#ISSS2016 Boulder

2880 In a plenary session before lunch, five experts in different aspects of Systems Science (philosophy, engineering, science, theoretical exploration, methodology) reported on their current work and presented their views on the prospects of a new synthesis that could establish Systemology as a mainstream academic presence. In this break-out session they will answer audience questions about their work and their views, and discuss opportunities and challenges for the maturation and establishment of Systemology is a discipline. All conference attendees are invited to join in this wide-ranging discussion about the prospects and future of Systems Science.

2776 Since 80s and 90s industrial engineering research has been looking for new ways to handle and manage natural resources on the planet. Water sources contamination, waste generation, industrial treatments of these wastes and greenhouse gases produce consequences on communities’ quality of life, startling authorities and societies in general. As a result, there is an interest in the agenda of policy-makers and academics to generate innovative process and products around better ways to put closer production models and socio-ecological systems. Several initiatives has been proposed to accomplish this in the last years (e.g. cleaner production and pollution reduction) but only one seeks a holistic way to approach to problematic situations, Industrial Ecology (IE). IE has a relevant importance for systems sciences because this discipline understand natural and industrial process in a systemic way. IE try to perceive companies not only like productive isolated entities, but living components that change across time, take decisions and works on an ecological system. Also, IE see processes as complex systems where humans, material flows and technology are taking into account, evolving from unsustainable production forms to resilient and innovative structures. As such, small and middle enterprises (SME’s) are a research challenge to industrial engineering and IE. The differences between big industries and small production lie on usage of appropriate technologies for environmental management, intensive use of manpower and low control by policy-makers. Moreover, SME’s play a key role as part of the economy and source of innovation. This paper contribution is to understand the relationship between innovation process on strategies of environmental care and rules or routines at the organizational level on SME’s. The results of the interaction on each one of the firms on an economic environment or social system is to exchange goods and services using several incentives and rules. These rules are created, adopted, retained and abandoned by SME’s according to environmental, social and legal conditions, but also by selective pressures that modifies the system. Creating synergies for companies and their rules would lead to a stable and resilient behavior on a global scale. Therefore, using systemic thinking into an evolutionary way, where every heterogeneous and autonomous firm take environmental and economic decisions, self-organization processes will arise. As a result, innovative processes’ creation could be replicated and adapted by other SME’s. In this paper I will show a theoretical proposal for innovation on industrial ecology based on the evolutionary ontology proposed by Kurt Dopfer. I will also present the mechanisms of variation and selection at micro, meso and macro level and their relation with ecologically responsible and systemic viable decision-making process. Finally, the author will present several recommendations that will help to apply these strategies on the industry, from eco-industrial parks for SME’s to evolutionary models with agent-based simulations.

2799 This paper focuses on describing the process of enactment of a ‘platform’, namely, The Thinking Space (TS), as a device for Critical Systems Practice CSP. This is part of a research project that generated a series of findings contributing to the study of the process whereby different systems methodologies, methods, tools and techniques are used in combination. This process is known as Critical Systems Practice (CSP). The study yielded ‘defensible generalisations’ from a series of research themes explored. These defensible generalisations or contributions relate to three research issues relevant to CSP, namely, (a) pluralism, (b) improvement, and (c) the role of the agent. The learning derived from these research themes led the researcher to formulate the ‘transferable problem solving capability’ of the study: the enactment of ‘platforms’ as devices for operationalising CSP. Platforms are defined as ‘organisational and intellectual spaces’ enacted by actors and evolving with the changing nature of actors’ moment-to-moment interactions, by means of engaging in a continuous mutual research endeavour and of engaging in enhancing collective competence, in order to pursue an informed practice (to pursue CSP). The study is the result of reflection and debate, which was reciprocally enriched by theory and practice. It presents the findings of an organisation-based action research project, where the researcher entered into a real-world situation and aimed both at improving it and acquiring knowledge about the experience. He became, for a period of three years, involved in the flux of ‘real-world problems’ within an engineering company that invited him to do research by using systems ideas in practice. This paper thus recapitulates on the contributions that this research endeavour had on the three research themes focusing on the emergence of a particular ‘platform’, the Thinking Space (TS), as a device for operationalising CSP; the fourth ‘emergent’ research theme. Concerning the ‘transferable problem solving capability’ of the study, the TS is one particular device considered to provide evidence for proposing the research theme of ‘platforms’. Keywords: platforms; Critical Systems Practice; transferable problem solving capability, pluralism; improvement; role of the agent This paper focuses on describing the process of enactment of a ‘platform’, namely, The Thinking Space (TS), as a device for Critical Systems Practice CSP. This is part of a research project that generated a series of findings contributing to the study of the process whereby different systems methodologies, methods, tools and techniques are used in combination. This process is known as Critical Systems Practice (CSP). The study yielded ‘defensible generalisations’ from a series of research themes explored. These defensible generalisations or contributions relate to three research issues relevant to CSP, namely, (a) pluralism, (b) improvement, and (c) the role of the agent. The learning derived from these research themes led the researcher to formulate the ‘transferable problem solving capability’ of the study: the enactment of ‘platforms’ as devices for operationalising CSP. Platforms are defined as ‘organisational and intellectual spaces’ enacted by actors and evolving with the changing nature of actors’ moment-to-moment interactions, by means of engaging in a continuous mutual research endeavour and of engaging in enhancing collective competence, in order to pursue an informed practice (to pursue CSP). The study is the result of reflection and debate, which was reciprocally enriched by theory and practice. It presents the findings of an organisation-based action research project, where the researcher entered into a real-world situation and aimed both at improving it and acquiring knowledge about the experience. He became, for a period of three years, involved in the flux of ‘real-world problems’ within an engineering company that invited him to do research by using systems ideas in practice. This paper thus recapitulates on the contributions that this research endeavour had on the three research themes focusing on the emergence of a particular ‘platform’, the Thinking Space (TS), as a device for operationalising CSP; the fourth ‘emergent’ research theme. Concerning the ‘transferable problem solving capability’ of the study, the TS is one particular device considered to provide evidence for proposing the research theme of ‘platforms’. Keywords: platforms; Critical Systems Practice; transferable problem solving capability, pluralism; improvement; role of the agent

2845 Systems are multi-dimensional, complex and have multiple ideals. One of the biggest problems with systems is the uncertainty on where do they begin and where do they end; what is inside and what is outside. This is because what is perceived to be the system is an approximation of the real system. It is possible to learn about the real system incrementally and improve the approximate system or system-in-focus; as the gap between the approximate and the real system is the source of the feedback and the basis for the incremental understanding. One iteration of understanding the real system could be identifying interesting properties, cognizing interesting insights based on these properties and creating models that capture this information. In the world of systems, an iterative approach to incrementally obtain understanding involves successively spanning many dimensions of the system and adopting a holistic attitude with regard to it. Holism spans multiple dimensions and is based on independence. Traditionally, system thinkers adopt an array of modelling approaches (influence diagrams, system dynamics models, viable system models, living systems models and so on) to develop an understanding of the system. In order to create a holistic view of the system, multiple models are collated, with each model defining a set of properties corresponding to the respective concerns. The different models allow system thinkers to look at the system at different levels of detail. They can be used to structure, identify, analyse and synthesize systems wherein each model commutes with the systems and relates to it. Each model is understood, worked upon and then composed keeping in mind the constraints of the system and the conditions in which the system exists. They can be either independent or dependant and dynamic. Each model is a different perspective in representing the system and if semantically motivated explains how the system is understood, analysed and synthesized. In this paper, the architecture of a modelling platform that provides the ability to model different aspects of the system is discussed. The objective of this platform is to support modelling as a capability so that a holistic understanding of the system can be developed. The focus is on those models and modelling approaches that can be supported by information systems in the form of tools. The discussion in this paper also stems around a unified model of the system which is constructed by taking into account the different perspectives obtained by modelling the system using different approaches. The instantiation of the architecture to realize a platform for modelling systems is presented. Keywords – Systems, Models, Multi-Models, Holism, Modelling Platform, Modelling Approaches.

2808 It is necessary to define new strategies for achieving a proper growing and development of the Mexican Petrochemical Industry. As each product can be used as a final product or as raw material the influence of its production is remarkable all over the national production chains. Petrochemicals in Mexico have been classified as basic and secondary ones, by political reasons. These two groups allowed governmental institutions to regulate private activity versus public activity in this sector. At the beginning, the first group was devoted to the first chemical transformation and the secondary one to subsequent transformations. For last 30 years, petrochemical industry has not been developed as the Mexican people wanted. The trends showed that total production has remained at the same level, many installations were left out of service and imports grow very fast. The official explanations to justify the present situation of Mexican Petrochemical industry are diverse : low investments, reduced scale sizes of plants and uncertainty in government rules for new investors and for gas price as a raw material. These are the main reasons which explain the lack of competitiveness in the global market That is why this paper focuses the strategic problem of how to rescue this industry and how to promote a new outline for achieving the desired development. Key words petrochemical chains, strategies , regulation, industry.

2755 The following paper presents the development of a systemic framework for the classification of evaluation models, based on the reflective process that takes place when selecting an evaluation model and the study of processes of marginalization. For such purposes, several classifications proposed by various authors for systemic methodologies are taken into account. We should begin by stressing the importance of the concept of assessment or evaluation as it allows us to make judgments about the performance of organizations, projects, programs, staff and activities at different levels enabling the implementation of activities or actions to reduce the gap between the current state of a system and its desired state. These activities not only seek a gap reduction but are also oriented to process and human group sustainability through the achievement of best practices that will bring benefits in the long term. When selecting an evaluation model, the evaluator is usually based on the best-known features, such as the methods used, the research questions that it follows, and the kind of problems that could be targeted. However, as evaluation is entirely based on judgments, each assessment model necessarily has a set of underlying values that are rarely taken into account and should be aligned not only with the purpose for which the evaluation is done but also with the moral characterization of the problems it tackles. Such judgmental nature, implies that any judgment must be based on a set of guiding principles, standards or ideals that determine the position of the object evaluated with respect to such values. An individual, which in this case is the evaluator, must carry out a reflective process to establish this set of elements. For this reason, this paper describes the development of a systemic framework that seeks to classify the various models of evaluation of projects, policies and programs according to the values underlying each of them considering their deontological and methodological bases. In this paper deontology comprises the ethics and principles underlying the evaluation profession and specifically in the conducted evaluation process, while methodology is seen as the basis that validates a set of procedures and tools. For the development of this framework we took into account the framework for the classification of systemic methodologies proposed by authors such as Banathy and Burrell & Morgan, as well as the theory of “knowledge-constitutive interests” proposed by Jurgen Habermas and the context classification of a problem. The development of such a classification allows the individual that is conducting the evaluation to be able to select an appropriate and accurate methodology in accordance with the purpose for which the assessment will be carried out.

2832 Tourism industry benefited worldwide economy providing services to Chinese Tourists who traveled to foreign in 2014 generating income by 165 billion dollars and accounting for 13% of international tourism. Realizing this market’s acquisition means growth opportunities for destinations; as well as the added difficulty in services nature of being unsteady, improvable and involving many factors. This article reaches the assembling of chinese outbound tourism market sustainability through the premise of a different perspective for conceptualizing, designing and delivering tourism services as part of a whole socio-ecological system; and sets out a reflection on sustainable responses to some emergencies derived from the increasing tourist activity of the chinese outbound market system. As examples of a problematic situation are augmenting infrastructure demand, transport and public services in peak season that exceeding load capacity generates negative results for residents and tourists; repercussions on wildlife by large tourist flows during critical moments of migration, breeding or rearing; impacts on local cultures due to the encounter between contrasting lifestyles. Therefore, the opportunity to expand choices grounded on the convenience of systemic approach for sustainable tourism study and decision-making. The outcome is the Chinese Outbound Market System diagnosis and teleology, the determination of recursive levels, interrelations and conflicts; as well as the systemic integration between it’s elements using Viable System Model to configure a holistic construct composed of relevant subsystems oriented to viability and sustainability. It is concluded that tourism planning that omits sustainable character, reduces social benefits severely with consequences not only ecologically harmful, but also economically self-destructive. In that way it could be possible to confront currently systemic socio-ecological issues. Keywords: Sustainability System, Emergence, VSM, Chinese Outbound Tourism Market

2834 The context in which Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of lodging carry out their operations is turbulent. This Human Activity Systems (HAS) develop certain practices that threaten aspects such as internal equilibrium, resilience, their relation with natural environment and hence its permanence in the sector. The purpose of this paper is to present the basis for an autopoietic management system of human resources within mexican tourist SMEs in order to generate self-organization and adaptation considering social and natural dimensions. The methodological approach is carried out using the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) looking to reduce problematic situations generated for whom manage the systems as well as those related to the human resource management. With respect to the findings, a conceptual model was designed consisting of subsystems that consider heterogenity in tourist SMEs and human resource management problems, in that sense is intended to regulate its complexity and maintain an equilibrium with the environment. It is considered that actors with managerial functions may benefit from a holistic approach that looks for the transcendence of the whole system in its current context. Keywords: Soft Systems Methodology, Tourism, SMEs, Human Resources Management.

2796 Throughout the years, there has been a concern about how the school systems in the United States can be improved. As population growth continues and existing issues remain due to a insufficient funding, it becomes more complex to address the specific areas where training is needed, students with special needs are forgotten, growing classroom sizes, parent involvement student health and more. The current issue we can see now is the lack of resources schools have to spend on research and development. By utilizing technology to conduct the research and collect data, it may be possible to optimize resources of faculty and improve student learning. Similar to any change in organizations, there will be resistance among not only the faculty, but also the parents and students whose cooperation and belief in the technology is needed. The presentation will build upon the ideas that success in implementing technology into classrooms relies heavily on collaborative teamwork from educators and education leaders, an established digital platform as a tool to keep all team members in constant communication and in sync, and well as trust in the relationships between the technology, the user, and the leaders advocating for this transition into the 21st century. Leaders who are successful should likely have less feelings of frustration, doubt, or impatience with the process. On the contrary, leaders THE PHENOMENON OF TECHNOLOGY IN K-12 CLASSROOMS 3 who have achieve levels of technology integration in their schools should feel hopeful, eager, enthusiastic, and inquisitive with their responsibilities. The analysis will be strictly K-12 focused considering that Higher Education operates significantly different than K-12 (Ensminger, 2005). The demonstration will attempt to provide insight not only on the success of what leaders have experienced through integrating technology in K-12 schools, but also some of the challenges they had encountered when working with students and parents to accept and believe in the technology they want to use. This investigation will help shed light on some of the likely obstacles and the solutions decided by these leaders in order to prepare future education leaders for the transition as more and more school board members and leaders begin to embrace technology as a positive and efficient change for their organizations

2837 In Mexican context, the tourism sector has prioritized the income generation, without consider social and ecological dimensions and the impact on ecosystems and social inequality. Characterizing tourist Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), some aspects are identified such as heterogeneity, absence of international standards as well as the inability to cope the disruption of the environment. This paper proposes to implement the systemic complementarity concept as an alternative to bring closer the tourist MSMEs to the exelixis considering the socio-ecological system, in which it operates. The methodological approach is carried out through the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), given that this methodology allows considering the subjectivity and complexity in problematic situations integrating relevant actors. Regarding the findings a conceptual model is proposed based on a associative transformation among MSMEs emphasizing the use of variety, considering its integration. Also, this model seeks to provide emergent properties to the whole system that determine internal functioning and amplify capacities to transcend in its current context. This proposal will benefit the tourist MSMEs potentializing, through their diversity, the local dynamic and the identity of the destination in consonance with the socio- ecological system. Keywords: Tourism MSMEs, complementarity, soft system methodology, emergence, socio-ecological systems.

2844 In this services economy, products are increasingly taken for granted and services often serve as the differentiator for businesses. Invariably, product focused businesses package services around their products and service focused businesses package products around their services. As a result, in any business offering, there is a product component as well as a significant service component. In such a scenario, the architecture of product-service systems gains significant importance. This is further prompted by the change in employment patterns, job opportunities, contribution to GDP, ownership of intellectual property and reduction in sales. Such product-service systems have benefitted immensely due to the massive pace of digitization wherein businesses are adopting digital to connect to their customers in order to bring in a difference in their offerings. As a result, the convergence of digital technologies has become the platform for businesses wherein new product-service systems are created by fusing digital and physical worlds. In this setting, it has been found that the presence of many digital technologies contributes to innovation, competitiveness and growth of a business. Gartner is of the view that the nexus of forces (Cloud, Mobile, Social, and Information) are the driving factors for businesses. TCS is of the view that the digital five forces (Cloud, Big Data, Social, Mobility, and Robotics & Artificial intelligence) are the driving factors for business. HBR is of the view that smart, connected, miniaturized devices (Internet of Things) alter the structure, competition and value offered by a business. In essence, “digital” has established itself to be a force to be reckoned with by businesses and they increasingly strive for achieving domination on “Digital product-service systems”. While there exists numerous architecture frameworks, processes and reference models for architecture of enterprises, systems, products, software and services, it is often the case that most of these artefacts are not suited for “Digital product-service systems”. This paper presents a value based approach for architecting “Digital product-service systems”. As part of this approach, six different interdependent perspectives are considered as useful for architecting the system-of-interest. These perspectives are: • Context Perspective: The context perspective aids in understanding the situation and identifying the operative context based on the cause and effect relationships that exist in the situation. This perspective aids in the problem situation formulation and its appropriate expression. • Value Perspective: This perspective aids in developing a set of value propositions that would lead to customer delight, customer satisfaction and enhanced customer experience. This perspective aids in the formulation of value proposition of the Digital product-service system. • Quality Perspective: This perspective aids in understanding the ways/means by which the benefits can be delivered. This perspective aids in the development of the concept of operations, which describes the characteristics of the offering from the viewpoint of an individual who will consume it. • Purpose Perspective: This perspective aids in defining the statement of purpose of the offering. This perspective aids in the identification of the purpose and development of the function model. • Structure Perspective: This perspective aids in defining how the different components and their interfaces are organized and composed in order to provide the necessary resources for achieving the purpose. • Process Perspective: This perspective aids in defining how the different components are utilized to enable the purpose. The process perspective ensures that the supporting capabilities are available when and where necessary. In this paper, the use of these perspectives to architect “Digital product-service systems” and its application in businesses is illustrated with a case study. Keywords – Products, Services, Digital Technologies, Product-Service Systems, Digital Product-Service Systems, Context, Value, Quality, Purpose, Structure, Process

2838 Accessible tourism has its origin in the 90´s, at the beginning it was proposed as part of the Social Tourism or Tourism for All programs that had their basis in the human rights. Later, with the changes in the paradigms about people with disabilities accessible tourism has not only become a matter of human rights but also an opportunity to develop business that satisfy a growing population of people with disabilities and older people that acquires one or more types of disabilities. Demographic factors such as the increasing in life expectancy, better health care and retirement of people increase the needs of designing and building products and services that satisfy this demand. The Soft System Methodology, developed by Peter Checkland consider social factors and complex relations in tourism, its 7 phases allow the researcher to compare and simulate different scenarios that brings to the most viable practice, it brings an approximation to a model of accessible tourism, gathering elements such as research, infrastructure needs, human resources and labour market, communications, signalling, and other things that should be considered in a competitive destination. The Triple Helix, as a theoretical and practical model allow the three main sectors, Academy, Government and Industry to join efforts to strengthen the tourism industry. The Triple Helix from Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff show that innovation can have its origins in the academy, considering that knowledge is the most valuable element nowadays in the innovation policies around the word. The Triple Helix propose that academy should work with the research and design of products and services, the government, as the policy maker should provide elements that enable academy and the industry to work together in the incorporation of research, development of products and services and funding projects. This model, designed from the Soft System Methodology considering the Triple Helix as the basis of the tourism offer propose a better way of building policies, products and services for people with disabilities and senior adults, making more competitive the destinations and it can be considered not only for this population, research has shown that accessible destinations are conceived as better places for all people because its conditions allow tourists to walk along, drive, take a bus in an easier way.

2793 How do organizations become order-created and extinct through emergence and immergence in their evolutionary dynamic states? How macrosimplicity emerges from microcomplexity and how sophisticated behavior emerges from the interaction of relatively simplistic parts？ Organization scholars have debated those questions for decades, but only recently have they been to gain insight into combining the linear and non-linear dynamics that lead to organizational bottom-up emergence and top- down immergence by explorative and exploitative learning, through the use of the complexity science. Two intriguing features of complex systems have been discussed in this paper: simple behavior at the high level emerging from convoluted underpinnings, and sophisticated behavior at the low level immerging from simple underpinnings. Complexity theory has sometimes concerned itself with the one sort of bottom-up emergence, sometimes with the other top- down immergence, and sometimes it seems to aim for both at the same time, seeking to explain behaviors that are both surprisingly stable and surprisingly sophisticated. Studied for organization science research, this paper summarizes these literatures, including the first comprehensive review of macro-simplicity and micro-complexity, cybernetic modernism, chaotic postmodernism and organizing postmodernity’s chaos in each of the 20 complexity science disciplines. In doing so, the paper makes a bold proposal for a discipline of organizational bottom-up emergence and top- down immergence by explorative and exploitative learning, and proposes an integrative model of four-phase adaptive evolution in organizations. The paper begins with a detailed premise of organizational theories, models and phenomena of order-creation and extinction, and then rigorously maps the processes of order-creation and extinction discovered by that complexity science to identify a four-phase adaptive evolution model in organizations. By way of conclusion, the author expects the four-phase adaptive evolution model could be applied to enact bottom-up emergence and top- down immergence by explorative and exploitative learning within and across organizations. Key words: bottom-up emergence, top- down immergence, exploration, exploitation, four-phase adaptive evolution

2728 According to US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Planning Report 02-3, across the entire system development life cycle (SDLC), 70% of the defects are introduced in the Requirements Gathering and Analysis/Architectural Design stage. Enterprise Level Concept of Operations (CONOPs) may exist but are not linked to system models. The missing link between CONOPs and system models causes the requirements either inadequately or incorrectly defined. As systems become more complex and concepts continue evolving, there is a need for approaches that combine CONOPs with system models to build an integrated modelling environment. This paper proposes a CONSYS approach that extends system models to CONOPs in the context of Model-Base System Engineering (MBSE). This paper evaluates the benefits of this CONSYS approach. The goal is to build a link between CONOPs and system models so that CONOPs are baselined and change controlled as the way system models are. SysML has been widely adopted as the language to capture system models. A case study example is presented to demonstrate the CONSYS approach using a SysML tool and to show the benefits of this approach. The areas for further research is also discussed in this paper.

2836 One way educators can work toward meaningful change in socio-ecological systems is to foster transformative change in students’ thinking. Since today’s students are tomorrow’s decision-makers, it can be argued that we have a responsibility to help students develop an understanding of how knowledge is constructed so that they might take responsibility for how they make sense of our world and see the connection between knowing and acting. Specifically, the reform in thinking needed is from our culturally conditioned habits of reductionism, duality, and linear thinking to more relational, systemic thinking. Educators are largely responsible for shaping the minds, values, and perceptions of students. We hope to inspire more educators to take their responsibility to heart and foster the kind of complex thinking that students will need to address the increasingly complex problems of our pluralistic world. In this presentation we will share our experiences, as teacher and student, in Creative Systemic Studies, an online doctoral program founded on the principles of cybernetics and systems thinking. Since epistemological change is transdisciplinary, it does not matter what discipline we teach in when we attempt to change minds. The Creative Systemic Studies program was designated a non-clinical Marriage and Family Therapy degree, yet students’ transformative learning experiences were not discipline-specific; they were triggered, in part, by learning cybernetics. In fact, students frequently testified that cybernetics changed their personal relationships and how they attended to the issues they were involved in, including homelessness, coaching youth, missionary work, grassroots organizing for social change, and therapeutic practices. Using a few concepts from cybernetics as examples - control, feedback, and distinctions - we will show how the principles of cybernetics can be creatively presented and integrated into any course of study. And we will show how these concepts influenced the way students think and know. We will also use these examples to highlight the fundamental principle of second order cybernetics which is that the observer is inextricable from - and responsible for - her observing. After introducing students to the subjective nature of interpretation and engaging this topic from multiple perspectives, students begin to see how their biases, values, and past experiences influence how they make meaning. Our knowing is necessarily self-referential and participatory. Cybernetics, General Systems Theory, chaos and complexity theories each have differences and a range of interpretations yet they are unified in that they all indicate a way of thinking that is intrinsically different from the reductionist/objectivist/deterministic orientation of modernist, rational thought. We use cybernetics as our exemplar for teaching students to think differently because we like it so much, but any of these theories would represent, and foster, epistemological change. We assert that changing minds has profound consequences because habits of mind become habits of action. Furthermore, every way of knowing contains an ethical trajectory. The ethical trajectory of cybernetics includes knowing that since we construct meanings, we are responsible for them - and we must respect this responsibility in others. Inspiring and developing in students a paradigmatic change from objectivity to a self-referential, participatory epistemology fundamentally concerned with responsibility is a nontrivial way that educators can foster meaningful change in socio-ecological systems. Additionally, it makes teaching even more exciting and satisfying.

2760 The social and environmental development potential of countries like Colombia, shows the need to articulate right from the communities, the processes and projects relevant to their territories. Furthermore when vital aspects of human health, such as access to clean water and water consumption, are also opportunities for the development of innovative technological solutions, stemming from the relationship between society and natural systems. In Colombia, for example, 62% of the municipalities have a medium to high risk of water availability vulnerability, and the remaining ones are on areas hard to reach or with a low population density. This amount increases to 80% if only the main cities are taken into account, which points to the importance of an efficient water resources management. In this context, a group of researchers together with a community of about 1,500 children and 15 teachers from schools of several municipalities of Cundinamarca department (Colombia), have been developing a technological platform founded on the community-based action research proposal of Ernest Stringer. This interactive technological platform, based on the use of SMS and the web, is called the “La Liga del Agua”. It is a jointly constructed space where synergies between the different stakeholders around the proper use of water resources can arise, based on the self-recognition of waste water problems on each of the participants’ homes. Thus, the problem is approached from the daily practices and the technological inefficiency, generating an empowerment of the water importance. The main theoretical foundation of this technological co-construction is based on the spirit of participatory and democratic systemic intervention, from the soft systems methodology of Peter Checkland, as well as the socio-cultural vision of the community that, voluntarily, intend to solve a problem collectively, as suggested by Rusell Ackoff. In this participatory co-construction, the following aspects were considered: i) the supply and environmental care systems are mediated by the interaction between the community stakeholders, ii) to develop solutions, it is not enough with the construction of appropriate technologies, research processes aimed at social appropriation of innovation are essential, and finally iii) the knowledge management, the use of technology and the impact of the teachers in the development of socio-environmental skills of the participating students. In this article, we will show the jointly design process of the “La Liga del Agua” platform and the incidence on the increase of the good practices of water resources usage. In addition, the results of the teaching strategies and recreational activities that seek to increase the empowerment by the actors and their interaction with the technology, will be presented. To conclude, all the learnings of the proposal will be introduced, so it can be replicated on other contexts with environmental concerns.

2807 This paper argues the need to develop a comprehensive, coherent, system-oriented description of the universe, and that doing so over time is quite feasible with the right approach. Charles Francois has stated: "We are indeed still - and mostly unconsciously - subservients to the general Cartesian reductionist model, which, after destroying the relationships network for the sake of 'simplicity', does never reconstruct it as an organized whole." This implies that the most important mission of the systems movement is to reconstruct the organized whole. We are deterred from this mission because of its apparent difficulty. It has long been recognized that "the whole" must be addressed to understand a system. But what exactly is "the whole"? The whole includes all of a system's parts. It also includes the relationships and processes of interactions among the objects and with the environment. And it requires addressing all in concert. (Let's call this all of the whole.) Furthermore, since a system's environment consists of other systems, these other systems must be considered part of the whole. This line of thinking expands the scope of the whole and when taken to its logical conclusion encompasses the entire universe. Hence the whole must be interpreted to mean not just a single system but the universal system of systems (the whole whole). While instances of the system pattern are interesting individually, the system pattern is most significant as a key element of the architecture of the universe. Finally, the universe is evolving, not static. The deep hierarchies of systems existing today provide clear evidence of continuing system evolution since the Big Bang. Hence the universal process of system evolution (whole history) must also be included in the whole. The whole means all of the interconnections within the broadest scope of space and time. It means the universe viewed as a system of systems, including all of the whole, the whole whole, and system evolution over the whole history. How can a system so large and complex be addressed? The system pattern, being fundamental to the functioning, structure, and evolution of the universe, provides a basis for organizing a universal description. While we can never describe the universe completely, we can develop and persistently improve and extend a description of the web of interacting systems. To do so we must systematically integrate, unify, and generalize the relevant nuggets filtered out of the existing vast sea of information. With modern tools and techniques the complexity of such an effort can be managed. The dominant approach for centuries has ignored systems in order to avoid complexity. The opposite trade-off is now required: we must embrace complexity so as to understand systems. By embracing and learning to effectively manage complexity, it is possible to describe the whole in the broadest sense and so to develop an unprecedented understanding of the universe as a system of systems. This paper aims to show that doing so is now viable.

2842 We are at the turning point of an era with a huge potential of change in which humanity can decide to finally address the failures of our economic, social, governance and belief systems. However the current narrative build around the hopes of being saved by science and technology is getting more and more traction into a society in which digitalization, the illusion of zero marginal costs, sharing economies and big data seems to be the answer to our most pressing problems. This is ironical, since science and technology (S&T) have been not only central to the development model followed by human societies in the last centuries but often very effective instruments of mass destruction, environmental degradation and social exclusion. S&T have been definitely part of the problem, a key component of our model of economic development, and not only an exogenous factor as considered by mainstream economics, which anyway recognize their crucial role to improve productivity and sustain long-term growth. But they are also deemed to be the core of the solution, a paradoxical vision grounded in the idea that finding a technical fix is a good way to avoid the less comfortable question of how power and wealth are distributed in society and with what consequences. In particular the younger generation seems to be distracted by the excitement about technological and scientific new developments and its untapped potential. Addressing the systemic underlying root causes which are the real drivers of our problems is too complex compared to building the new app and the social enterprise that goes with it. While for previous generations changing the world for the better would require also political and social innovations, now it seems that S&T has even displaced every other source of hope. The launching of the latest digital artifact creates a widespread frenziness, but also a true and exciting entrepreneurial spirit is mobilized by the potential of technologies to address human challenges. In a sense, we put S&T at the core of societal evolution, or to say the least we do not conceive any transformation without them playing a significant role, and this is also why we think they should rescue us from all disasters, even those provoked by ourselves. In light of these developments I would like to emphasize the following questions in my contribution to ISSS 2016: How can we go beyond a paradigm of “S&T solutionism” and channel the huge potential these developments will bring? How can we change the route towards a future in which humanity has to adapt to digitalization and its consequences, instead of putting digitalisation at the service of humanity?

2889 Socio- technical systems are systems where humans interact with technology (hardware or software) towards the achievement of a goal. Because of the presence of the human behavior and the constant change and evolution of technology, such systems are constantly changing and are difficult to define. Various approaches exist to analyze and understand socio-technical systems’ behaviors, however many of these approaches analyze socio-technical systems from a certain discipline’s weltanschauung, problem context, and purpose of the system. Therefore, the proposed approaches only provide partial definitions that are difficult to generalize. The objective of this research is to provide a categorization of socio-technical systems based on their context and purpose, within the functionalist systems paradigm(s). The resulting categorization will serve as a foundation for a socio-technical systems framework to assist analysis select and/or design the right socio-technical intervention approach based on context and purpose. Keywords: Socio-Technical systems, Critical Systems Thinking, Problem Context, Methodological Purpose, Systems Thinking

2774 One of the reasons that systems thinking has developed over the years is to address problems that seemed to be unresolvable; the social equivalent of a Gordian knot. Since the term was first used in 1973 by Rittel and Weber (1973) these difficult problems have become known as “Wicked Problems”. A Wicked Problem is usually a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve. Wicked problems become “wicked” not because they are innately evil , but due to the number of stakeholders, resources, lack of knowledge upon the subject, cost involved, the great possibility of unanticipated results and other factors that multiply the complexity of the issue to be addressed.. One of the defining characteristics of a Wicked Problem is that “solutions to wicked problems are not true or false, but good or bad. Ordinary problems have solutions that can be objectively evaluated as right or wrong. Choosing a solution to a wicked problem is largely a matter of judgment” Questions of what is the good and what is the bad are informed by systems of ethics. There are numerous ethical approaches to the ultimate question “what is to be done”? This paper argues that the version of American Pragmatism that has come to be known at Neo‐Pragmatism is a good choice to approach Wicked Problems. Neo‐ Pragmatism is uniquely suited to finding a “good” approach to a Wicked Problem due to the social nature of Wicked Problems. Since a Wicked Problem is fundamentally social it consists of constantly changing and shifting parts. If there is any stability in a Wicked Problem it is the stability of constant change. Neo‐ Pragmatism is founded on the understanding that all elements of human society are fundamentally contingent; that is to say that again the only constant is change. Neo‐ pragmatism is simply the only ethical structure that can readily adapt to the constant flux that is a Wicked Problem.

2762 Like science, systems faces a demarcation problem. How might one specify what counts or doesn’t count as systemic thinking and practice? In this exploratory talk, I will review distinctions that others have drawn, and then describe a framework for understanding dynamics as a basis of distinction. This dynamics-as-demarcation approach has several advantages, including: illuminating various ways that systems thinking and practice have been described, historically and currently, and affording a “sweeping in” from across relevant academic fields of study and practice. A particular advantage of a dynamics-as-demarcation approach is the way in which it can be used to inform understandings of purposeful social change.

2813 Bio-mimetics have often provided a useful means of inspiration for engineering design – for instance in fabrication of materials for aerospace. One more recent area of interest, from the perspective of cyber security has been in the remarkable ability of the immune system to cope with the diversity and evolution of threats such as bacteria and viruses. The focus of this presentation is to further examine the architectural parallels between biological systems and engineered solutions in defence and security. Systems thinking and modelling are the tools utilized in examining the architectures and the capabilities of the biological systems such as anticipatory, adaptability and sustainability. In performing such an examination it is anticipated that insight and potential improvements may be found in both directions – improvements in our approaches to combat complex disease and also possible inspiration in the science, architectures and designs for our sustainable systems.

2895 Socio-technical systems is a systems approach to understanding complex systems when interactions between humans and technology are dominant. Thus, the term socio-technical relates to the relationship between complex human activity systems and the technical infrastructure that governs the nature of the system. Socio-technical systems typically have multiple stakeholders, either in charge of systemic development, governing the system, or being affected (directly or indirectly) by it. Thus, in order to understand a socio-technical system, it is important to understand the different roles the stakeholders have within the system of interest. This research contributes in providing a complementarist and pluralist approach in recognizing the roles of stakeholders within socio-technical systems and categorizing them by introducing a formative taxonomy flexible for any socio-technical system, dependent on its context and purpose. Critical systems thinking and boundary critique are utilized as a foundation for categorizing stakeholders, while the onion model along with soft system methodology are used to delineate the stratified spheres of influence each stakeholder category has on the system. Even though, the obligations vary across the different systems context and purposes, the proposed flexible approach is expected to be beneficial to system thinkers and analysts in realization, recognition and categorization of stakeholders within socio-technical systems.

2900 “We are gods in human bodies” Continuing on the line of the previous two abstracts : “Science and Spirituality” and “Thrive Human Beings” (Fabiana Crespo, ISSS conferences 2014 and 2015), where were considered that the human being is composed by mind, body and spirit. And if the human being is aware of the vital energy that can create, redirect and transform, he not only can heal, nourish and empower himself but also can use this energy for his projects and aims. Deeper in this sense, focused this paper on the wisdom that is hidden for most people: “The Alquimia”, as it is named in sacred books. Quantum Physics, Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Sacred Geometry, Mathematics, Numerology, Biology, Neuroscience and many other disciplines inter and intra related give us the evidence that we are a kind of “Gods in Human Bodies”. That is to say, we are capable to create the same powerful energy to perform whatever we want (miracles as God, for those religious people) within our limited bodies. Most of us -meanwhile we don’t develop our consciousness-, use to think in a local linear way. And Quantum Physics shows that the atoms exists in more than one places. In other words, an atom is spread out all over the place, is only in a particular place if a conscious observer decides to look at it. Quantum Mechanics describes parallel universes, parallel electrons. So, why many of us are using a local linear way to relate ourself instead of a multidimensional one? On the other hand, the rate the world is changing nowadays is exponential because of the new technologies, that have exponential formats: digitalized, in the language of the computers. So, why not “digitalize” human beings multidimensional way of thinking? Imagine the human being as a computer. Our brain is like a radio, receives and emits electromagnetic waves, as bioelectrical pulse frequency hertz. An EEG -electroencephalogram- can show this. We are like WIFI systems, we can perform wireless transmissions all the time. And instead of being local linear thinkers we can begin thinking in a exponential format. We can think as complex multidimensional holographic entities. And digitalize our related thoughts so as to grow in an exponential way, for human beings. Like a conscious point within the whole, the human being etheric energy body can behave as an unlimited spherical consciousness dot. Aware of the whole within it. What do you think would be the impact of this exponentials formats to relate the human being with the Universe?

2860 We live in an age of complexity and complexity gives rise to uncertainty. Recognition of this, over 25 years ago, led to the suggestion of post-normal science which provides a method to support the explicit recognition and management of uncertainty. The suggestion of such a method, though, challenges the pre-eminent status of scientific knowledge and, as such, it is hardly likely to find support from scientists or the policy makers they advise who expect certainty and hard evidence. Hence it is not suprising to find there has not been a massive take-up of post-normal science. Yet, at the same time, another alternative form of science, citizen science, which also challenges the scientific establishment in suggesting that the interests of citizens should drive the research agenda, has grown signficantly. So, why has one achieved traction and the other not? In this paper, we look to address this question by exploring the custom and practice of both post normal science and citizen science.

2839 The purpose of this research is to determine, from the point of view of Systems Science, the weak organizational viability of Small Manufacturing Enterprises (SMEs) in order to advice how to raise its organizational and functional structure to face market complexity , for example attenuating the factors which affect the operation to early close enterprise . To achieve this end it were identified and ranked the most frequent factors that cause early closure of SMEs , these data were analyzed conceptually based on the Model of Viable Systems, defining a total of 30 ( thirty) elements that , empirically, provide the benchmarks for diagnosing and redesigning the organizational and functional operation of an SME in order to viable organization, that is, not only to maintain its existence but to transcend the variety of market. Keywords: Viability, SMEs, Viable System Model, Variety

2927 The public education of quality can mitigate educational differences between rich and poor families, according the report of United Nations about Human Development in 2014. The Human Development Index (HDI) is an index that measures the achievements of a country in three basic dimensions of human development: 1) A long and healthy Life, 2) Access to education and knowledge and 3) Dignified standard of life. The same report states that primary and secondary education worldwide remains at acceptable progress but in higher education levels there are large gaps between developed countries and those it in developing. Derived of policy national and institutional in education of Mexico, quality indicators involve various parameters within which highlighted, approval rating, the reproof rate and the desertion rate; although these rates are not the best way to measure the quality that exists in the process of educational training. It has been observed that ethics and responsibility of all stakeholders in the education system of this level have an influence unfavorably on the values presented by the mentioned parameters. This research attempts to find relation between educational performance and the behavior of the actors involved in the educational system; employing, a systemic methodology that allows us to evaluate the problem and contributing to the resolution of a holistically. Keyboards: Quality indicators, Educational Performance, Ethics, Responsibility.

2841 Schumpeter points out that innovation is a dynamic force that causes the continuous transformation of social, institutional and economic structures which ensures a plausible quality of life of its inhabitants. Innovation is a complex process of interactions between different actors can be understood best as a system where different social and institutional agents interact and promote the innovation and the development of the countries. To try to understand the complexity of this process were studied 41 variables which were related through network analysis and it was found emergent properties that reveal that less than 10 % of the variables are relevant and there are political and social, this result was mainly in developing countries like Mexico which was analyzed from 1980 to 2015. The results also show that these actors found in systemic innovation process have hampered the efficiency of the process. Keywords: Systemic Approach, Innovation, Networks

2812 What is the difference between people outside, or within, organizations that look at a problem with a lot of limits and see unusual and new possibilities, and those who look at a problem with a lot of limits and see no way out? How would an organization intentionally transform its worldview and its problem-solving practices to creatively reconsider its own structures, policies, and assumptions when solutions to key needs and complex problems are limited or prevented by institutional or resource constraints? Education, government, and business leaders agree that creativity and innovation are essential for future organizational success and even survival, yet leaders are often blinded by past policies, organizational goals, or assumptions about resources and systems relationships when faced with complex and changing problems. However, research suggests that there are qualitative differences between individuals, teams, and organizations that become cleverly, resourcefully innovative in the face of complex problems under constraints, and those who do not. The culture and practices that activate shrewd, transdisciplinary, and unconventional problem-solving in the face of resource limits and other constraints are associated with a familiar, but largely unexamined, concept called ingenuity. Most frequently, ingenuity has been used to describe innovative solutions that are surprisingly smart, unconventionally resourceful, and contextually superior, often completely changing an institution or social-technical culture. In this messy intersection where creative, innovative problem-solving is at once demanded and prevented, ingenuity is the human factor necessary to hack the hairball, to pursue the impossible by being willing to seek unconventional connections arising from diverse knowledge, skills, and perspectives; dialogue at the margins; resilience; imagination; creative and resourceful improvisation; and systems thinking. The culture and practices of organizational ingenuity integrate systems thinking into a framework designed to provoke the unconventional approaches to complex problems that produce exponentially better solutions for sustainable business and a sustainable world. As organizations develop broad-based cultures and capacities for ongoing innovation, there is a need to distinguish the concept and value of an innovation culture that integrates systems thinking and the resilient, empathetic, value-driven, collaborative, improvisational, diverse, counter-intuitive, paradoxical capacities of ingenuity. Keywords: systems thinking, innovative, business, resilience, human factor

2827 The Viable System Model is a broadly applicable organizational model originally developed by Stafford Beer in the steel industry and includes a number of homeostats, including the one between the attention to the present and to the future (the three/four homeostat monitored by System Five), the vertical authority/horizontal autonomy homeostat and the homeostat between the system (systems one/two and three). Also important are the many homeostats that connect the system with its present contractual and contextual environments and the ones oriented toward varying aspects of future time. The Viable System Model is recursive: that is that each system is embedded in a number of other more comprehensive subsystems ranging from authority relationships to community and regulatory ones. These are not authority relations in the strict sense as, although a community has standards and norms, and a regulatory body its rules, these apply primarily within strict boundaries or parameters. These homeostats and recursive relationships do not follow a normal ordinal pattern or straightforward time scale. A lower level of recursion may be (e.g. the ‘grass roots’ where the most far reaching potential innovations are explored while the more comprehensive level may be constrained to pursue mainly those ‘possible futures’ that are acceptable to the full range of their members. They may have shorter or longer feedback cycles and they may be working within frameworks that are anywhere from hundreds of years old to yesterday. This can and sometimes does lead to systems pathologies as well as new opportunities for integrated approaches. In this presentation, I will illustrate some of these homeostats and their implications for progress on environmental, social and organizational fronts. Keywords: Viable System Model, homeostasis, recursion, time scale

2878 The study will inform the development of a systems model(s) of the social ecology of traffic safety to test intervention effectiveness in reducing motor-vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths for the State of Texas by accomplishing the following three objectives: (1) analyze the traffic safety goals proposed in the Texas Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Plan for 2016 from a systems perspective; (2) assess the applicability of different systems modeling methods suited to analyze the causal relationships and effectiveness of interventions; and, (3) develop preliminary recommendations for a systems model(s) of traffic integrating the conditions and relationships perpetuating motor-vehicle crashes, injuries, deaths, and their potential interventions. The study will provide the fields of traffic safety, bioinformatics, epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral, human factors, and engineering research with a better understanding of the dynamics driving motor-vehicle crash injuries and deaths to (a) improve crash and injury outcomes and quality of life; (b) decrease spending and/or use of those that are ineffective and increase use of those that are; and, (c) increase understanding of the causes and the outcomes of motor-vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths individually, socially, culturally, and economically. Collectively, this enables previously impracticable prevention efforts and is a novel way for assessing the effectiveness of different interventions aimed at reducing motor-vehicle-related morbidity and mortality. Systems approaches are capable of capturing the dynamic complexity inherent within traffic and social systems in ways traditional approaches cannot. This analysis will involve identifying suitable systems approaches for analyzing relationships between the traffic system and interventions, including traditional countermeasures to reduce crash and injury morbidity and mortality, such as Texas traffic policies and regulations for motor-vehicles (e.g., speed limits, licensing and educational requirements for motor-vehicle drivers, road geometry and material requirements, safety belt requirements; indicators of motor-vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths (e.g., morbidity and mortality data for accidents that involve alcohol, drugs, intersections, large trucks, and pedestrians); and, proposed interventions for increasing the use of such practices (e.g., incentives driving use—or lack thereof—of motorcycle safety gear, monetary discounts for safety training programs). While policy makers, economists, and other constituents have proposed specific goals or targets to decrease motor vehicle injuries, crashes, and deaths, none have been tested using methods that capture the dynamic complexity of real-world social systems to not only understand how and why these problems occur, but also what are the best leverage points for change given the effect and cost of the proposed solutions. Accordingly, the systems model to be developed could be used to conduct virtual experiments to test whether the goals set in the Texas Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Plan for 2016 would be better targeted at one or two specific populations or applied more generally across the state but respective to important social, policy, and environmental factors. If a targeted approach was to be used, the model could help identify which populations or environments exhibit initial conditions favoring adoption of a proposed intervention(s) and hence are the best targets for the intervention. Ultimately, the study seeks to create an optimal portfolio of motor-vehicle safety interventions for use by state and local governments to address the need for truly effective interventions to reduce motor-vehicle crash and injury morbidity and mortality. The model will fulfill a significant need within traffic safety, bioinformatics, epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral, human factors, and engineering research, as it provides a novel way to assess proposed solutions for reducing motor-vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths through a means capable of capturing dynamic interactions, adaptivity, and non-linearity inherent within traffic and social systems, that are less time-consuming, and far less costly than traditional approaches.

2918 Based on the concrete request of the European Commission (EC) for Mobility and Transport to support the cabinet in political decision processes as Special Advisor the author will elaborate in his contribution the need for and potential advantages of a General Systems Transdisciplinarity to solve serious systemic challenges facing one particular socio-ecological and socio-technological system. The EC for Mobility and Transport has announced its political agenda “A roadmap to a single European Transport Area towards a competitive and resource-efficient transport system” in 2011 and set the goals to foster further economic growth and job creation while anticipating resource and environmental constraints, e.g. drastically reduce world greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with the goal of limiting climate change, supporting the development of innovative sustainable transport systems. Growing transport and supporting mobility while reaching the 60 % emission reduction target seems to be contradictory. But the EC strongly assumes that through optimising the performance of multimodal logistic chains, including by making greater use of more energy-efficient modes and through increasing the efficiency of transport and of infrastructure use with information systems and market-based incentives the systemic challenge can be unravelled. As this endeavour addresses multiple layers, multi-stakeholder, and cross-sectoral systems the EC called for a solid systems model to support and guide their political decisions and actions. Large scale technological and social behavioural changes are needed resulting in technological and social innovations. The EC takes on the responsibility of an active enabler of the emergent opportunities in the transport system through legislation and investments. Thus understanding the system and its emergent properties becomes a key success factor. The layers of the European transport eco system have been identified as Transport Infrastructure, Data, Applications, Service and Solutions, and Value Networks. But these layers are embedded in multi- and cross sectoral systems like the current inter-dependent political systems, economic systems, technological systems, environmental systems, social systems and cultural systems. Each of the systems can be addressed, analysed and through interventions possibly designed with different systems approaches, but we are today lacking the integration of these disciplinary grounded methodologies stemming out of and representing different schools of systems science in a sound transdisciplinary general systemology, bridging and enriching the disciplines like e.g. engineering, design, economics, and social sciences. The author assumes that through such real life complex challenges a most needed General Systems Transdisciplinarity can be put forward. The contribution is just one starting point, but a call for interested academic allies to co-create appropriate approaches to inform the development of a General Systems Transdisciplinarity for Discovery, Insight, and Innovation.