Calgary, Alberta; Vancouver, BC; Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec.
YYC baggage wildlife. Hippopotamus in baggage carousel at Calgary international airport. Arrivals promotion of local zoo, then other attraction at other carousels. Something to look at, while waiting for luggage, it’s creative use of public space (Calgary) 20120306 1453Kota Ezawa 2008 Hand Vote. Installation illuminated at night, at Vancouver Art Gallery Outside, Hand Vote (2008) by Kota Ezawa. On Georgia Street, a main stream, between two towers, could be easy to miss if not on foot. (Vancouver) 20120308 1910Tracks west from Commercial Drive. Downtown Vancouver in the distance, late on a rainy afternoon. North of East Broadway, south of Grandview Highway, rail is the faster way into the city centre. Coming on the Skytrain eastbound, it was a long way from the previous station, and the route turned south before continuing east (Vancouver) 20120309 1724Riverdale Cemetery, Parkway, Park. View eastward on warm late winter from Toronto Necropolis, overlooks Don Valley Parkway, and Riverdale Park East in the distance with apartment towards Danforth Avenue. Can see through the trees, but leaves will obscure the view in a few weeks (Toronto) 20120311 1714YUL mini marche. Convenience store at Montreal airport offers selection of wine and beer. Alcohol may be a part of everyday life in the French-heritage province, but in the next province west in Ontario, the retail channel is government-owned stores. My local colleague and American visitor shrugged their shoulders at my noticing the everyday (Montreal) 20120313 1011European Meat leaving Kensington Market. Neighbourhood institution of 53 years, will close business on April 7 in favour of Etobicoke store. I have shopped there since the 1970s, most recently bicycling cross town for quality foods. I’ll have to start looking elsewhere. (Toronto) 20120317 1641MOCCA sculpture. On top of pole, swirling steel bands, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art courtyard. Bright spring day on Queen Street West (Toronto) 20120321 1748Jasper by John Clement in Vancouver. Loops of tubular steel, orange paint stands out on a cloudy March Vancouver midday. Part of the Vancouver Biennale 2009-2011 temporary public art exhibition. Titled Jasper, by John Clement, web site at Firehouse Studio. Installed at corner of Robson Street and Jervis Street (Vancouver) 20120326 1436Trees sculpture, Stephen Ave. Ten stainless steel 20-plus-metre sculptures, built on concrete caissons that extend to almost the same depth underground. On the Stephen Avenue (8th Ave. SW) pedestrian mall at 3rd St. SW in downtown Calgary. Donated by Trizec Hahn Office Properties to the city in 2000, with Cohos Evamy Partners Architect, directed by Jablonsky, Ast And Partners, fabricated by Empire Iron Works (Calgary, Alberta) 20120328 1750
YYC digging. Mounds of earth on the far side of the tarmac at Calgary International Airport. From the runway extension? Construction diversion confused my driving on last trip so that I missed my flight; chose taxi this time (Calgary) 20120329 1236
A special issue on “Sustainable, Smart and Systemic Design Post-Anthropocene: Through a Transdisciplinary Lens” in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics edited by Marie Davidová, Susu Nousala, and Thomas J. Marlowe has been released. In that issue, the journey of the Systems Changes Learning Circle from 2019 through 2022 is reviewed. The editorial team, […]
In the ISSS 2022 Plenary talk, the first 25 minutes were a blast through (a) the rising interest in system(s) change(s); (b) appreciative systems (Vickers); (c1) the philosophy of architectural design; (c2) the philosophy of ecological anthropology; (c3) the philosophy of Classical Chinese Medicine; (c4) the philosophy of rhythms; and (d) methods of multiparadigm inquiry, […]
The theme for the February online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was sparked from the discussion from the January session on Root Metaphor and World Hypotheses. What does it mean to have a theory? How does sensemaking contribute to this? Gary Metcalf volunteered to guide a conversation on these topics. Two prereadings were to serve […]
Philosophy underlies the distinction in the three volumes of the Tavistock Anthology: founded on the World Hypotheses of Stephen C. Pepper, the Socio-Psychological Systems Perspective and the Socio-Technical Systems Perspectives are based on Organicism, while the Socio-Ecological Systems Perspective is based on Contextualism. This thread on contextualism can be traced from the association between E.C. […]
Researching the philosophical foundations of systems theory to understand the meanings of “causal texture, contextualism, contextural” from the Tavistock legacy led to philosopher Stephen C. Pepper. The philosophical lineage and contributions of Pepper were the focus for the January online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario. A deep reading of Pepper’s work (over a month!) was […]
The first Systems Thinking Ontario session for 2023 is scheduled for January 9, on “Root Metaphors and World Hypotheses”. This is philosophical content, for which a guided tour and discussion will be better than attempting a solo reading of the World Hypotheses wiki on the Open Learning Commons. Upon announcing the session on social media, […]
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 a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
After 90 minutes on phone and online chat with WesternUnion, the existence of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland is denied, so I can’t send money from Canada. TicinoTurismo should be unhappy. The IT developers at Western Union should be dissatisfied that customer support agents aren’t sending them legitimate bug reports I initially tried the […]
An online version of a special issue of Paunch (1980) on "Root Metaphor: The Live Thought of Stephen C. Pepper" has been preserved on the internet Archive
