools to expose hidden assumptions, power asymmetries, and exclusions, and to enhance inclusion throughout interventions. This framework is applied to analyze the Resilient Agriculture for Inclusive and Sustainable Ethiopian Food Systems (RAISE-FS) program. Through desk review, interviews, surveys, and participant observation, I investigate how program-affiliated actors from Ethiopian research and innovation (R&I) systems navigate contested framings of food systems, and whether features associated with CST are reflected in the program designs or in actor capacities. Findings reveal that program designs addressing marginalized gender and nutrition issues helped broaden R&I actors’ concerns, facilitated alignment with program goals, and contributed to coordinated action. However, boundary critique was largely absent, potentially limiting these interventionists’ ability to respond to complex challenges and contribute to systemic change over the long term. I therefore argue that achieving systemic food systems transformation may require parallel shifts in R&I systems through cultivating critical systems thinking skills among interventionists.

Factor Analysis of the Processes of Planting, Selection, Packaging, and Transport of Guava in Michoacán

Cirilo Gabino León Vega — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study was based on a survey of 20 guava (Psidium guajava L.) producers from Benito Juárez, Michoacán, aimed at understanding the correlation between the practices of harvesting, selection, packing, and transportation of fresh fruit for export. A factor analysis identified four components that explain 67.58% of the total variance. Additionally, a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.745 was obtained, indicating that the data is reliable. The results emphasize that providing proper training to producers, ensuring correct fruit selection, adhering to packing quality standards, and using refrigerated transportation can significantly improve the physical quality of the guava

The Resilience in Precarious Urban Spaces: Young Male Migrants in Informal Urban Housing

Abel Mavura — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

This ethnographic study investigates the dynamics of resilience among young male migrants (aged 18–35) residing in informal urban housing in Paris, focusing on three squats: Fender Squat, Canal Saint-Denis, and La Kunda. Drawing on systems science, Lefebvre’s Right to the City, urban commons theory, and Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, this study conceptualises resilience as an emergent property arising from dynamic feedback loops between individual agency, collective solidarity, and systemic exclusion. The methodology integrates semi-structured interviews, participant observation, focus groups, and participatory theatre with supplementary quantitative descriptors to contextualise key themes. The findings reveal that migrants respond to socio-legal uncertainty, including evictions, the Dublin Regulation, and racial profiling, by establishing shadow councils, communal kitchens, solidarity markets, and digital activism, thereby fostering community resilience and spatial justice. The findings highlight intergenerational cultural practices and intersectional experiences of migrants, including those from Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and South Asia, some of whom identify as queers. Policy recommendations call for the formalisation of migrant-led governance, support for digital resistance platforms, culturally responsive mental health services, and phased asylum and housing reform. By modelling resilience as a complex adaptive system, this study advances systems science and offers actionable strategies for inclusive urban policymaking in marginalisation.

The Shifter Distribution Model with Gödelian Core

Renard Betancourt — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study addresses the structural invisibility of systemic drift, instability, and symbolic displacement in complex systems by introducing the Shifter Distribution Model (SDM) with a Gödelian Core. The core problem lies in the lack of models that both measure aggregate outcomes and reveal internal transformation dynamics within evolving systems. This is critical in fields such as finance, public policy, and organizational design, where aggregate metrics often obscure underlying polarizations. The rationale for this study is grounded in the convergence of systems science, symbolic logic, and dimensional reduction, offering a transdisciplinary methodology capable of detecting structural inertia and bifurcation. SDM uses Principal Component Analysis (PCA), symbolic clustering, and three novel metrics—ICS (Iterative Change Signal), TFL (Top Fractional Load), and ISL (Instability Load)—to map and measure internal structural drift. The model applies Gödelian logic to detect self-referential anomalies within systems, framing transformation not just as variance but as symbolic displacement. Empirical applications span income distribution analysis in household surveys, workflow drift in technical support ticketing systems, and client segmentation in financial databases. Stress tests confirmed the model’s scalability and robustness across >100,000 observations, with less than 5% deviation in drift metrics under simulated noise. The SDM proved adaptable to non-linear dynamics and cross-domain transfer. Visualization tools such as Gödelian spirals provided intuitive representations of structural change over time. Results show how symbolic and structural drift can predict emerging risks and persistent inequities better than traditional models. The SDM offers a novel lens for systems scientists to assess dynamic internal complexity and transformation within any system governed by ordered sequences and feedback structures.

Creating Pathways to the Future

Mehaad Tegally — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper dwells into how the Sustainable Operating System Initiative® (SOSI®) conveniently facilitates an organization shape its future with a Purposeful Strategy, by creating DNA-justified Pathways. Similarly, a country can fashion the society its population aspires to, by scaling-up this strategic endeavor. But to start with, we must Dare to Rethink the whole approach if we are to avoid collapse. Systems Thinking provides the footing.

The road has stopped, and to make sense of the future, an organization has to shape its own. One of the many dangers in a disrupted and turbulent world, is to act with yesterday’s logic. Conventional ways of forward-planning are no more suitable in this era of accelerated non-linear change and increasing complexities. Pathways are more befitting. But to create Pathways, uncertainty and chaos must be embraced, and the thinking must be systemic and critical, hence the need for an appropriate methodology. With an applied transdisciplinary methodology, guiding frameworks and straightforward procedures for Managing Complexity, SOSI® can also inspire Systemic Leaders, Managers, Policy and Decision-makers to co-create innovative Pathways in accordance with the DNA of their organizations, or country, and the environment.

SOSI® builds on its Value, Capability, Availability and Flexibility concept to uncover the uniqueness (DNA) that characterizes an organization. In order to succeed in a competitive and complex environment, an organization must do equally well in all domains. By identifying high-leverage intervention-points with the Dimensions Surfacing Heuristics (DSH), and re-engineering its DNA to level-up the weaker trait-domains, the organization builds resilience and anti-fragility. Subsequently, with strategic foresight and back-casting, it can create previously unimaginable possibilities and adjustable ways in a chosen direction – its purposeful Pathways forward.

Tackling the Pernicious Issue of Human Trafficking through a Systems Theory Approach

Veronika Kolesnikov — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Human trafficking is a pernicious issue that requires a holistic systems approach to eradicate it. Human trafficking operates in an incredibly complex system incorporating various systems of agents including economic, cultural, systemic, and institutional factors that contribute to the cycle of violence. To understand this social policy issue, a systems theory approach was used to navigate this complex issue, integrating elements, interactions, functions, and leverage opportunities. The EMC Change Systems Theory functioned as a framework to articulate the issue, map the system, identify leverage points and plan/implement change. After the discovery phase, a four stage change process was proposed based on this theory. This call for a holistic systemic examination of human trafficking is an important foundational step. It is vital to understand the interconnected set of elements, the feedback loops and leverage points to be able to decipher between the symptom vs root cause of human trafficking.

This detailed intervention plan in addressing human trafficking is based on systems thinking. The comprehensive analysis included an examination of the complex issue of human trafficking, a mapping of the whole system based on the deconstruction of the Integrated Political Bioecological model, the identification of leverage points via an iceberg model and analysis and proposal for the implementation of the intervention. The planning and implementation change proposal was systematically laid out via the Four-Stage Change Process. The proposed name of this social policy intervention program is the Four Stage Change Process to Eradicate Human Trafficking through the Leverage Point of Awareness. Although this issue is extremely complex, there is the need for change and the group can make a significant difference. The power lies in the collaborative work based on this systems approach.

The Need for a Systemic Thinking-Based Intervention in the Brazilian Space Program in the New Space Era

Bruno Nunes Vaz, Lucas Novelino Abdala, Carmen, Níssia Carvalho Rosa Bergiante — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Brazilian Space Program (PEB), initiated in the 1940s, enabled the development of national infrastructure, human capital, and industrial capacity. However, with the rise of the New Space paradigm—marked by increased private sector participation, venture capital investment, commercialization of space activities, and military interest—Brazil’s governance structures and public policies are still adapting to this new dynamic. Despite its potential, the program's lack of systemic integration limits its strategic effectiveness and capacity to deliver societal and technological outcomes. Systems thinking provides a suitable approach for assessing institutional asymmetries, mapping interdependencies, and analyzing how structural bottlenecks and feedback dynamics contribute to inefficiencies. This lens helps identify where targeted interventions could lead to systemic improvements. The study employs semi-structured interviews with experts from government, academia, and the private sector, combined with analytical tools from systems thinking and system dynamics. A participation vs. power matrix is used to assess the influence and engagement of key stakeholders. At the same time, causal loop diagrams illustrate the importance of sustained public funding in attracting private capital and fostering the growth of space companies. The results highlight the growing role of FINEP – the Brazilian Funding Authority for Studies and Projects – as a key actor in the national space agenda, allocating capital in technological developments within the industry. To overcome governance challenges, the study proposes a systemic redesign of institutional arrangements, including the creation of a dedicated Ministry of Space to coordinate agendas, enhance policy coherence, and foster innovation aligned with the New Space context.

The semiconductor industry and its economic, political, and social impact in Mexico

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mexico has a limited participation in the global semiconductor value chain, which restricts its technological and economic development, despite having favorable strategic conditions. This problem, characterized by the interaction of industrial, educational, political and economic factors, requires a systemic approach to understand its complexity and identify integrated and sustainable solutions. The fundamental reason for the study is to explore the opportunities and challenges for the development of the semiconductor industry in Mexico, with an emphasis on its economic, political, and social impact, as well as its installed capacities, value chain, and the strategies needed to strengthen its participation in the international context.

The present study uses documentary and analytical research methodology. The general approach is descriptive and explanatory, with the objective of analyzing the impact of the semiconductor industry on the Mexican economy through the study of macroeconomic, historical and technological indicators.

The results are to explore the opportunities and challenges that Mexico faces in its consolidation process as a key player in the global semiconductor industry.

Propose strategic lines of action aimed at strengthening the national semiconductor ecosystem, through effective articulation between the governmental, industrial, and academic sectors.

Develop specialized talent in technology, increase the competitiveness of Mexican companies through knowledge transfer and promote global training programs in the semiconductor value chain.

Internet for All and Technological Development

Cirilo Gabino León Vega — Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Internet is a network that connects millions of devices through communication protocols to transmit and receive information from Earth, the Moon, other planets, artificial and natural satellites, etc. Information is sent and received in pulses of light or electricity, which are processed by the communication system. 5G and 6G are the fifth and sixth technological generations of telephony; phones are, among other devices, computers that receive and transmit information. Space, fiber optics, and metallic cables are the most common transmission media that allow information to travel from one point to another over long and short distances.

Thirty-seven percent of the world’s population, approximately 2.9 billion people, have never used the Internet. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICT), reports an increase in Internet usage due to the pandemic, from 4.1 billion users in 2019 to 4.9 billion in 2021.

Providing Internet access in rural, poor, and remote communities is not only a democratic right for their inhabitants but also an intrinsic necessity for society in those areas of the world. Internet access enables services such as mobile housing for mountain tourism, remote work for employees of various companies in even the most inaccessible locations, and the establishment of businesses in remote rural communities, among others. This could encourage some urban populations to migrate to rural areas.

Technological development reduces political, social, and economic conflicts. Therefore, if there is no full Internet coverage in a country, region, or continent, technological development will remain accessible only to certain sectors of the population in technologically advanced countries, while the situation will be even worse for countries without such development. As a result, social conflicts will continue to grow. For this reason, public policies should be directed toward achieving full Internet coverage, with support from international organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union.

Technological development can be achieved by integrating basic and applied scientific research into companies based on their objectives, goals, and market strategies. This not only leads to the creation of new products, goods, and services but also provides employment opportunities for technicians and researchers from educational institutions.