To survive the next millennium, humanity must create and implement sustainable
technology for global development so that the needs of the present are met
without compromising the needs of future generations. Successful solution
strategies must have roots in ecology, economics, the social and behavioral
sciences, technology, ethics, information science, and above all, the systems
sciences. Piecemeal solutions in the past have lead to the overwhelming
global problems of pollution, over population, increasing dependence on
non-renewable resources, depletion of the rain forests, global warming,
etc. A global systems view is essential to stimulate discussion of the complex
problems underlying sustainability and to develop strategies and answers.
The ISSS is uniquely qualified to provide a structure for integrating and
synthesizing knowledge. Chartered under the auspices of history and philosophy
of science sector of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
the society has provided a focus for the systemic integration and synthesis
of knowledge across disciplines of science, philosophy, and the humanities.
Over four decades, the society has self-organized into many Special Integration
Groups (SIGs) that use general systems theories and conceptual frameworks
to integrate knowledge across traditional disciplines and synthesize new
and exciting alternative approaches.
This meeting at Georgia Tech provides the opportunity to emphasize the applications
of general systems theories in technology. While the theme emphasizes technology
in social and ecological systems (including political, accounting, and international
subsystems), it also provides opportunity to integrate science, philosophy,
art, and humanities.
The purpose of presentations is to announce your research so that you may
develop other participant's interest in integrating their research with
your own for refinement, elaboration, and application. Necessary details
should be included in the written papers published in the proceedings. Proceedings
papers should reference major publications so that serious inquiries into
the literature may be made.
Three types of sessions will be conducted. PAPER SESSIONS will consist
of four twenty-minute presentations summarizing papers included in the proceedings
followed by twenty-five minutes of questions and answers. WORKSHOPS will
consist of four ten-minute initial statements followed by sixty-five minutes
of discussion, and SYMPOSIA will consist of four ten-minute initial
statements followed by four ten minutes responsive, integrative statements
followed by twenty-five minutes of questions and answers. Paper presentations
should clearly and concisely summarize the papers appearing in the proceedings.
Symposia and workshops should have persons designated to summarize the integration
of ideas presented.
In addition to the three types of organized sessions, poster sessions
may be arranged. Such sessions provide an area (room or hallway) for
several individuals to display, on posters, the main points of their research
so that their research may be quickly explained to other interested persons.
Usually, the times the displayer will be at the poster are indicated so
that interested parties may discuss the research with him or her. Students
working on uncompleted projects may want to use this means of communication.
We invite papers and proposals for session within, but not limited to, the
following topics, as they relate to the systems aspect of sustainability.
· Systems Foundations for the Future of Sustainable Development
· Modeling the Present and Predicting the Future
· Systems Epistemology, Pedagogy, and Methodology
· Living Systems Theory
· Social Entropy Theory
· Critical Systems Theory
· Multi-Model Systems View
· Linguistic-Mathematical Theory
· Complex Systems and Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics
· Chaos, Order, and Self-organizing Systems in Evolutionary Theory
· General Theory of Energy
· Emergy Theory
· Information to Make a Difference
· Informatics and Information
· Quantification of System Elements
· Icon Notation as a Language of Technology
· Entropy Measurements
· Environmental Assessment
· Sustainable Technology
· Engineering Design for Social and Ecological Solutions
· Quality Systems
· Open Systems
· Industrial Ecology
· Reverse Engineering
· Social Economics, Accounting, and Engineering
· Ecological Economics, Accounting, and Engineering
· Historical Anthropological Views of Sustainable and Unsustainable Development
· Insights from Philosophy, Arts, and Humanities
· How we got to where we are.
J. K. Allen (Chair), Georgia Tech; G. A. Swanson (President ISSS, Co-chair),
Tennessee Tech; L. Feorene, M. Saunders, J. Vanegas, D. Clark (Student
Representative), Georgia Tech
COOPERATING ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
COOPERATING ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS
The Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering of the Georgia Institute
of Technology will host the 1998 ISSS Annual Meeting. Georgia Tech is located
near the heart of downtown Atlanta, a metropolitan city and leader in global
business, communications, and cultural developments in the southern United
States. Atlanta was home to the 1996 Olympic games. The Atlanta airport
is served by all major airlines and there are fine hotels and restaurants
in the area. In addition, there are many opportunities for vacations nearby.
Papers and Posters
Authors should submit an extended abstract of a maximum of 300 words of
text and 2 figures. The abstract should explicitly indicate the relevance
to the conference topic, highlight novel aspects of the work, new contributions,
and conclusions that can be drawn. Mail, fax, or email abstracts followed
by hard copies.
Panel Discussions
The proposed chair of the panel should describe the scope of the topic to be covered. The panelists should give a brief description of their approach to the topic to be discussed.
Send to:
J. K. Allen, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech, Atlanta,
GA 30332-0405, Tel: (404) 894-8168; Fax: (404) 894-9342,
email: janet.allen@me.gatech.edu
G. A. Swanson, President ISSS, Department of Acct. and Bus. Law, Tennessee
Technological University, Cookeville, TN 38505 USA, email: gas8882@tntech.edu,
Tel: (615) 372-3883, Fax: (615) 372-6249.