Proceedings of the Thirteenth Fuschl Conversation
SEA-Publications: SEA-SR-13
Institute for Systems Engineering and Automation
Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
ISBN 3-902457-13-9
Welcome to the Fuschl Conversation 2006
Matjaz Mulej (Slovenia)
As the newly elected president of the IFSR I would like to welcome you to the 13th Fuschl Conversation. This shows that Fuschl Conversations have a tradition of 25 years! But those of you who have been in Fuschl several times will notice several changes – more details you will find in Gary Metcalf’s and Gerhard Chroust’s Introduction below.
This was my first time at Fuschl. As the incoming president who knows in more detail the smaller member associations of IFSR rather than the bigger and older ones, I was looking forward to learning what they think of the program concept we have suggested:
1. IFSR should be an umbrella service organization covering topics that the individual member associations have hard times to do;
2. IFSR should sponsor some activities and organizational forms that would help both the systems community at large and all of us promote systemic thinking, observing, decision making, and action rather than the one-sidedness, which prevails in modern times to the detriment of humankind.
These two general aims may include:
– Foundation of an International Academy of Cybernetics and Systems Sciences, to which member associations would suggest their most prominent members;
– An active and interactive homepage with data and information from and for all member associations about their activities that might be of general interest rather than of internal interest only;
– International Encyclopedia of Systems Science and Cybernetics – to continue the work done so far by Charles Francois;
– Activities that have been generally accepted so far as well.
I was very glad to hear a number of additional ideas, suggestions and volunteering voices in the five days at Fuschl. They are visible later on in this volume.
I am very grateful to Gary Metcalf, Vice-president, and to Gerhard Chroust, Secretary General of the IFSR, for working so hard and successfully for the Fuschl Conversation to go over the stage this year again and for these proceedings to be created from contributions of all participants and their summaries by group coordinators. The work of the latter was far from easy and deserves our big thanks.
Looking at these proceedings I am proud that we have shown that IFSR – with the help of the Fuschl Conversation 2006 – will be able to even better serve the systems community and thus promote systems thinking.
Matjaz Mulej
President of the IFSR 2006-2008
Table of Contents
- Welcome to the Fuschl Conversation 2006… 4
- Welcome to the Fuschl Conversation 2006… 5
- Fuschl 2006 – Aims and Objectives… 6
- List of Participants… 9
- Conclusions of Fuschl 2006… 10
- Topic 1: Fuschl Extension: Igniting a new Form of Conversation… 12
- Topic 2: Research and Dissemination and the IFSR… 24
- Topic 3: Infrastructure of the Systems… 31
- Topic 4: The Status and Evolution of Systems Organizations… 34
- Topic 5: “Unity as a Part of Diversity”… 42
- Lessons Learnt – Fuschl 2006 Summary… 52
- Survey of Participants’ Opinions… 55
- Appendix: What is the IFSR? … 59