A call for participation in San Jose, CA USA, July 15-20, 2012The systems sciences provide a platform of concepts and language that enables communities of interest to

transcend disciplinary boundaries towards developing new knowledge and perspectives. The ISSS 2012 theme of Service Systems, Natural Systems draws attention to complex issues in today's world, where dialogue amongst the

learned may lead to better futures.

The natural systems sciences focus on the sustainability and diversity of life on our planet. Social ecological systems balance competing interests of human well-being, social development and economic progress. Maintaining resilience of natural capital and resources across temporal and spatial scales challenges policies, governance and stewardship.

The service systems sciences focus on the value cooperatively created and shared in human activities.

Service systems support basic needs such as food and water, develop social potential through education

and healthcare, and advance our societies through businesses, governments and social enterprises

working in a globalized, networked world.

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The sessions of ISSS 2012 will foster learning conversations. The dialectic between service scientists and natural scientists will sweep in new perspectives in dialogues beyond disciplinary boundaries.

Conference Schedule:●Sunday, July 15 (6 p.m.) to Friday, July 20, 2012 (1 p.m.)●Pre-conference workshops on Sunday, July 15 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)●Post-conference workshops on Friday, July 20 (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.)

Venue:●San Jose State University, San Jose,

California, USA●On-campus accommodations and special

hotel rates available

Important Dates:●May 10, 2012: The end of early, discounted registration.●June 15, 2012: The deadline for full papers to be included in the online proceedings.●June 15, 2012: The deadline for abstracts and poster sessions to be streamed into the conference program.

Watch for conference updates on isss.org

The 56th Annual Meeting of theInternational Society for the Systems Sciences

ISSS San Jose 2012July 15-20 2012, at San Jose State University, California

Service Systems,Natural Systems

Platinum Sponsor●IBM

Plenary Speakers●Rafael Ramirez, Director, Oxford

Scenarios Programme; Fellow in Strategy at the Saïd Business School and Green-Templeton College; James Martin Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School.

●Jim Spohrer, Director of Global University Programs, IBM

●Garry Peterson, Professor in Environmental Studies, Stockholm Resilience Centre

●Timothy F. H. Allen, Professor Emeritus of Botany and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin Madison

●Stuart Umpleby, Director of the Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning, George Washington University

●Minna Takala, Researcher and Project Manager, Business Innovation Technology Research Center, Aalto University School of Science;

●John J. Kineman, Senior Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Research into Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder

●Cumulative synthesis by Gary S. Metcalf, President of the International Federation for Systems Research, and President of Interconnections LLC; and Pamela Buckle Henning, Associate Professor at Adelphi University

The ISSS invites scholars, practitioners and students to learn together in presentations and discussions

Major activities within the meeting week include:

●Plenary dialectics, discussant panets, breakouts, and cumulative synthesis

●System basics track with leading experts

●Research track, with papers published in proceedings at journals.isss.org

●Workshops (pre-conference and evenings)

This meeting is designed at an interactive and collegial scale of 100 to 250 thinkers with diverse backgrounds and interests in the arts and sciences of systems.

Systems Basics session leaders●"Roots of the Systems Movement", Debora Hammond,

Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Hutchins School of Liberal Studies, Sonoma State University;

●"Living Systems Theory", James R. Simms, author of Principles of quantitative living systems science;

●"Ecological Resilience and Panarchy", Pille Bunnell, Associated Faculty, Royal Roads University;

●"Organisational Cybernetics", Allenna Leonard, Past President (2002-2004) of the American Society for Cybernetics;

●"Science of Generic Design", Jack Ring, Fellow of INCOSE, Industrial Fellow of the Stevens Institute of Technology, Co-founder of Kennen Technologies LLC;

●"Soft Systems Methodology", Giles Hindle, Senior Lecturer at Hull University Business School and Associate Fellow at Warwick Business School;

●"System Dynamics", Bob Cavana, Reader in Decisions Sciences at Victoria Management School, Wellington, New Zealand;

●"Anticipatory Systems and the Modeling Relation", Judith Rosen, Rosen Enterprises;

●"Language Action Perspective", Peter Jones, Associate Professor at OCAD University, Managing Partner at Dialogic Design International, and Managing Director at Redesign;

●"Inquiring Systems", Ian Mitroff, Professor Emeritus at the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles;

●"Idealized Design and Interactive Planning", John Pourdehnad, Associate Director of the Ackoff Center for Advancement of Systems Approaches (ACASA), and Affiliated Faculty in the Organizational Dynamics Graduate Program at the University of Pennsylvania;

●"Socio-Technical and Socio-Ecological Systems Perspectives", David L. Hawk, former dean of the School of Management, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Exchange Affiliates●Systems Dynamics Society●American Society for Cybernetics●INCOSE: The International Council on Systems Engineering