Toronto, Ontario
Philosopher’s Walk: Placid footpath following contour of Taddle Creek, east of Trinity College and west of the Faculty of Music, attracts pedestrians after work, and dogs with their walkers. This week would normally be the calm before students move into residences, and the campus coming alive. New school term will surely see new protocols. (Philosopher’s Walk, Queen’s Park Circle, University of Toronto) 20200901Jimmie Simpson Park: Physically distanced conversation with @cdnorman, updating each other on #SystemsThinking projects. So many years of electronic communications, to discover he walks by my street almost every day. Park bench is a convenient plan while the weather is favourable. (Jimmie Simpson Park, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20200903Warden Woods Hydro Corridor: Footpath between Pidgeon Street and Chestnut Crescent connects two residential neighbourhoods with townhouses backing onto the hydro towers. West side is new townhouses, east side is more established detached houses. Found cycling route as a detail on map, to avoid street descending into St. Clair Ravine and then having to climb out again. (Warden Woods Hydro Corridor, Pidgeon Street to Chestnut Crescent, Scarborough, Ontario) 20200905Nathan Phillips Square: Quiet and cool Labour Day morning, found city plaza devoid of both tourist visitors and civic workers. Barricades at edge of pond discourage contaminants in water. Feels like autumn is arriving soon. (Nathan Phillips Square, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20200907Front Street East: Turned faucet handle, no water. Unlikely location for public tap, presumably of potable water, in the median between eastbound and westbound lanes of traffic. Is this an artifact of the Old Town, before indoor plumbing became common? (Front Street East, east of Church Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20200908Artscape Distillery Studios: On Case Goods Lane, #distillerywisdom installation invites visitors to write memories on wooden plaques to be hung, or on small stones placed at the base of a cylindrical frame. Messages left by participants from many parts of the world, and in many languages. Art that changes daily, and is durable in weather fair and fowl. (Art Distillery Studios, Case Goods Lane, Distillery District, Toronto, Ontario) 20200911Lakeview Park: Bright Saturday day trip westbound, as opportunity for outdoor date with social distancing. Sunflowers were planted in rows, by developers as phytoremediators to purify the soil by absorbing toxins. Site of Lakeview Generating Station, demolished in 2007. (Lakeview Park, Lakefront Promenade, Mississauga, Ontario) 20200912Riverdale Farm: Since 1975, the old zoo has been domesticated, hence the flock of sheep now part of the urban park. Immediate vegetation is overgrazed, as animals are restricted to the pen. Many toddlers and preschoolers guided by elders, routes now clearly marked with arrows to reduce human collisions. (Riverdale Farm, Winchester Street, Cabbagetown, Toronto, Ontario) 20200914Metro Hall: About half of the 17 bronze rabbit-dog sculptures #CynthiaShort 1992 Remembered Sustenance, originally installed expecting that children might play with them. Small grass parkette is popular with dogs and walkers, who seem to ignore the figures. Just south of the theatre district, where the stages are dark. (Metro Hall, Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20200915Villiers Street: Unplanned encounter of #VidIngelevics #RyanWalker Framework installation @ContactPhoto with photomural of 130 Commissioners Street of January 2020. The Lower Don Lands is now under major construction, with streets blocked and fenced properties with warning signs. Bicycling is/was the best way to view the display from August 2020 to April 2021. (Villers Street, Toronto Portlands) 20200916Concord CityPlace: From Front Street West, Puente de Luz (Bridge of Light) pedestrian bridge spans north to south corresponding to Canada and Chile of sculptor #FranciscoGazitua. Installed in 2012, bicyclists and pedestrians can cross over to Canoe Landing Park and Concord CityPlace. Inspired by nature, skeletons and armatures are bridges. (Puente de Luz, Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20200918Bala Rail Underpass: In the mouth-of-the-Don district, a passage fot pedestrians and bicyclists from the Lower Don River Trail westbound towards Corktown Commons. On The Canadian passenger train from Union Station 4 days to Vancouver, the next step is Washago, and then Parry Sound. Constructed in 2007, the interior murals painted for the PanAm games in 2015 have faded, with external clearance hazards now more prominent. (Bala Rail Underpass, Lower Don River Trail, Toronto, Ontario) 20200921Lane South Queen East Knox: Wrought iron sign of Ye Olde Blacksmith Shoppe has entry fence locked up, with shell of a building to the south. This laneway seems to be one of many in Toronto yet to be named, running dead end into TTC Russell Carhouse at Connaught Street first established in 1916. Entry to the building northbound from Minto Street is obstructed by a prominent fire hydrant. (Lane South Queen East Knox, Leslieville, Toronto, Ontario) 20200923
Unwin Avenue: Industrial age rail leading to space age satellites? Tracks rarely used from Toronto Container Port to the southwest, curve north beyond fence parallel to Leslie Street, then westbound alongside Lakeshore Boulevard as Keating Yard. Earth stations that upload and download broadcast television video, and Internet to rural and remote areas on land leased from the city, will be moved to another Ontario location before year’s end. (Unwin Avenue, Toronto Portlands, Ontario) 20200928
Towards a general theory of living systems, we should be looking beyond the singletons of a hierarchical level, i.e. (i) cell, (ii) organ, (iii) organism, (iv) group, (v) organization, (vi) community, (vii) society, and (viii) supranational level. In a scientific approach, James Grier Miller created a list of hypotheses. In the 1100+ page book, the […]
When exploring the meaning of Living Systems, it’s pretty hard to ignore the major works of James Grier Miller (1916–2002) with a book thus titled. In addition to the 1978 book Living Systems (of 1168 pages!) some additions were published in 1992 in Behavioral Science, the Journal of the Society for General Systems Research. Miller […]
For their community of systems practitioners, Systems and Complexity in Organisation (SCiO) UK invited a presentation at their Virtual Open Meeting in July. Presenting in a 45-minute slot, the slides at http://coevolving.com/commons/2022-07-11-doing-thinking-making-systems-changes were covered in 38 minutes, leaving time for a few questions and comments. The agenda mainly focused on “Doing”, with “Thinking” and “Making” […]
On the path towards a publication in 2023, this plenary talk for the International Society for the Systems Sciences 66th Annual Meeting came with a preamble. Slides were provided in advance at http://coevolving.com/commons/2022-07-08-appreciating-systems-changes, so that details might be later perused at leisure. Here is the agenda for the presentation: A. Rising interest in System(s) Change(s) […]
In which ways are systems changes different from changes? Extending the deep body of knowledge in the systems sciences, rhythmic shifts serve as a gateway for exploration. In a rigourous coevolving of inquiries into (i) doing (praxis), (ii) thinking (theoria), and (iii) making (theoria), a coherent systems approach is being recast and reified. An article […]
System thinking, starting from graduate studies, can be a continuing (if not lifelong) journey. In parallel to a professional career in strategic communications, Zaid Khan has the distinction having studyied systemic design in the OCADU SFI program (2016-2020), under the supervision of Peter Jones. He became a cofounder of the Systems Changes Learning Circle in […]
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
In the history of science of systems thinking, Debora Hammond related the backgrounds and connections of the founder of the Society for General Systems Research, that is now the International Society for the Systems Sciences. Boulding (1956) plays a large role in framing two orientations towards “general systems theory”. Kenneth Boulding used to distinguish between […]
Geoffrey Vickers saw human systems as different, with moral character distinguishing from natural and manmade systems. Gregory Bateson, in a more general view of systems, saw morality as entering in systems processes.
In this review of a philosophical work written in Chinese, a comparison is made between Chinese philosophy centering on the body, in comparison to Western philosopy centered on the mind. (I found a reference to this book, tracing back from Keekok Lee (2017) Chapter 9, footnote 8.
The translation from English "systems thinking" to French "la pensée systémique" misses meaning. "Approche systémique" has lineage to "Conférences Macy", "General System Theory (Bertalanffy)" and "Gregory Bateson"
When one chooses a guiding philosophy of life -- and the modern world has chosen humanism -- one becomes responsible for all the consequences that flow from that choice. (David W. Ehrenfeld, 1981)
