#ISSS2016 Boulder

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This introductory workshop will teach you the fundamentals of the Spiral Dynamics integral (SDi) theory as developed by Dr. Don Beck. We can go as deep as the class wishes to go, and I will frame the conversation through the lens of SDi. We will balance learning through various styles (teaching, dialogue, a/v) and you will come away with an appreciation of the beauty as well as complexity of the model.Ben Levi has taught certified Level 1 and 2 courses with Dr. Beck for seven years, and has studied SDi and integral theory for sixteen years. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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2843 This paper is based on a PhD project that strives to assess the performance of decentralised drinking water management in the city of Nauli, Indonesia. The implementation of decentralised government system followed by decentralizing some functions including drinking water services, is unsatisfactory in providing access to drinking water for all residents in the city of Nauli. Nauli Municipality that has just split up as an autonomous local government under the decentralized government system in Indonesia, is facing conflicts in providing water provision to the society, since there are three public water companies in this region: City PDAM, District PDAM, and Provincial BLUD. Furthermore, these governments and their water companies seem to forget the main objective of government in water provision as stated in the Indonesia Constitution: to fully control the water and manage it for meeting the people’s needs. The aim of this research is to apply Ulrich’s critical systems heuristics (CSH) to address the following research questions: (i) how effective is the current decentralized water management system?; and (ii) how the current system can be improved and what ought to be done? Keywords: Systems thinking, drinking water management, decentralisation, sustainability

2887 This article outlines a unified Communication Theory linking cyber-systemic, and cyber-semiotic perspectives. The objective is explaining communication as an emergent system from the interaction process between socio-ecological systems. The emergent communication system seen from a unified perspective is applied as a participative integral transformation process toward the harmonic relationship between human communities and their dynamic social and natural environment. It includes the description of an evolutionary communication process between social and environmental leaders of organizational networks under real conditions. It describes the evolutionary stages of the communication system between different social and environmental leaders who have been working in social organizational networks of Mexico in the last thirty years. The last stage of this emergent communication process among social organizational networks leaders began in 2009, is called: the Ecosystemic Dialogues, it is communication system with qualitative complexity and critical awareness. It is a social laboratory of change under real conditions, through a participative action-research cybernetic process, for a harmonic and sustainable relationship between human and natural systems, through a complex communication dynamic. It is a process toward the sustainable systemic health of the planet. Keywords: Communication, cyber-semiotic, qualitative complexity, emergent properties, ecosystemic metaphor

2777 This paper introduces Positive Systems Science (PSS), which combines the strength-based lens of positive psychology with the holistic lens of system science, with the ultimate goal of bringing about desired systems change that supports the well-being of living systems. Systems science is an interdisciplinary field that studies the nature of systems—from simple to complex. Positive psychology aims to empirically understand and build wellbeing, resilience, and optimal function in individuals, organizations, and communities (Seligman & Csikzsentmihalyi, 2000). Like a pair of spectacles, each lens is valuable in and of itself, but we suggest that the synthesis of the two fields transcends the value of either one alone. Systems theory draws from diverse disciplines, including biology, sociology, ecology, engineering, computer science and philosophy. It enables interdisciplinary dialogue between autonomous areas as well as within the science itself. Although there are numerous approaches within systems science, they share three common aspects: 1)A desire to understand inter-relationships; 2)A commitment to multiple perspectives and 3)An awareness of boundaries (Williams & van’t Hof, 2014). Despite its successes and the potential of the science to address the complexity of real world problems, system science has never captured the attention of a wide audience. There is a vast literature on systems theory and methods that newcomers can feel overwhelmed, with nowhere to start. New users have to master a large number of theories, ideas and techniques and a subscription to a particular view of what system thinking is. Further, there is a lack of research on its practical application. In contrast, positive psychology has successfully engaged researchers, professionals, policy makers, and the general public, with scholarship in the field increasing by 410% of the past decade (Rusk & Waters, 2015). It provides scientific understanding of the human psyche and methods for affecting mindsets, motivations, and individual behaviors. We suggest that positive psychology adds value to systems thinking theory by emphasizing the importance of mindsets and motivations, and methods for shifting individual behaviour. Further, drawing on its strategies for connecting with various audiences, positive psychology can help make systems tools more useable, practical, and engaging. As an example, we demonstrate how a commonly used systems framework, Peter Senge’s ‘system archetypes’ can be adapted and strengthened by interpreting the archetypes from a positive lens. We will show how making tools more user friendly invites researchers from other disciplines, policy makers and practitioners to try on parts of the theory and benefit without having to master a large number of ideas and techniques before they can apply them in their work and life. Notably, the popularity of positive psychology has come at the cost of application going well beyond the science, with interventions and programs blindly implemented while ignoring the complex context in which people reside. Systems science challenges positive psychology to add sophistication to the methods and theories, which better captures real world experiences. Systems tools can take positive psychology to a deeper level that will have more sustainable impact. Thus, systems science and positive psychology both have strengths and weaknesses, and we suggest that the synthesis of the two perspectives will create frameworks, tools, and applications that are greater than either perspective alone. Such an approach does not simply identify and address existing problems, but generates pathways toward yet unimagined futures.

2921 At the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, we are developing a distance learning doctoral program in public health (DrPH) focusing on adaptive leadership. Students complete dissertations, some explicitly using action research models, but all in support of the overarching program goal of developing practice based evidence for guiding systemic change. Core principles and skills embedded in our curriculum include systems thinking and systematic reflection. Dissertation research begins with building a problem statement for a “wicked” problem the student wishes to address, with associated initial action relevant broad research questions (how do we solve this problem?). We have required students to articulate their assumptions about what the problem is or might be and critically consider alternative ways of framing their problem statements, and have drawn from soft systems, systems dynamics, and Bob Williams’ syntheses of these and other systems traditions in doing so. As a next step, we require students to develop a conceptual framework and a visual representation of it that draws both from scholarly literature and from reflection on their practice experience. Identifying alternative ways of stating the problem does itself open up the exploration of more possibilities for solutions. Since, however, the ultimate goal of student scholarship is to contribute to solving a problem, not just stating it, developing the conceptual framework or model often involves describing a current state of affairs, selecting and specifying constructs or dimensions relevant to a description of this current state, as well as envisaging a more desirable future state and a pathway(s) to get to the future state from the current state. So there is a “theory of change,” or assumptions about what gets included in a description of the system, and how to get from point A to point B, that is at least implicit in the student’s model or conceptual framework, which we want to see made explicit. Furthermore, students need to develop, and operationalize (be able to apply to data collection and analysis) specific research questions investigating those pathways for change and/or refining the description of the current state. Thus far, not surprisingly, the results of research often include a re- or amended conceptualization of the model with which the student started, which can become the basis for action recommendations for change. In the more participatory action research options taken by some of the students, the student researcher is an active agent in those pathways for change, for instance acting as a developmental evaluator or facilitating community of practice discussions. In a “theory of change” approach one of the sources we draw from is evaluation methodology: evaluators from the Aspen Institute used the term in the 1990’s to discuss a participatory approach to evaluation that directed evaluators to facilitate discussions among stakeholders about what assumptions about how change happens they were bringing to a given intervention and, ideally, come to some consensus about this before finalizing a logic model for the intervention and relevant indicators. This has been further developed in evaluation circles via increasing critical attention paid to program logic and theory and intervention models. Another, more research-based approach to developing ‘theories of change,’ however, has to do with comparing the received ideas of the students as public health practitioners with what is supported in systems and social science literature. We would like to discuss with ISSS colleagues the implications of taking a “theory of change” approach to the development of conceptual frameworks and associated research questions as applied to the “wicked problems” our students select, and to that end will present some examples from our recent work with students.

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2788 The proposed presentation will present the theoretical findings of my master’s thesis, as well as their practical application to youth engagement programming around the world. The presentation will first outline a traditional rites of passage framework as it relates to community-based engagement of youth. Research from the fields of psychology, anthropology, experiential education, and systems dynamics will be presented to demonstrate the importance of such practices in healthy youth and community development. The challenges that contemporary outdoor youth engagement programs are encountering will be explored, highlighting the specific system obstacles they face in effective implementation. The presentation will progress to present a research backed, theoretical model for the development of community-based outdoor rites of passage programming. The proposed model involves active community mentorship networks, locally based preparation and reintegration of participants by community members, and self-directed adolescent design of rites of passage experiences. Lastly, I will discuss the practical application of this model in various youth engagement initiatives around the world. The audience will be engaged to both share their own outdoor rites of passage experiences, as well as contribute tangible additions to the emerging new model of community-based outdoor youth engagement. Future research on the relationship of such programming to asset building communities will be proposed and discussed at the end of the presentation.