<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Kenneth McLeod</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kenneth.mcleod@uts.edu.au">kenneth.mcleod@uts.edu.au</a>></span><br>Date: Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 7:43 AM<br>Subject: UPDATE: Complexity, Emergence and Systemic Change<br>To: <a href="mailto:kenneth.mcleod@uts.edu.au">kenneth.mcleod@uts.edu.au</a><br><br><br>
  
    
  
  <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
    <font color="#000099" face="Futura" size="+3">Anthropocene
      Transition Project</font><br>
    <div class="m_-952772938252060886moz-forward-container">
      <div class="m_-952772938252060886moz-forward-container">
        <div class="m_-952772938252060886moz-forward-container">
          <div class="m_-952772938252060886moz-forward-container"><font color="#999999" face="Futura" size="+2">Complexity, Emergence and
              Systemic Change<br>
            </font>
            <hr width="100%" size="2"><b> </b> <br>
            <blockquote>It seems we have several people interested in
              doing the Santa Fe Institute's <b>Introduction to
                Complexity</b> free online course and participating in
              our own <b>face-to-face seminars</b> to explore the
              content in the context of social and cultural change in
              the Anthropocene Transition.<br>
              <br>
              Here is the link for the course:  <a href="https://www.complexityexplorer.org/courses/74-introduction-to-complexity-spring-2017" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr>complexityexplorer.org/<wbr>courses/74-introduction-to-<wbr>complexity-spring-2017</a><br>
              <br>
              The course starts on 10th April and runs for 11 weeks,
              though you can extend it over a longer period if you wish
              (the course materials remain on line for some time to
              allow participants to proceed at their own pace).  You
              can, of course, cherry-pick the course by doing just the
              units that interest you and skimming over the others.<br>
              <br>
              Suggested dates for our own seminars are:<br>
              <blockquote>
                <ul>
                  <li><b>Monday 8th May</b><b><br>
                    </b><b><br>
                    </b></li>
                  <li><b>Monday 5th June</b></li>
                </ul>
              </blockquote>
              <blockquote>
                <ul>
                  <li><b>Monday 3rd July</b></li>
                </ul>
              </blockquote>
              All at 6pm at the Business School.  At this stage these
              dates are provisional.  If you want to participate but one
              or more of these dates are impossible for you, please let
              me know right away. At our third seminar we'll decide on
              the next step.<br>
              <br>
              <font color="#cc0000" size="+2"><b>ACTION REQUIRED:</b></font>
              <br>
              <br>
              <ul>
                <li><b><font size="+1">If you have already enrolled for
                      the Santa Fe course or plan to do so, please let
                      me know now.</font></b></li>
              </ul>
              <ul>
                <li><b><font size="+1">Check the proposed dates for our
                      seminars and confirm that you are available. If
                      some dates don't suit some I'll run an online poll
                      to find the best fit.</font></b></li>
              </ul>
            </blockquote>
            <blockquote> <br>
              <font size="+1"><b>Advance notice:</b></font>  Next year
              the Macquarie University Big History Institute is planning
              a major conference on Complexity. Watch for further
              updates.<br>
              <br>
              Below is the first email about this proposal for your
              reference. Also attached is Thomas Homer Dixon's paper in
              case you missed it the first time and sociologist Brian
              Castellani's excellent overview. Here's Castellani's
              complexity map to induce you to read the article!<br>
            </blockquote>
            <blockquote>Cheers, Ken<br>
            </blockquote>
            <img alt="" src="cid:part2.14924C02.1E0F6C9A@uts.edu.au"><br>
            <br>
            <br>
            <hr width="100%" size="2"><br>
            Dear ATP participants,<br>
            <br>
            At one of our ATP forums last year <b>Annie Kia</b> from
            the Lock the Gate Alliance explained how LTG's brilliantly
            successful community engagement strategy was informed by
            complexity theory. Following the forum a number of
            participants raised the idea of an on-going inquiry into
            complexity and social/cultural change. This idea has been
            raised with me on several occasions since. <br>
            <br>
            It seems to me that for an inquiry of this kind to be useful
            the participants would need at least a basic shared
            understanding of some of the key concepts in complexity
            science. Some ATP participants are very familiar with this
            field of scholarship. Others have only the most general
            understanding.<br>
            <br>
            <b><font color="#cc0000">So here's an idea on which I'd like
                your feedback...</font></b><br>
            <br>
            
            The Santa Fe Institute in the USA is a world leader in
            complexity science research and education. The institute
            runs an extensive education program from undergraduate to
            professional development levels. One of its most popular
            online courses (MOOCs) is <b>Introduction to Complexity</b>.
            
            <blockquote><font size="-1"><b><i>In this popular
                    introductory course, you'll learn about the tools
                    used by scientists to understand complex systems.
                    The topics you'll learn about include dynamics,
                    chaos, fractals, information theory,
                    self-organization, agent-based modeling, and
                    networks. You’ll also get a sense of how these
                    topics fit together to help explain how complexity
                    arises and evolves in nature, society, and
                    technology. There are no prerequisites. You don't
                    need a science or maths background to take this
                    introductory course; it simply requires an interest
                    in the field and the willingness to participate in a
                    hands-on approach to the subject.</i></b> (From the
                SFI website)</font><br>
            </blockquote>
            The next offering of this free course is from <b>10th April
              to 30 June</b> and is run by <b>Professor Melanie
              Mitchell</b>, author of <i>Complexity: A Guided Tour</i>
            (2009).<br>
            <br>
            You can see Professor Mitchell's introduction to the course
            here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKzXvxZN-OE&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=XKzXvxZN-OE&feature=youtu.be</a><br>
            <br>
            <b><font color="#cc0000">Do we have any ATP participants
                interested in enrolling in this course and meeting a few
                times while it is running to review the content and
                discuss its relevance within the context of the
                Anthropocene Transition?</font></b><br>
            <br>
            After the completion of the course these participants might
            form the core of an inquiry group to further explore the
            implications of complexity theory for approaches to
            social/cultural transformation.<br>
            <dfn><br>
            </dfn>If you're interested in this subject I'm sure you'll
            find much of value in the attached talk by Canadian
            political scientist <b>Thomas Homer Dixon</b>.<br>
            <br>
            I'll look forward to receiving your thoughts on this or any
            similar suggestions.<br>
            <br>
            Best wishes,  Ken<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
            <br>
            <div class="m_-952772938252060886moz-signature">-- <br>
              <img src="cid:part4.6E5685C1.610DAF14@uts.edu.au" border="0"></div>
          </font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
        </font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
      </font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
    </font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
  
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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://commonstransition.org" target="_blank">http://commonstransition.org</a>  </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a>  - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div></div></div>
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