Our research explores the context of water management in Scotland as it existed in late 2003. We ... more Our research explores the context of water management in Scotland as it existed in late 2003. We took as a key question: Is the Scottish policy context conducive to the emergence of "social learning" as a purposeful policy option in the future management of water, and in the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive in particular? Data generated by several means, including semistructured interviews with key stakeholders, tested the explanatory potential of a SLIM (Social Learning for the Integrated Management and sustainable use of water) heuristic concerned with how changes in understanding and practices can transform situations to produce social learning. Our research demonstrates how the historical context, including initial starting conditions; conducive institutions, especially political devolution, and policies; facilitation; building stakeholding; and the use of learning processes together can create the possibilities for social learning. The processes that went on through the development of the Scottish Water Bill exemplify how social learning as concerted action emerged, but it did not do so from any overall purposeful design. A major challenge is to create purposefully the conditions for social learning as a deliberate policy or governance mechanism.
It is argued that a failure to consider ecological sustainability within a systemic framework con... more It is argued that a failure to consider ecological sustainability within a systemic framework constrains the design of learning systems which are needed for taking effective purposeful action for 'managing' sustainable development. The arguments put forward are grounded in the author's experience of developing supported open learning curricula delivered in a distance teaching mode in the area of systems practice for managing complexity as well as the supervision of postgraduate student research. Se argumenta que la falta de consideración de la sostenibilidad ecológica, dentro de un marco sistémico, trae consigo una limitación en el diseño de los sistemas de enseñanza necesarios para emprender acciones con sentido en el ámbito de la 'administración' de un desarrollo sostenible. Los argumentos aducidos se basan en la experiencia del autor en el desarrollo de sistemas abiertos de enseñanza en la modalidad a distancia, en el área de prácticas de sistemas para administrar la complejidad, al igual que en la supervisión de las investigaciones realizadas por estudiantes de posgrado.
Business as usual is impeding implementation of systemic change in the governance of the natural ... more Business as usual is impeding implementation of systemic change in the governance of the natural resources on which all forms of farming depend and the transformation of agricultural techniques, practices, and enterprises toward multifunctional sustainability. The contributions to the governance of farming and natural resource management explore how business as usual challenged and transformed by means of institutional change; cogeneration of knowledge and multi-actor learning; and new forms of governance. Studies of water resources management in agrarian landscapes in Denmark and other European countries, an on-line platform for co-learning among Australian agricultural researchers, and of Maö ri dairy enterprises in New Zealand braid together these issues to demonstrate the barriers to and opportunities for transformative change. These papers are fronted by an opinion piece on institutions in agriculture and rounded off by an opinion piece on selected sociotechnical and institutional innovations that might offer pathways toward more sustainable agricultures and natural resource management.
There is wide agreement on the need for systems thinking to address complexity in chronic disease... more There is wide agreement on the need for systems thinking to address complexity in chronic disease prevention but there is insufficient understanding of how such approaches are operationalised in prevention research. Ison and Straw propose that to address complexity, the right balance must be struck between ‘systemic’ and ‘systematic’ paradigms. We examined the nature and characteristics of this relationship in a series of six qualitative case studies of prevention research. Data comprised 29 semi-structured interviews with 16 participants, and online documents. The analysis combined inductive methods from grounded theory with a theoretically informed framework analysis. Systemic and systematic ways of working varied across each case as a whole, and within the dimensions of each case. Further, the interplay of systemic and systematic approaches was described along a dynamic continuum of variable proportions, with greater emphasis on systemic aspects balanced by less focus on the syst...
Despite decades of effort, biodiversity has not attracted effective political discourse, policies... more Despite decades of effort, biodiversity has not attracted effective political discourse, policies, or action to halt its decline. In cities in particular, biodiversity conservation is challenged by short‐term approaches, separately focusing on biodiversity or community well‐being rather than on their interconnection, and pervasive beliefs that urban citizenry lack the requisite ethic or skills for conservation action or biodiversity governance. We describe how a systemic co‐inquiry in Victoria Australia, conducted by citizen and agency practitioners alongside policy developers and academic researchers, modified understandings, practices, and institutional arrangements (governance) for urban biodiversity conservation. The most impactful outcomes of the early co‐inquiry period were (1) start‐up funding for a network to forge collaborations between community and local government actors that engage urban residents in supporting indigenous biodiversity in their gardens, and (2) empowered...
Five clusters of concern arising from IFSR‐facilitated conversations with its organisational memb... more Five clusters of concern arising from IFSR‐facilitated conversations with its organisational members are used to invite the broader systems community to rethink agency. It is argued that by addressing the cluster elements, potential will be co‐created for the systems community as a whole to help citizens venture beyond failing responses to the global problematique and the Anthropocene‐creating thinking in which we humans are trapped. The five clusters are as follows: Exploring the in‐between: Growing a shared understanding is going beyond a competition of ideas or a clash of concepts. It is a joint exploration of the unknown in‐between. Including the excluded: Systems research happens in open research ecosystems, not in disciplinary silos. It is transdisciplinary and constitutes a global discourse. Living questions: Questions shape paradigms. Transcending paradigms starts from allowing the questions to have their own life, to grow and to dissolve, to improve and to transform. Going ...
Systems thinking in practice (STiP) education is poorly institutionalised across the Higher Educa... more Systems thinking in practice (STiP) education is poorly institutionalised across the Higher Education (HE) sector though needs to contextualise issues and studies and recognise interconnections are much in evidence across many different sectors. This paper reports on the design and implementation of a course-based initiative for PhD students keen to incorporate systems approaches (systems theories and methodologies) into their research practice. This initiative is of particular relevance to societies like ISSS from the systems and/or cybernetics fields (here after cyber-systemics). The model that has been developed can be used as a ‘wrap-around’ to any conference offering where enhancement of STiP capabilities may be desired or warranted. The key elements of the learning system design are (i) a sponsoring host University able to offer credits for training; (ii) a process design based on systemic inquiry; (iii) pre and post-conference time dedicated to the participants framing of the...
Our research explores the context of water management in Scotland as it existed in late 2003. We ... more Our research explores the context of water management in Scotland as it existed in late 2003. We took as a key question: Is the Scottish policy context conducive to the emergence of "social learning" as a purposeful policy option in the future management of water, and in the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive in particular? Data generated by several means, including semistructured interviews with key stakeholders, tested the explanatory potential of a SLIM (Social Learning for the Integrated Management and sustainable use of water) heuristic concerned with how changes in understanding and practices can transform situations to produce social learning. Our research demonstrates how the historical context, including initial starting conditions; conducive institutions, especially political devolution, and policies; facilitation; building stakeholding; and the use of learning processes together can create the possibilities for social learning. The processes that went on through the development of the Scottish Water Bill exemplify how social learning as concerted action emerged, but it did not do so from any overall purposeful design. A major challenge is to create purposefully the conditions for social learning as a deliberate policy or governance mechanism.
It is argued that a failure to consider ecological sustainability within a systemic framework con... more It is argued that a failure to consider ecological sustainability within a systemic framework constrains the design of learning systems which are needed for taking effective purposeful action for 'managing' sustainable development. The arguments put forward are grounded in the author's experience of developing supported open learning curricula delivered in a distance teaching mode in the area of systems practice for managing complexity as well as the supervision of postgraduate student research. Se argumenta que la falta de consideración de la sostenibilidad ecológica, dentro de un marco sistémico, trae consigo una limitación en el diseño de los sistemas de enseñanza necesarios para emprender acciones con sentido en el ámbito de la 'administración' de un desarrollo sostenible. Los argumentos aducidos se basan en la experiencia del autor en el desarrollo de sistemas abiertos de enseñanza en la modalidad a distancia, en el área de prácticas de sistemas para administrar la complejidad, al igual que en la supervisión de las investigaciones realizadas por estudiantes de posgrado.
Business as usual is impeding implementation of systemic change in the governance of the natural ... more Business as usual is impeding implementation of systemic change in the governance of the natural resources on which all forms of farming depend and the transformation of agricultural techniques, practices, and enterprises toward multifunctional sustainability. The contributions to the governance of farming and natural resource management explore how business as usual challenged and transformed by means of institutional change; cogeneration of knowledge and multi-actor learning; and new forms of governance. Studies of water resources management in agrarian landscapes in Denmark and other European countries, an on-line platform for co-learning among Australian agricultural researchers, and of Maö ri dairy enterprises in New Zealand braid together these issues to demonstrate the barriers to and opportunities for transformative change. These papers are fronted by an opinion piece on institutions in agriculture and rounded off by an opinion piece on selected sociotechnical and institutional innovations that might offer pathways toward more sustainable agricultures and natural resource management.
There is wide agreement on the need for systems thinking to address complexity in chronic disease... more There is wide agreement on the need for systems thinking to address complexity in chronic disease prevention but there is insufficient understanding of how such approaches are operationalised in prevention research. Ison and Straw propose that to address complexity, the right balance must be struck between ‘systemic’ and ‘systematic’ paradigms. We examined the nature and characteristics of this relationship in a series of six qualitative case studies of prevention research. Data comprised 29 semi-structured interviews with 16 participants, and online documents. The analysis combined inductive methods from grounded theory with a theoretically informed framework analysis. Systemic and systematic ways of working varied across each case as a whole, and within the dimensions of each case. Further, the interplay of systemic and systematic approaches was described along a dynamic continuum of variable proportions, with greater emphasis on systemic aspects balanced by less focus on the syst...
Despite decades of effort, biodiversity has not attracted effective political discourse, policies... more Despite decades of effort, biodiversity has not attracted effective political discourse, policies, or action to halt its decline. In cities in particular, biodiversity conservation is challenged by short‐term approaches, separately focusing on biodiversity or community well‐being rather than on their interconnection, and pervasive beliefs that urban citizenry lack the requisite ethic or skills for conservation action or biodiversity governance. We describe how a systemic co‐inquiry in Victoria Australia, conducted by citizen and agency practitioners alongside policy developers and academic researchers, modified understandings, practices, and institutional arrangements (governance) for urban biodiversity conservation. The most impactful outcomes of the early co‐inquiry period were (1) start‐up funding for a network to forge collaborations between community and local government actors that engage urban residents in supporting indigenous biodiversity in their gardens, and (2) empowered...
Five clusters of concern arising from IFSR‐facilitated conversations with its organisational memb... more Five clusters of concern arising from IFSR‐facilitated conversations with its organisational members are used to invite the broader systems community to rethink agency. It is argued that by addressing the cluster elements, potential will be co‐created for the systems community as a whole to help citizens venture beyond failing responses to the global problematique and the Anthropocene‐creating thinking in which we humans are trapped. The five clusters are as follows: Exploring the in‐between: Growing a shared understanding is going beyond a competition of ideas or a clash of concepts. It is a joint exploration of the unknown in‐between. Including the excluded: Systems research happens in open research ecosystems, not in disciplinary silos. It is transdisciplinary and constitutes a global discourse. Living questions: Questions shape paradigms. Transcending paradigms starts from allowing the questions to have their own life, to grow and to dissolve, to improve and to transform. Going ...
Systems thinking in practice (STiP) education is poorly institutionalised across the Higher Educa... more Systems thinking in practice (STiP) education is poorly institutionalised across the Higher Education (HE) sector though needs to contextualise issues and studies and recognise interconnections are much in evidence across many different sectors. This paper reports on the design and implementation of a course-based initiative for PhD students keen to incorporate systems approaches (systems theories and methodologies) into their research practice. This initiative is of particular relevance to societies like ISSS from the systems and/or cybernetics fields (here after cyber-systemics). The model that has been developed can be used as a ‘wrap-around’ to any conference offering where enhancement of STiP capabilities may be desired or warranted. The key elements of the learning system design are (i) a sponsoring host University able to offer credits for training; (ii) a process design based on systemic inquiry; (iii) pre and post-conference time dedicated to the participants framing of the...
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Papers by Ray Ison