ISSS 2016 Realizing Sustainable Futures
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A characteristic of Eastern philosophy is that it relates material and contextual causes for phenomena and existence respectively. These two domains are seen as complementary aspects of each other and an implicit whole’ that is more than either. The implicit larger framework, which is obviously inclusive of both the atomistic and (I will say) (more…)
Read moreLast Fall Semester I led a small Graduate Seminar on Socio-Ecological Sustainability Leadership (SESL), as a pilot class for a possible Graduate Certificate Program with Partners in India. We explored the four quadrant framework adopted at IFSR last Spring, which turns out to be very much like a Participatory Action Research cycle and (more…)
Read moreThe 2014 IFSR “Conversation” proceedings are now published. I’ve added the report to the Download page and you can also view it here. In particular we should consider the Team 6 “System Research” section as that ended up containing many ideas Judith and I would like to follow up in ISSS (more…)
Read moreNote: The next to last chapter in this book discusses holism. The Japanese are stepping out in this regard with a series of books on sustainability science as a more holistic approach than has yet been out there. We do want to capture this leading edge, but I think we should (more…)
Read moreHolism (from Greek ὅλος holos “all, whole, entire”) is the idea that natural systems (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not as collections of parts. This often includes the view that systems function as wholes and that their functioning cannot be fully understood solely in terms of their component (more…)
Read more[Pitman, V. (2006) The Nature of the Whole: Holism in Ancient Greek and Indian Medicine(Indian Medical Tradition), Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi.]: It is frequently assumed that the holistic approach is inherent only in non-western medical systems. In this book Vicki Pitman traces holism in the Hippocratic foundations of western medicine. Holism is a concept (more…)
Read moreMy professional experience was working for NOAA, first in the National Ocean Service, then the National Environmental Satelite, Data and Information Service (at a data center). The first experience was very positive and I came into contact with very forward looking and productive groups, the initial stages of forming FEMA and NOAA (more…)
Read moreI thought this might help clarify…… Ecological Economics Volume 70, Issue 6, 15 April 2011, Pages 1121–1128 The relationship between resilience and sustainability of ecological-economic systems Sandra Derissena, Martin F. Quaasa, Stefan Baumgärtnerb Abstract Resilience as a descriptive concept gives insightinto the dynamic properties of an ecological-economic system. Sustainability as a normative concept captures basic ideas of intergenerational justice (more…)
Read moreHere are the posts from the prior discussion, with most recent at the top. I have added a few Editor’s notes (me) in {bold brackets} where I had second thoughts… We can pick up the discussion on the planning@isss2016.nexial.org list-server, but I will now try to pull out specific questions and points from (more…)
Read moreThe primary focus and objective of the conference is somewhat pre-conditioned by the choice of President and VPs (i.e. our experience and vision), advice from the Organizing Committee, Council, and eventually the members. It is also conditioned by the decision (if we make that decision) to hold the conference at the (more…)
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