A global community connected through systems theory, science, and practice
"To gain knowledge, we must learn to ask the right questions; and to get answers, we must act, not wait for answers to occur to us."
ISSS Past President Anatol Rapoport
The ISSS is a community of researchers, learners, and practitioners who are devoted to transdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems and the application of systems approaches for transformative change.
Conceived in 1954, the ISSS advances systems science theory and application by connecting and enabling researchers and practitioners, and disseminates the knowledge of systems to a global audience.
As an international society we are exploring ways to translate this website into other languages. You can enter the website address here https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=es&op=websites to start a machine translation process.
Conference 2023
Only a few short weeks to go now!
Registration is finalised
Visit the Conference Webpage for all information :
Venue Detail
Call for paper
Keynote Speakers
Workshops
The 2023 Conference will be at the Skukuza Lodge in Kruger National Park in South Africa in June 19-23 June 2023. There will be a Systems Practice Workshop from 17-23 June.
Registration Guide (link to registration on the conference page)
ISSS Intro & JOIN NOW
Short video introducing the ISSS and this website. Click bottom right of player to go full screen.
Membership
Login to view this area.
ISSS President
The ISSS President for 2022-2023 is Roelien Goede PhD.
Incoming Address given at ISSS 2022 Conference, Monday 11 July 2022.
Calendar
ISSS Book Club
Thursday, June 15, 2023
12:30pm to 2pm
The purpose of the book club is to explore the systems science literature in depth, so books are read over several months, with monthly reading assignments of approximately 50-100 pages....
ISSS Book Club
Thursday, July 20, 2023
12:30pm to 2pm
The purpose of the book club is to explore the systems science literature in depth, so books are read over several months, with monthly reading assignments of approximately 50-100 pages....
ISSS Book Club
Thursday, August 17, 2023
12:30pm to 2pm
The purpose of the book club is to explore the systems science literature in depth, so books are read over several months, with monthly reading assignments of approximately 50-100 pages....
ISSS News Articles
Proposed New By-Laws
Posted on May 28th, 2023
On Saturday 20 May at 6.00 pm EDT the following email was sent by Election Runner initiated by Jen Makar VP Admin.
"Over the past 4 years of review, several points of legal non-compliance were noted in our organization’s existing Bylaws. The Bylaws Committee undertook the task of rectifying those issues. Upon Approval of the ISSS Membership: These revised Bylaws will be filed with the state of Tennessee, where ISSS is registered as a legally-constituted nonprofit organization. ISSS will then be in legal compliance with both state and federal laws governing the operation of nonprofit organizations."
Once the link to vote was clicked there was a link to the new proposed By Laws.
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Newsletter Signup
Blog
Posted on February 1, 2023 10:00 AM
Posted on December 30, 2022 10:00 PM
Posted on December 24, 2022 8:00 AM
Posted on October 1, 2022 9:00 AM
Posted on September 24, 2022 9:00 AM
Activities
ISSS members are engaged in a number of activities around the world. Read more at https://www.isss.org/activities/
Many member activities are collaborative in nature and also involve partnerships and collaborations with other organizations:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Systems Science Working Group
Systems Literacy
Systemic Action at the Village Level to encourage and support sustainable development.
World of Systems
The ISSS is one of the oldest organizations dedicated to the study, development and application of systems science, systems thinking, cybernetics and complexity science.
We are assembling lists of organizations, social network pages and groups, and also maps of the evolution of the field of systems and cybernetics. Here are some examples
Tom Marzolf's Systems Common Model
Watch video with Peter Tuddenham and Tom Marzolf in conversation about the model
Watch video with Peter Tuddenham and Tom Marzolf in conversation about the model
Please email me with comments, additions or corrections. Peter D Tuddenham peterdtuddenham at gmail.com
Meeting Proceedings
We Remember
We Remember
Loet Leydesdorff 1948-11 March 2023
Tim Haslett - February 10 2023
John Friend - November 2022
Mick Ashby 1963 - October 2022
Klaus Krippendorf 1932 - October 2022
Ralph Stacey 1942 - 2021
Steven E Wallis July 29, 2021
James Robert Simms, December 5, 1924 - Saturday, May 22, 2021
Humberto Maturana 1929 - May 2021
Mary Catherine Bateson 1939 - 2 January 2021
Charles Bocage died 21 August 2020
Peter Caws May 25, 1931 - April 20, 2020 (ISSS President 1966)
Joe Simpson - June 2020
Jack Ring - April 2020
Enrique Herrscher 2019
Charles Francois 2019
Systems Science & Applications Spotlight
Members of ISSS are researching and applying Systems Science in a variety of situations and circumstances. we are creating a temporary Editorial Board to decide what new research and application by ISSS Members to feature here. For more information please email webadmin@isss.org
AAAS Affiliate
In 1954 the founders of the current ISSS met at meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). They decided to start the Society for General Systems Theory later renamed Society for General Systems Research and now called the International Society for the Systems Sciences. One of the early group of founders and first presidents of our society in 1957, Kenneth Ewart Boulding was President of AAAS in 1980