The aim of the conference was to provide an opportunity to gather and discuss Action research and Organisational Cybernetics, both from a postgraduate and senior practitioners point of view. Twenty people were involved in making presentations or facilitating workshops over the two days. Themes adressed on day one ranged from case studies and worshops from the world of business, as well as research on complexity management and sustainability. At the end of day a short film by J. Livas summarized and presented the history of Cybernetics, its connection to Chaos Theory and with the newest developments in the Digital Era, as well as the philosophical paradigm that it has developed. Day two included subjects as global, regional and national governance,education and short workshop on methodologies he employed and wrote about for peace and conflict resolution in developing countries and communities. The closing session on day two was a workshop on the organization of Metaphorum itself, led by Allenna Leonard and Angela Espinosa. Day three was dedicated to a workshop on Frederick Vester’s Sensitivity Model and the Ecopolitics game by Gabrielle Harrer, in which she guided the audience through the steps of the model using the model’s software with its existing case studies in the morning and, after lunch were able to try to apply it to the Metaphorum organization.
Action Research in Business and Management I (Chair A Espinosa) | Luc Hoebeke
| Learning the VSM-language from experience, not from the classroom |
| Steve Morlidge
| Money, Time and Variety Engineering: the application of cybernetics to the diagnosis and design of Financial Performance Management Systems |
| Stefan Wasilewski
| Emergence of Viable Businesses from a Complex Economic Landscape in the Banking and Insurance Industries |
Organisational Cybernetics in Education and Learning (Chair A Espinosa) | Robin Asby Penny Marrington
| Education and learning: creating the autonomous survivor?’ |
| Mark Johnson
| The Viable System Model, Learners and self-efficacy |
Complexity & Sustainability (Chair R Harnden) | Angela Espinosa
| Complexity Management and Sustainability: Research Approaches and ongoing Projects |
| Russell Clemens
| Applying the VSM to Environmental Scanning and Foresight Development: A system 4 Perspective on the Meta-system Communication Dynamics for Success |
| Pedro P. Cardoso
| Self organisation in community regeneration |
| Kathryn Knowles
| A Cybernetic Approach to Environmental Management Systems and the Engagement of an Organizations’ Culture |
Cybernetics, Science and Philosophy | Javier Livas | The Kubernetes Universe – Film and discussion |
Global, national and regional Governance (Chair – R. Harnden) | Leonie Solomons Workshop | Governance Issues in Sri Lanka, A Cybernetic Diagnosis and Solution ‘Process’: Workshop |
| Michelle Watts
| Collaborative implementation network structures: Cultural tourism implementation in an English seaside context |
| Jon Walker
| A Global Meta-system for a Viable Planet |
Methods and Tools I (Chair: L Hoebeke) | Arthur Dijkstra & Steve Brewis Workshop (1 hour) | VSM Modelling of an airline organisation Document for preparation: ACOSM.pdf: Aim: to assign systems 1s of the generic airline model. |
Methods and Tools II (Chair: L Hoebeke) | Gabrielle Harrer (20 min) | Systemic and cybernetic planning and management with the “Sensitivity Model of Prof. Vester |
Conflict resolution (Chair A. Leonard) | Dennis Finlayson Workshop (40 min) | A ‘Soft’ approach to ‘environmental conflict resolution’ and other community action research situations: A Case study on the Amnesty Group in Arauca, Colombia |
| Allenna Leonard & Angela Espinosa | Workshop: Metaphorum as a learning community |