A global community connected through systems theory, science, and practice 

 
 
"To gain knowledge, we must learn to ask the right questions; and to get answers, we must act, not wait for answers to occur to us."
 
ISSS Past President Anatol Rapoport
 
 
 
 
 
 
The ISSS is a community of researchers, learners, and practitioners who are devoted to transdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems and the application of systems approaches for transformative change.
 
Conceived in 1954, the ISSS advances systems science theory and application by connecting and enabling researchers and practitioners, and disseminates the knowledge of systems to a global audience. 
 
As an international society we are exploring ways to translate this website into other languages. You can enter the website address here https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=es&op=websites to start a machine translation process.
 
 
 

Conference 2024

The ISSS 2024 Conference will be held June 9-13 and will be at the Open Gov Hub in Washington D.C. USA
 

ISSS Intro & JOIN NOW

 
 
 
Short video introducing the ISSS and this website. Click bottom right of player to go full screen.
 
 
 

Systems Events

Membership

Login to view this area.

ISSS President

The ISSS President for 2023-2024 is Michele Friend PhD. 
 
Incoming Address given at ISSS 2023 Conference, Friday 23 June 2023.
 
 

Calendar

2024 Conference
Sunday, June 9, 2024
TBD
2024 Conference
Monday, June 10, 2024
TBD
2024 Conference
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
TBD

ISSS News Articles

American Society for Cybernetics 60th Year Meeting.
Posted on Mar 18th, 2024
Registration for the 60th anniversary meeting has opened. From now on you can register for the conference. http://asc-cybernetics.org/2024/registration

 
Submissions
 
Please refer to the ASC 60 brochure for detailed instructions on abstract submissions. The author's guidelines are on pages 14 and onward: 
https://events.asc-cybernetics.org/2024/submissions-and-peer-review/ 
 
You will need to create an account on our submission platform before you submit a proposal. The direct link to the account registration age is: 
https://events.asc-cybernetics.org/2024/submissions-and-peer-review/?task=register
 
Read More >>
The Handbook of Systems Thinking
Posted on Mar 6th, 2024
Free handbook on systems thinking
A new, free resource is now available online: The Handbook of Systems Thinking. This has been co-edited by Derek Cabrera (Cornell University, USA), Laura Cabrera (Cornell University, USA) and Gerald Midgley (Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull). Forty-four chapters present a diversity of systems approaches and methodologies, each illustrated with case studies of real-world application. This is a landmark publication, as most handbooks cost over £100 and are aimed at university libraries. They are mostly unaffordable by individual practitioners, students and academics. By publishing with OpenScience, the editors have been able to make The Handbook of Systems Thinking available free of charge. Also, each of the chapters have been simultaneously published in a special issue of the Journal of Systems Thinking, so there are two ways in which potential readers can find the materials. The Handbook can be accessed here: Publications – The Handbook of Systems Thinking – ScienceOpen. We invite you to download the chapters that interest you.
 
Read More >>

Newsletter Signup

Activities

ISSS members are engaged in a number of activities around the world. Read more  at https://www.isss.org/activities/
 
Many member activities are collaborative in nature and also involve partnerships and collaborations with other organizations:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Systems Science Working Group
Systems Literacy
Systemic Action at the Village Level to encourage and support sustainable development.

Conference 2023

The 2023 Meeting and Conference is now over.
 
 
Visit the Memories of Kruger page for the story of the conference including the booklet of abstracts, photos and videos.
 
Visit the original Conference Webpage for more information.
 
 
The 2023 Conference was at the Skukuza Lodge in Kruger National Park in South Africa in June 19-23 June 2023. 
 

World of Systems

The ISSS is one of the oldest organizations dedicated to the study, development and application of systems science, systems thinking, cybernetics and complexity science. 
 
 
We are assembling lists of organizations, social network pages and groups, and also maps of the evolution of the field of systems and cybernetics. Here are some examples
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Please email me with comments, additions or corrections. Peter D Tuddenham peterdtuddenham at gmail.com

Meeting Proceedings

We Remember

We Remember
 
Dr. Pam Sydelko November 2023
Dr. Sue Gabriele November 7, 2023
Loet Leydesdorff 1948-11 March 2023
Tim Haslett - February 10 2023
John Friend - November 2022
Mick Ashby 1963 - October 2022
Klaus Krippendorf 1932 - October 2022
Ralph Stacey 1942 - 2021
Steven E Wallis July 29, 2021
James Robert Simms, December 5, 1924 - Saturday, May 22, 2021
Humberto Maturana 1929 - May 2021
Mary Catherine Bateson 1939 - 2 January 2021
Charles Bocage died 21 August 2020
Peter Caws  May 25, 1931 - April 20, 2020 (ISSS President 1966) 
Joe Simpson - June 2020
Jack Ring  - April 2020
Enrique Herrscher 2019
Charles Francois 2019
 

Systems Science & Applications Spotlight

Members of ISSS are researching and applying Systems Science in a variety of situations and circumstances. we are creating a temporary Editorial Board to decide what new research and application by ISSS Members to feature here. For more information please email webadmin@isss.org

AAAS Affiliate

AAAS Logo
 
In 1954 the founders of the current ISSS met at meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). They decided to start the Society for General Systems Theory later renamed Society for General Systems Research and now called the International Society for the Systems Sciences. One of the early group of founders and first presidents of our society in 1957,  Kenneth Ewart Boulding  was President of AAAS in 1980