Toronto, Ontario. (A whole month without leaving town, since Don Mills and Scarborough are Metropolitan Toronto)
Toronto, Ontario.
Nathan Phillips Square: Afternoon traffic jam amongst skaters on the rink, while roads are empty and most businesses closed for New Year’s Day. Pedestrian volume high in the Eaton Centre across the street, more browsers than buyers enjoying an indoor stroll. Temperature above freezing and sun encouraged bicycle ride, bundled up with winter wear. (Nathan Phillips Square, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20170101Roberts Library: When the e-version isn’t available, a quick trip to the library stacks works. University is still quiet after holiday season, yet there’s still some people on computer terminals after 9 p.m. When I was an undergrad, I visited this section frequently. (Robarts Library, 11th floor, St. George Street, University of Toronto, Ontario) 20170103Toronto Public Library, Queen Saulter Branch: Neighbourhood walk to pick up book and DVD, chest cold having discouraged leaving the house in a week. Neo-classical building was designed by E.J. Lennox, serving as Postal Station G from 1914 to 1975. Renovated in 1979, the library and community centre is a landmark in South Riverdale. (Toronto Public Library, Queen Saulter Branch, 765 Queen Street East, Riverside district, Toronto) 20170114OCADU: Systems Thinking Ontario first meeting of New Year discussing some topics looking forward, reviewing the format of sessions in history. Repeated contextual presentation from 2012 including the map of ignorance, postnormal science, and the design in inquiring systems. (Lambert Lounge, OCADU, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170118India Paan: Sugar cane and grilled corn outside, but server inside on grey above-freezing January Sunday. Pedestrian traffic light, with a few families coming out after lunches. (India Paan, Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170122
Moments March 2015 weeks 3-4: Toronto, Ontario; Niagara Falls, NY; Allendale, NJ; New York City (Manhattan), NY
Toronto, Ontario; Niagara Falls, NY; Allendale, NJ; New York City (Manhattan), NY
Former Unilever site . East of Don Roadway, north of Lakeshore Boulevard East, south of the Adelaide Street onramp, there’s 29 acres to be redeveloped, up to 60 acres with city and other private properties, says “Jobs, transit and the future: How an empty lot at the foot of Toronto could transform it” | Elizabeth Church | March 14, 2015 | Globe & Mail at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/jobs-transit-and-the-future-how-an-empty-lot-at-the-foot-of-toronto-could-transform-it/article23461556/ (Toronto) 20150515Systems Thinking Ontario March 2015. Session on Systems and Resilience Redux: Deciphering Panarchy (Some More) extended discussion from last month. Some attendees had not pre-read article, so interpreting figures without visual aids was like described video on television. Returning attendees thought that extra time spent on the same theme helped unwrap the mystery, and the month in between gave time for consideration. (Systems Thinking Ontario, OCAD U. Lambert Lounge) 20150318SFI class fishbowl. Inner circle of discussants on systemic design methods, with outer circle of observers who can swap into inner. Smaller group enables richer interaction amongst active participants, questions build amongst students paying attention. (Strategic Foresight and Innovation program, OCAD U., Toronto) 20150319Niagara Falls from Rainbow Bridge. On drive to NYC, stopped for hour walk through Niagara State Park. Oldest park on the U.S., quiet on a March Friday. First time to see falls on the American side, we have seen the more commercial Canadian side frequently. (Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls, NY) 20150321Celery Farm. Nature preserve with pond mostly still frozen. Watched mallard duck couple getting fat on sunfish in surface ice, and just through a small hole. Snapping turtles may be driving fish to the top. (Celery Farm Natural Area, Allendale, NJ) 20150322Times Square. Sunday spring stroll down 7th Avenue, at temperature above freezing. Loose weekend before a Monday morning meeting. Benefits of a friend with a Manhattan apartment. (New York City) 20150322
Moments in February 2015, weeks 1 to 3, around Toronto.
Toronto, Ontario
Pearl Court. Toronto is one of the few places where you can have dim sum while it’s snowing outside, observed EKI. Family lunch before an upcoming birthday where adult children don’t care so much about the celebration anymore. Relaxed conversation about life. (Gerrard Street East, Toronto) 20150208Systems Thinking Ontario Feb. 2015. Special session on “Systems and Resilience: Deciphering Panarchy”, with exceptional request that all attendees preread the 2001 Holling article. Rich discussion, with varying views on the helpfulness of diagrams to either clarify or confuse the text. (OCAD U., Toronto) 20150218
Crustaceans in tank. Crab towering over lobsters may have slightly longer life, as restaurant had double lobster special. Family dinner with visiting niece fulling in for errant son. Winter day slightly less cold, with snowfall slowing traffic uptown. (Perfect Chinese Restaurant, Scarborough, Ontario) 20150221
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, […]
The October online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario presented an opportunity for an update on progress made by the Systems Changes Learning Circle by 2022. A slide deck had been prepared an in-person seminar at the Universitat de Barcelona Graduate Programmes in Business, organized by Ryan C. Armstrong, one week earlier. Our regular monthly meeting, […]
Just before starting a trip to Spain, I received an invitation from Ryan C. Armstrong at the Universitat de Barcelona Business School to give some lectures. The students in the bachelor’s programme in international business had a short mention of systems thinking in the first lecture of the operationa management class. With that brief entry, […]
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 […]
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 ›
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
Attributed to Hippocrates is the use of the term kairos in observational methodology, and the presentation of significant findings. Just to be scholarly, Hippocrates is generally reported as a institution, rather than a person. Although Hippocrates is generally accepted as the father of medicine, few have recognized, or even realized, the extent to which he […]
Autopoiesis, as coined by Humberto Maturana, is in the contextualist root metaphor of Stephen C. Pepper, rather than the organismic root metaphor, say #HowardMancing and #JenniferMarstonWilliam .
