Toronto, Ontario; London, UK; Keimolanportti, Finland; Espoo, Finland; Helsinki, Finland; Oslo, Norway; Nottingham, UK; Coventry, UK; Hull, UK.
Jazz Bistro. Classy family night, jazz piano with @wmatsushita. Rare to have all four sons at home at the same time. (Toronto) 20141001AC856 new 787-8 . New config, see USB, still looking for AC power outlet. Sad goodbye to DY, she had traveled with me since July. Will wake up in London early. (Toronto Pearson Airport) 20141005LHR T2 early. Tuesday morning Heathrow check-in opens at 5 a.m., but passengers not yet going to gates. Automobile sculpture would be interesting, but T2 too mammoth, and B gates 15 minute walk away. (London, UK) 20141007Bus transfer at Keimolanportti. Second time taking bus from Helsinki Vantaa airport to Hämeenlinna. After 15 minutes west then north on highway, first bus parks at truck stop, and waits for second bus to arrive and face other direction. Luggage is moved, then passengers board. No platform or signs. Pragmatic, but strange in total darkness when it’s cold outside. Major route towards Tampere. (Keimolanportti) 20141007Used books for free. At Häme University of Applied Science, bookshelf had old technical manuals, a few research reports published by Finnish institutes. Nothing inspiring, a few familiar titles obsolete for the immersed. (Hameenlinna) 20141008Plush blue catfish. Life sized mascot of lake fish now extinct in Häme region. Hidden in second floor corridor. (Hameenlinna) 20141009Kitchen at Aalto Design Factory. Drawers with “free to use food” and fridge where “unlabelled food can be used freely” illustrate Finnish cooperative design culture, simple and clear. Real time video feed of Tongji Design Factory in Shanghai shows how small the world has become. (Espoo) 20141010White suits on parliament steps. Saturday night in Helsinki, this group isn’t the only one dressed up for night out. Black is more popular for women with long eyelashes. (Helsinki) 20141011Art Week Helsinki at the Cable Factory on Flickr. Slow Sunday on west side of a Helsinki. Free art exhibition less interesting than cavernous building, finished roughly. Grey day outside, but mild the enough for walking and talking. (Helsinki) 20141012Trash art, Jari Miranda. Exhibition at Aalto Arts: The Flying Car, The Bubble, Desk, El Cello, all 2014 works. Creativity on display in industrial setting. (Helsinki) 20141013Oslo Lufthavn platform 4. Can see breath on cold Oslo mid-October morning, cooler than Helsinki earlier in the dark. Waiting for local train to Sentrum, sign says Delay. Reality is train only a few minutes wait, so, Norwegian precision? (Oslo) 20141014Myra Lokka Park by Vøyenbrua. Dusk walk from U. Oslo to Grunerlokka includes scenic path south on east bank of Akerselva River. Instead of 40 minute commute in and put off city centre, 70 minute downhill stroll was relaxing. (Oslo) 20141015Akerselva River at Vulkan. Rainy morning 10 minute walk north to AHO includes crossing scenic Akerselva River at Vulkan complex. Calming start to the day. (Oslo) 20141016Peter Jones presenting at #RSD3. @redesign on Flourishing Business in Oslo, while @aupward in Cleveland. Living up to Relating Systems Thinking and Design title for symposium. (Oslo) 20141017To French and English Gardens. Henrik Wergelands Garden Pavilion at the Norwegian Folk Museum. Drizzly day will get worse, go outdoors first. (Oslo) 20141018Astrup Fearnley permanent collection on Flickr. Disappointing Europe Europe show in Oslo immediately lightened by seeing Damien Hurst 1993 Mother and Child Divided, walking into front door. The curator makes the difference. (Oslo) 20141018Passport check, OSL. Ways to create stress in air travel. Gate from Oslo, Norway to Manchester, UK is beyond unexpected passport control. A case for not waiting for the very last moment to board. (Oslo) 20141019Well stocked Chinese mart on Flickr. Over lunch in Nottingham, Martin asked what fermented black beans look like. Around the corner, the store has them both in small plastic bags, and cylindrical paper cartons. No need for the jars with pre-made sauce. A signal of cultural diversity in a university town. (Nottingham) 20141020Fountains at U. Warwick on Flickr. Cool fall day in Warwickshire, wind blowing the fountains. Visiting IIPSI, at WMG, enjoying stroll from conference centre through campus. (University of Warwick) 20141021Two heads, tourists. After lecture, waiting for taxi, asked to pose with Chinese tourists by statues outside Hull Business School. The man seemed to like my winter hat. How many cameras, smartphones and tablets used for one good digital photo? (Hull) 20141022Art installation in progress. Large assembly at the Tate Britain requires construction crew to make an artist’s work presentable to the public. in the atrium of 500 Years of British Art, between the 1540 and present day periods. New display by Philip King opens Dec. 8, still 6 weeks away. (London) 20141023Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now. Anna Sorokovaya 2013 “Illusory Body” illuminated hanging clothes is lit blue by the neon installation on the other side of the room. Some Saatchi galleries reserved for the Wine Experience London, so visitors are directed to upper floor exhibitions. (London) 20141024Terminal 2 – The Queen’s Terminal. Check in concourse to Heathrow Terminal 2 spacious, which means super-human scale from Piccadilly Underground through security. Gate in T3 (London) 20141025LHR T2 play area. Crawling space for baby area on the ground, climbing space for juniors above. (London) 20141025Used book sale on Flickr. Last day at annual Trinity College book sale. Shelves less dense, but still found treasure: Boulding’s Ecodynamics, a systems theory work that I’ve never found before. (Toronto) 20141027
New streetcar tracks. Leslie Street south of Queen Street still under construction, but east-west blockage is now clear. In a few months, will have screeching turns on rails, as streetcars come and go to new barns. (Toronto) 20141030
Toronto, Ontario; Sarnia, Ontario; LaSalle, IL; Allerton Park, IL; Mount Carmel, IL; Toledo, OH; Markham, Ontario.
Play reading with supertitles. Workshop @FuGenTheatre of Da Jia by Sophie Gee Nervous Hunter mixing English, Cantonese + Mandarin. Story in development, feels like Canadian Chinese families (Toronto) 20140902Real cattails, bronze birds. Ontario Travel Centre at Sarnia is a convenient rest stop before crossing into Port Huron. American border guard confiscated Canadian grape tomatoes (Sarnia) 20140909Blue Water Bridge view north. Crossing St. Clair River westbound from Sarnia to Port Huron on a Tuesday noon means no delays. Landmark lighthouse, is that a boat? (Port Huron) 20140909Lock 16, LaSalle Il. Historic Illinois & Michigan Canal, with boat for education and events. Wooden locks still intact, could require rebuilding if we ever needed heavy use again. Lock 16 at LaSalle, Il 20140910PLoP plenary. Introduction to Writers’ Workshop approach by Richard Gabriel as a more teacher-like, in the library at the Allerton Park Retreat Center for Pattern Languages of Programs Conference 2014 (Allerton Park) 20140915Writers Workshop at PLoP 2014. Reviewing process led by @rpg with @taka_iba as up first. Writers group labeled as Narrow Road to the Deep North focused on social applications of Alexandrian pattern language (Allerton Park) 20140915PLoP 2014 closing ceremony. Network of yarn as social graph of relationships gained at the end of Pattern Languages of Programs conference. Warm way to say goodbye. (Allerton Park) 20140917Wabash and White Rivers. Mount Carmel IL is at the junction of the Wabash and White Rivers. Twin Rivers Resto for relaxed lunch with Tom and Dorothy, we have all gotten grey hair since grad school days (Mount Carmel, IL) 20140918Trying out glassware. At the Libbey Factory Outlet in Toledo, appreciating the large variety of shapes for drinking glasses. We prefer shapes that fit the hand, but can they also be modern? (Toledo, Ohio) 20140919Wedding band. Bride at leisure after nuptials completed on a sunny fall afternoon. Swing band adding gaiety to the fun of the wedding. Markham Museum a festive site for all. (Markham) 20140920No parking mural. Pedestrian Sunday buskers in Kensington Market cause bike dismount in front of mural with dogs playing cards. Real dogs in yard next to garage. (Toronto) 20140928Boardwalk fall sunset. Runners in shorts, dog walkers, baby strollers enjoying the warm September dusk, before the dark brings cool. Expect good weather tomorrow. (Toronto) 20140929
California Sandwiches. Even splitting a veal sandwich on a date is a lot of food for lunch. Cheap date for old married couple (Toronto) 20140930
New York City; Corning, NY; Toronto, Ontario.
NYC skyline north from 42nd Street. Sunset soon over Manhattan, view from 20th floor apartment in Hells Kitchen. Surprisingly easy access into NYC on a lazy summer weekend. (New York City) 20140802Innovation Stage, Corning Museum of Glass. Expert glassblower working at high speed, with commentators on English and Mandarin. Corning Museum deserves more time than our visit today will allow. (Corning, NY) 20140804Fountains at Massey College. Natural cooling on a warm August late afternoon at the U of Toronto, outside the Junior Common Room at Massey College. A quiet place to meet, if invited. (Toronto) 20140808Free sample lineup. Mob in front of @Sabra foods truck @ToTheDanforth, but dips all gone late Sunday afternoon, just offering pita chips. Festival stretches east of Pape, bike is best way there. (Toronto, Sunday) 20140810Table or bench? In Little India, outdoor furniture by sidewalk provided by restaurant, either as low tables or high benches. Short stools underneath add to options. Early before dinner rush. (Toronto) 20140813Gates to nowhere. Short drive to precipitous drop down east bank of Don Valley, south of Mount Stephen St., east of Blackburn St. Nearby signs say Hydro One replacing equipment at Gerrard Transformer Station. Empty space close to downtown Toronto. 20140818Trompe d’oeil mural. Not a back door into a garden on the west side of Bleeker Street south of Wellesley Street, but instead some brightness on the long brick wall of Fudger House. Paint is fading, could use a retouch. (Toronto) 20140822Fountains at Edward Gardens. Annual ritual repeated for the 29th time, renewing the promise again. Busy Sunday with wedding parties, our sons away on their own lives. (Don Mills) 20140824Mural on O’Keefe Lane. Colourful bridge joining Ed Mirvish Theatre entrance on Yonge Street and former Pantages Theatre on Victoria Street. Dumpsters not so scenic, steps south of Yonge-Dundas Square. (Toronto) 20140828
Art on a clothesline. Wind Warriors photographs with oversized clothespins beside children’s garden at Princess Park One of the Stories from the Esplanade, part of the Contact Festival (Toronto) 20140830
Los Angeles, CA; Toronto, Ontario; Warsaw, Poland; Krakow, Poland; Niagara Falls; Washington, DC; Rosslyn, VA.
Sketinghuish 1, 2, 3. Installation by Sket One, in L.A. Heat exhibit, Chinese American Museum. Painting by Audrey Chan in background. (Olvera Street, Los Angeles) 20140703Barracks moved from Wyoming. Disassembled and reconstructed American concentration camp for Japanese from Heart Mountain Wyoming circa 1942, now at Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles) 20140703Flexing at Muscle Beach. Judging for Mr and Mrs Muscle Beach on Independence Day in Venice’ California 20140704Fitting hands at the Chinese Theatre. Sizing up to Samuel L. Jackson in concrete in front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Usual crowds, even on July 4.Usual pickup, Pearson Terminal 1. Even Adam says that the pattern of arriving so Pearson Airport, and being picked up by family is getting to be familiar. (Toronto) 20140705Warszawa Centralna. S3 train from Chopin Airport to Warsaw Centralna station sorry short but slow. Bought ticket for Krakow on Friday, office for English. (Warsaw, Poland) 20140716Farm north of Krakow. Train paused, horses not paying attention. Journey from Warsaw to Krakow shows lots of agriculture, and a few towns. Fighting key lag in compartment of 6 passengers. (Krakow) 20140718Barbican, Krakow. Touring historic sites in Krakow, noticing tight walkways and low headroom. Poland must have fewer lawyers, as simple warning signs of hazards suffice (Krakow) 20140719Desk at Schindler’s Factory. Enamel factory of WWII run by Oskar Schindler rebuilt into immersive museum of Krakow before and during war. Tough for Poles, tougher for Jews (Krakow) 20140720Jagiellonian U 600th Anniversary campus. Uni in Krakow dates back to 1394, but 25 minute tram ride to third campus not yet fully completed. Circular glass library fronts management and social communications school. HSSE meetings in AHFE conference (Krakow) 20140722Krakow airport construction. Reports of Krakow Terminal 1 as work in progress is accurate. Coming from a university campus due for completion in 2015, Polish economy seems healthy. Food and lodging seems cheaper than other European cities. (Krakow) 20140723Niagara Falls from the Rainbow Bridge. On a summer Friday morning, the Rainbow Bridge border crossing was the quickest, not to mention most scenic, way into the U.S. DY driving, so passenger shot out window while moving (Niagara Falls) 20140725Skylights, Library of Congress on Flickr. Ceiling to blue sky on Great Hall of the Library of Congress has lots of tourists continuing from Capitol Hill tour. Ties between public record and democratic ideals (Washington, DC) 20140726Key Bridge from Rosslyn on Flickr. Cloudy Sunday morning overlooking Potomac River into Washington DC. View from 9th floor hotel balcony, don’t see the joggers and cyclists that we saw yesterday, but we are an hour earlier (Rosslyn, VA) 20140727
Systemic Design track at ISSS. Lots of friends at #isss2014 session, says Peter Jones @redesign. @OCAD #sfi activities reviewed starting session on Systemics in the Design community. (Washington, DC) 20140731
Coventry, UK; Stratford upon Avon, UK; Toronto, Ontario; Las Vegas, NV.
Lady Godiva statue at Broadgate Coventry . 1949 work by Sir William Reid Dick at central Coventry in early evening. Few pedestrians, nice weather, but few attractions other than bars with karaoke (Coventry) 20140601Fountains at U. Warwick. Visiting @ireneclng at Intl Institute for Product and Service Innovation, students on bus unlikely to know building, so asked for math department next door. 30 minutes from Coventry (U Warwick) 20140602Stratford upon Avon canal basin on Flickr. Tour boats moored on a late Monday afternoon, as Stratford upon Avon visitors reorient towards the RSC theatre just beyond. Scenic route towards Heathrow for flight home tomorrow. (Stratford upon Avon) 20140602Stone Distillery equipment from 1863. Historic alcohol production facility, Badger Distillation Control Panel beside a Distilling Column now with stairs wrapped around it. Factory converted to offices. (Distillery District, Toronto) 20140606Cardboard Beach, David Pecault Square. nstallation by Los Carpinteros for Luminato Festival has visitors reclining on the shade. Corrugated cardboard is a good material for an event that runs one week. (Toronto) 20140609TTC track construction. Lining up streetcar rails on Queen Street just west of Leslie Street. Cause of traffic rerouting, but there isn’t much pavement right now. (Toronto) 20140612Underpass from Don River bike path. New tunnel from the Don River bike path westbound into Corktown Commons. A new way to get downtown without climbing a bridge over the river (Toronto) 20140614Watershed map of Toronto on Flickr. Sheet metal installation orienting five Toronto rivers, by Ferrucio Sardella. At the Evergreen Brick Works, on the banks of Mud Creek, off the Lower Don River. (Toronto) 20140614Stone bench at The Waterfront School. Quiet late afternoon by Harbourfront, classes will still be on for a few weeks. CN Tower and Canada Malting silos in background (Toronto) 20140617OCADU Great Hall ceiling lights. On summer, the second floor common space at 100 McCaul St. is dark and empty, but the style of the design school shows through in the non-rectilinear arrangement of ceiling lights (Toronto) 20140619Elephant Rock turnout, Valley of Fire State Park. Red sandstone formations in 100+ degree F heat. Entered state park from east side, honour payment in envelope, but then checked at west gate exit (Nevada) 20140627Opera at St. Marks Square. Inside the Venetian Hotel, singing after dish, but outside, sun doesn’t set for another 2.5 hours. American tourists prefer canals that don’t stink, in Las Vegas 20140628
Viva Vision, Fremont Street. Light show with music by Heart. Son and nephew didn’t know primal artist only Guitar Hero version. We have better sound in our basement. (Fremont Street, Las Vegas)
Chicago, IL; Toronto, Ontario; Fairfield, IA; Des Moines, IA; Deadwood, SD; London, UK; Oxford, UK.
Jetway B24 at the end of the OHare universe. Arrival on commuter plan from Cedar Rapids, to discover gate at very end of airport, by fences with access road into terminals just on the other side. Fortunately, connection scheduled of 2 hours, and flight to Toronto leaves from Gate B14. (Chicago) 20140501Pine Hills Cemetery. Family and friends gathered to honour the life of Violet Ing. Lots of stories about the past and memories. (Scarborough, Ontario) 20140505PanAm Athletes Village under construction. Canary District, Cherry Street by Front Street, with unfinished apartments in the background. Roads are blocked to traffic while streetcar tracks are being put in, but construction workers at the end of day don’t pay much attention to a cyclist (Toronto) 20140507Corktown Commons playground ready for children. Aqua colored soft playground surfaces in quiet playground on a cool late Thursday afternoon. Road construction and unfinished apartment buildings mean families not yet nearby. View north to Adelaide overpass. (Toronto) 20140508Monday night family dinner out. Seating for 6, ordered for 8. Way too much good, leftovers predictable. (Markham) 20140512Alfresco dining in Iowa. Heartland tradition of thick burgers from local beef on Fridays, Curbside Grill by Chef Curtis by the Hy-Vee supermarket, over by the gas bar. Cooked to order slightly pink might not meet big city bylaws. Retreated to cafe for warmth in unexpectedly chilly May. (Fairfield, IA) 20140516Intercept for breakfast. Early morning, then two hours drive west in Iowa to meet in person, after months of teleconferences. Last minute plans on meetings in South Dakota over breakfast. (Des Moines) 20140519Deadwood History and Information Center. Learned that during the Gold Rush, Deadwood had the largest Chinatown outside of San Francisco. Historian said last building demolished some decades ago, leading to formation of historical society. (Deadwood, SD) 20140522Queue for platform 9-3/4. Everyone wants to join Harry Potter at Hogwarts at permanent installation at King’s Cross station. Renovations at station now all done. (London, England) 20140525Lounge at Egrove Park. Residence for executive education at Said Business School at Oxford U. is quite tranquil when not in session. Bedrooms are architecturally interesting, but luggage up and down stairs annoying. (Oxford) 20140529
Radcliffe Observatory, Green Templeton College on Flickr. Dinner for Oxford Futures Forum on oldest continually operating meteorological station on Britain. Chef reputed to get superior ratings after each course than professors (Oxford) 20140530
As the book on Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 was taking shape in March 2023, I was invited not only to serve as an editor, but also to contribute as an author. The edited volume is the final deliverable for the In4act project centered at the KTU School of Economics and Business in Kaunas, Lithuania […]
Beyond city-building as urban planning is the idea of a Music City. This sees development of cultural life across a wide variety of arts, alongside economic benefits brought to the region. At the 119th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario in March 2024, socio-cultural designer Adam Hogan and musician-designer Ziyan Hossain joined moderator Zaid Khan in conversation. […]
Having reached year 6 of an espoused 10-year journey, the Systems Changes Learning Circle is (again) convening monthly Dialogues on Social Innovation at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto. Starting up in 2019, the Circle was convening regularly in the Climate Ventures space at 192 Spadina Avenue. The pandemic interrupted in-person meetings, and the […]
EQ Lab runs Dialogic Drinks, “the kind of philosophical discussion you have in a coffee shop or bar”, twice per week. Wtih this group interested loosely in questions on leadership, I was invited to host an online session on March 12 (evening in Hong Kong and Singapore, really early in Toronto) and on March 14-15 […]
At the 118th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario in February 2024, behavioral scientist Cameron D. Norman and design strategist Tara Campbell were invitied for a conversation guided by Zaid Khan. The panelists are both alumni of the Strategic Foresight and Innovation program at OCADU. Some time ago, they had conducted a research project on evaluation […]
An article on “sciencing and philosophizing”, coauthored by Gary S. Metcalf and myself, has been published in the Journal of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, following the ISSS 2023 Kruger Park conference in South Africa, last July. There’s a version cacned on the Coevolving Commons. This article started in a series of conversations […]
David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
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 ›
Finding proper words to express system(s) change(s) can be a challenge. One alternative could be diachrony. The Oxford English dictionary provides two definitions for diachronic, the first one most generally related to time. (The second is linguistic method) diachronic ADJECTIVE Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “diachronic (adj.), sense 1,” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3691792233. For completeness, prochronic relates “to […]
The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
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 […]
