International Society for the Systems Sciences

Yiannis Laouris, ISSS President, is reminding everyone interested in systems and systemic thinking to submit their abstracts ASAP to the 70th ISSS Annual Meeting and Conference, which will be hybrid and will take place in Cyprus. Click to view his invitation: https://lnkd.in/emDQ59FB Click to register: https://lnkd.in/ex-NdJRB

From Peter Tuddenham, Robert Young, Luke Friendshuh, co-organizers: Calling Custodians and Archivists of Systems Knowledge Do you know where the systems and cybernetics knowledge lives? Calling Custodians and Archivists of Systems Knowledge. CASK. https://caskevent.org 5 14 June 2026 Across the systems and cybernetics community, extraordinary collections sit in private hands: shelves of out-of-print proceedings, boxes of correspondence with pioneers, personal libraries spanning decades, websites preserving work that exists nowhere else. The people who hold these collections rarely set out to be archivists. They kept what mattered. Over time, they became the only ones who knew where certain knowledge lived. Some of these custodians are ageing. Some collections are at risk from house moves, illness, or simply neglect. When a custodian dies without a plan, irreplaceable material can end up in a skip. At the same time, the rise of AI and large language models is transforming what’s possible in archive management. Materials that once required years of manual cataloguing can now be indexed, transcribed, and made searchable at a pace that was unimaginable even two years ago. But these tools only work if the materials exist and can be found. The window of opportunity is open — and closing. We need to know what’s out there before it’s gone. CASK2026 — Opening the Cask is a one-week online symposium/workshop/conference 5–14 June 2026 to find out who holds what, what’s at risk, and whether there’s a community ready to do something about it. This is a search conference, not a lecture series. We’re inviting custodians, digital archivists, inheritors of collections, and anyone who knows of materials in danger to join us for show-and-tell sessions, rescue stories, and honest conversation about preservation. Cask Zoom Tap Room Café: Join us on every two weeks on Friday starting this Friday 10th April at 3:00 PM Eastern for an informal Zoom Tap room and Café session to help shape the event and get your questions answered. Register to participate. https://lnkd.in/dDin5kBr

Here is a copy of the September 2025 ISSS Newsletter. We hope you find it interesting and enjoyable.

LEVERAGE GUIDELINES GLOBAL FORUM & FEEDBACK WORKSHOP Do you use or have expertise in System Dynamics, Agent-Based Modeling, Social Network Analysis, or other systems methods in health research or policy? Join the LEVERAGE Guidelines Global Forum and Feedback Workshop on 21 October 2025, hosted in hybrid format by the University of Bristol. Supported by the System Dynamics Society (SDS), Open Modeling Foundation (OMF), International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), and the International Society of Systems Science (ISSS), the LEVERAGE project is developing the first reporting guidelines for health interventions and policies informed by systems methods (registered with EQUATOR). The event will bring together researchers, practitioners, journal editors, and international organisations to review and refine the drafted guidelines. EVENT DETAILS Date/Time: 21 October 2025, 13:00–17:00 BST (with global time conversions) Location: In-person at Bristol City Hall + Online Programme: Keynotes from leading experts, panel discussion on transparent reporting, and interactive group sessions for participant feedback Extras: Welcome lunch (12:00 BST) for in-person attendees Registration (required): Places are limited, especially in person. Early registration is advised. Lunch and refreshments provided. CONTACT: Dr. Remco Peters (remco.peters@bristol.ac.uk) Dr. Bai Li, Project Leader (bai.li@bristol.ac.uk) LEVERAGE Executive Group: Dr. Bai Li (UK, Chair), Prof. Birgit Kopainsky (Norway), Prof. Laura Koehly (US), Prof. Volker Grimm (Germany), Prof. Steve Allender (Australia), Dr. Iveta Simera (UK).

In this contribution, ISSS Past President, George Mobus presents “A General Theory of Systemness,” proposing that we look at the essential characteristics of being a system rather than debate endlessly what does or doesn’t count as a system. By setting out systemness as compositionality, dynamics, organisation, communication, and ontogenesis, he provides a clear and accessible framework that helps both in analysing existing systems and in designing new ones. As we read his paper, it struck us that George’s characteristics-first idiom is the logical reflection of the more familiar object/causality-first idiom. Systemness identifies the abstract attributes; systems are the entities and relations that instantiate them. George’s framing makes enumeration and teaching easier; the systems idiom makes causal tracing and landscape modelling easier. They can be seen as complementary ways of navigating the same terrain each with its own particular advantages.

ISSS Newsletter, August 2025.

Here is a copy of the July 2025 ISSS Newsletter. Full conference details are included. We hope to see you there.

Join Us! Enduring Patterns, Emerging Futures: Celebrating the Legacy and Vision of Dr. Len Troncale 12-21 September 2025 Online Synchronously and Asynchronously We invite all systems scientists, thinkers, students, and colleagues to participate in a special synchronous and asynchronous online conference honoring Dr. Len Troncale’s pioneering work in systems science. Share your presentations, reflections, posters, workshops, or archival materials—and help us explore and collect the enduring impact and future potential of his legacy. Contribute, connect, and contribute to the future of systems science with us! Learn more and submit your contribution: https://troncale.sched.com   Rob Young, Luke Friendshuh Lynn Rasmussen and I are organizing this event. No charge/fee to join. Just register.   The Singers, Duane and Jen Wilby have been helpful in conversations with me about this idea and Len’s work and legacy Peter Tuddenham #SystemsScience #LenTroncale #SystemsThinking #CallForParticipation

June 2025 ISSS Newsletter