Toronto, Ontario
Varsity Stadium: Blue and white are the colours for UToronto, so the track is thus themed. Summer session officially starts in 2 days, although the pandemic stay-at-home order precludes organized athletics, even outside. View south catches the CN Tower, a landmark years before the field was constructed. (Varsity Stadium, Bloor Street West, University of Toronto) 20210501Hamers Coffee: Imagery of sky and hands painted on #CommunityFridge, alongside green and white sign on pantry, is more artistic than other locations. Well-kept venue is open to all, at the corner of a major thoroughfare. Shelves were almost empty, maybe turnover is faster as elderly and families came to empty their bags in, and take a few items out. (Hamers Coffee, Dundas Street West at Manning Avenue, Little Portugal, Toronto, Ontario) 20210502Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade: Naturally rusted steel panels of varying heights obscure the trenches of construction to the south. Probably not intended as a brutalist art installation, temporary wall puts function first. Municipal facilities won’t be completed within this calendar year. (Ashbirdges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, North Service Road, east of Leslie Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20210506Leader Lane: Looking south, in courtyard #AndrewPosa (1982) U. V. Ceti sculpture in honour of architect #EdwardIsaacRichmond. In the distance, the L Tower designed by #DanielLibeskind is shaped with a backward curve so that the 58-floor residential condominiums don’t block the light onto #BerczyPark. Biking down to the building, it’s the repurposing of the southern wing of #MeridianHall, formerly known as #SonyCentre, #HummingbirdCentre and #OKeefeCentre. (Leader Lane, 30 Wellington Street West, St. Lawrence district, Toronto, Ontario) 20210508Meridian Hall Plaza: View north from triptych @HarveyValentine (2016) Dream Ballet stainless steel sculptures, against a background of reflections with buildings in mirrored windows across Front Street at 33 Yonge Street. Grey tiles confuse the shapes in the chrome with strange angels. Plaza is a natural open space for children from the L Tower to the south. (Meridian Hall, Yonge Street at Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20210512Tommy Thompson Park: Convex mirror at fork in road suggests vehicles travelling too quickly on the asphalt trail? First tried direct southbound route, but there’s a high fence because the lift bridge is still out. Doubled back to then ride east and south around the wetland cells, on the alternate road along the endikement.(Tommy Thompson Park, Toronto, Ontario) 20210517Nelson Mandela Walk: Outdoor conversation pit features cantilevered granite plank with rectangular depression carved out of top near far end. Construction along pedestrian walk has been completed after two winters. No students on campus in late spring, a few people lounging on benches, enjoying clear weather. (Nelson Mandela Walk, Ryerson Community Park, Toronto, Ontario) 20210520
Centenary Hospital: Father receiving second Moderna vaccination after 10 weeks, accelerated from the 16 week expectation. Hospital was proactive in following up, to offer an earlier slot. Spent 15 minutes in observation room, amongst families and younger people getting first shots. Nurses caution that full immunity takes 2 weeks, keep wearing masks! (Margaret Birch Wing, Scarborough Health Network Centenary Hospital, Ellesmere Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20210628
While the adaptive cycle and panarchical connections reflect the possiblity of movement from one stable state to another, it’s possible to get “stuck” in a disfavoured trap. Social ecological systems involve both natural systems and human systems. After widespread recognition of the 2002 Panarchy book, reflections in 2010 revealed further development of the theory and […]
In order to appreciate the influence of resilience science and panarchy on ongoing research into systems changes, revisiting foundational works sometimes resurfaces insights. In the 2002 Panarchy book, Chapter 15 provides a summary of findings. In the course of the project hat led to this volume, we identified twelve conclusions (Table 15-1) in our search for […]
What might a non-anthropocentric view of sustainability look like? This would probably include regeneration of species alongside others in the ecosystem. With some recent presentations, an idea that resonates with audiences is the “The Second Life of Trees”, credited by Tim Ingold (2002) to John Knight (1998). Ingold sees continuity of life not only of […]
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” […]
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 ›
Towards a non-anthropocentric view of aesthetics, we explore the legacy of work in the aesthetics of nature. The collection of essays in The Aesthetics of Natural Environments (2004), edited by Allen Carlson and Arnold Berleant, illuminates some of the issues and debates on this perspective. In the Acknowledgements for the 2004 book is a trail […]
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"
