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 2024
The ISSS 2024 Conference will be held June 10-15 and will be at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. USA
ISSS Intro & JOIN NOW
Short video introducing the ISSS and this website. Click bottom right of player to go full screen.
ISSS Mini Symposia Feature Video
On November 4th, Professor Amar Nayak from the Centre for All Interacting Evolving Systems Science presented in the Mini Symposia. Abstract is here: Resolving Water and Food Production problems at a Farmer level using Systems Science: Towards the ontology and epistemology of change
Membership
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ISSS President
The ISSS President for 2023-2024 is Michele Friend PhD.
Incoming Address given at ISSS 2023 Conference, Friday 23 June 2023.
Calendar
Mini Symposia Robert Johannson
Saturday, December 9, 2023
7am to 9am
Holism in relation to Ubuntu and Western Liberalism
There are two quite different definitions of holism that are epitomized by South African Ubuntu and Western Liberalism. The presentation seeks to explore the theoretical and philosophical basis of each and place them in some historical context.
There are two quite different definitions of holism that are epitomized by South African Ubuntu and Western Liberalism. The presentation seeks to explore the theoretical and philosophical basis of each and place them in some historical context.
ISSS Book Club
Thursday, December 21, 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, January 18, 2024
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
Newsletter Signup
Blog
Posted on August 25, 2023 10:30 PM
Posted on August 25, 2023 2:30 PM
Posted on February 1, 2023 10:00 AM
Posted on December 30, 2022 10:00 PM
Posted on December 24, 2022 8:00 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.
Conference 2023
The 2023 Meeting and Conference is now over.
Visit the Memories of Kruger page for the story of the conference including the booklet of abstracts, photos and videos.
Visit the original Conference Webpage for more information.
The 2023 Conference was at the Skukuza Lodge in Kruger National Park in South Africa in June 19-23 June 2023.
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 August 2023
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
Dr. Pam Sydelko November 2023
Dr. Sue Gabriele November 7, 2023
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