Tangled Nature: A model of emergent structure and temporal mode among co-evolving agents

Understanding systems level behaviour of many interacting agents is challenging in various ways, here we'll focus on the how the interaction between components can lead to hierarchical structures with different types of dynamics, or causations, at different levels. We use the Tangled Nature model to discuss the co-evolutionary aspects connecting the microscopic level of the individual to the macroscopic systems level. At the microscopic level the individual agent may undergo evolutionary changes due to mutations of strategies. The micro-dynamics always run at a constant rate. Nevertheless, the system's level dynamics exhibit a completely different type of intermittent abrupt dynamics where major upheavals keep throwing the system between meta-stable configurations. These dramatic transitions are described by a log-Poisson time statistics. The long time effect is a collectively adapted of the ecological network. We discuss the ecological and macroevolutionary consequences of the adaptive dynamics and briefly describe work using the Tangled Nature framework to analyse problems in economics, sociology, innovation and sustainabilityComment: Invited contribution to Focus on Complexity in European Journal of Physics. 25 page, 1 figur

The strategic and the stratigraphic: a working paper on the dynamics of organisational evolution.

Despite large debates over fundamental issues a broadly evolutionary paradigm of organisations is growing in legitimacy. It may though be preferable to replace the metaphor of the organisation as an organism with the literal assertion that both social organisations are ecologies (Weeks and Galunic, 2003). They are still classes of complex systems maintained, and specified by, replicators (or schemata Gell Mann 1994) but the interactor is not necessarily the individual organisation, or population of organisations. Conceptual evolution has been argued as a post-Kuhnian analysis of the scientific process (Hull 1988), a rival economic paradigm (references in Hodgson 1993), a view of strategy (e.g. Lloyd 1990) and an explanation of organisational transformation and learning (Price and Evans 1993, Price 1994, 1995).My concern in this paper is to compare strategic extinction and speciation events in both systems. The stratigraphic record shows a dominant pattern of extinctions and radiative speciations which then settle to stabilised ecosystems. The historical and commercial (or strategigraphic?) record illustrates a similar pattern (Rothschild 1990, Tylecote 1993, Arthur 1994). The causes of extinction events may be genuinely external to the system affected (e.g. asteroid impacts interrupting a reptilian dominated system cannot plausibly be traced to feedback processes in any coupled eco/ lithosphere) or they may be internal when the success of a particular replicator system disturbs a wider systemic balance (e.g. ice-house glaciations terminating plant dominated episodes of earth history). Strategic scale parallels of both forms of extinction event can be seen in commercial and technological history. Keywords Organisational evolution, Punctuated equilibrium, Narrative ecology, memetics

The ecology of wisdom

This is the first of two papers concerning wisdom as an ecosystem appearing in sequential editions of Management & Marketing journal. The notion of wisdom as an ecosystem, or “the wisdom ecology,” builds on work by Hays (2007) who first identified wisdom as an organisational construct and proposed a dynamic model of it. The centrepiece of this paper and the companion part to follow is a relationship map of the wisdom ecosystem (the Causal Loop Diagram at Figure 1). This first instalment provides background on wisdom and complex adaptive systems, and introduces the wisdom ecosystem model. The second instalment, “Mapping Wisdom as a Complex Adaptive System,” appearing in the next edition of Management & Marketing, explains systems dynamics modelling and discusses the wisdom ecosystem model in detail. It covers the four domains, or subsystems, of the wisdom ecosystem, Dialogue, Communal Mind, Collective Intelligence, and Wisdom, and walks readers through the model, exploring each of its 24 elements in turn. That second paper examines the relationships amongst system elements and illuminates important aspects of systems function.causal loop diagramming, complexity, dialogue, organisational learning, systems dynamics, wisdom.

Governance, scale and the environment: the importance of recognizing knowledge claims in transdisciplinary arenas

Any present day approach of the world’s most pressing environmental problems involves both scale and governance issues. After all, current local events might have long-term global consequences (the scale issue) and solving complex environmental problems requires policy makers to think and govern beyond generally used time-space scales (the governance issue). To an increasing extent, the various scientists in these fields have used concepts like social-ecological systems, hierarchies, scales and levels to understand and explain the “complex cross-scale dynamics” of issues like climate change. A large part of this work manifests a realist paradigm: the scales and levels, either in ecological processes or in governance systems, are considered as “real”. However, various scholars question this position and claim that scales and levels are continuously (re)constructed in the interfaces of science, society, politics and nature. Some of these critics even prefer to adopt a non-scalar approach, doing away with notions such as hierarchy, scale and level. Here we take another route, however. We try to overcome the realist-constructionist dualism by advocating a dialogue between them on the basis of exchanging and reflecting on different knowledge claims in transdisciplinary arenas. We describe two important developments, one in the ecological scaling literature and the other in the governance literature, which we consider to provide a basis for such a dialogue. We will argue that scale issues, governance practices as well as their mutual interdependencies should be considered as human constructs, although dialectically related to nature’s materiality, and therefore as contested processes, requiring intensive and continuous dialogue and cooperation among natural scientists, social scientists, policy makers and citizens alike. They also require critical reflection on scientists’ roles and on academic practices in general. Acknowledging knowledge claims provides a common ground and point of departure for such cooperation, something we think is not yet sufficiently happening, but which is essential in addressing today’s environmental problems

Metalogue: trying to talk about (un)sustainability - a reflection on experience

This paper considers dilemmas for organization and management scholars studying and writing about environmental sustainability. It suggests that sustainability requires new ways of thinking which in turn require new forms of representation to help foster their emergence. Consequently, the paper partly takes the experimental form of a ‘metalogue’ (Bateson, 1972), in which the structure of the conversation between the authors is intended to be reflective of the content of the problematic subject discussed, in this case their experiences of trying to raise critical questions about scholarship for sustainability. This experimental form, which invites the reader to eschew expectations of typical points of orientation, enables an appreciation of how forms of argument seem to replicate epistemological challenges in the sustainability field. The paper shows how metaloguing becomes not only an alternative form but also an inquiry process for considering sustainability that can support embodied reflexivity, critical questioning and appreciation of entanglements of people-scholars

Poverty, Poaching and Trafficking: What are the links?

A rapid review of academic and grey literature revealed that the links between poverty, poaching and trafficking are under-researched and poorly understood. Yet, the assumption that poaching occurs because of poverty is omnipresent, with little ‘hard evidence’ to support the claim. Despite this, the authors are confident that the links are there, based on the evidence gathered. However, their understandings are hampered by a series of factors: trafficking and poaching are overwhelmingly framed as an issue of conservation/biodiversity loss rather than of poverty and development; it is difficult to collect clear and detailed data on poaching precisely because of its illicit nature; and many of the cases examined are also linked in with conflict zones, making research even more challenging

Building the Field of Arts Engagement: Prospects and Challenges

The cultural sector in America is grappling with how to remain relevant to the rapidly changing society from which it draws its audiences and support. This is a demanding task -- adapting to rapid demographic and technological change is no less challenging for the cultural sector than for journalism, the music industry, publishing, or the taxi cab business today. But if the cultural sector does not take on this task, it risks marginalization. Cultural leaders therefore need to examine the mechanics of engagement in the arts in a concerted way, distill lessons from their successes and failures, and share those lessons -- in short, to build the field of arts engagement. To explore this topic, in 2015 Irvine commissioned AEA Consulting to undertake panel discussions, surveys, and bilateral interviews across the arts sector. This report contains observations and reflections by Adrian Ellis, Elizabeth Ellis, and their colleagues

Creative ‘Class’: Leading Innovation with Digital Pedagogy in Cultural and Creative Industry (CCI) Programs

Leaders of cultural and creative programs (CCIs) in Ontario community colleges are key to realizing potential in higher education related to digital pedagogy, creativity, industry partnerships, entrepreneurship and innovation. In this Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP), the role of an academic leadership group is considered from Ontario-centric creative industry and innovation policies and college processes. The problem of practice is the gap of harmonized leadership strategy between higher education classroom practices and regional and provincial overarching educational strategy to increase innovation through digital pedagogy. Colleges have collective capacities in innovating with digital pedagogy in creative industry programs and providing graduates with workplace skills, while supporting humanistic ideals of culture and creativity. There is an opportunity for a Creative Program Leaders Committee to move from a community of practice to become influencers of strategy and research. In the OIP I outline a plan to begin the process to define digital pedagogy in creative programs, collect exemplars, and plan to create a strategy document to lead to knowledge transfer among stakeholders. The OIP is contextualized through themes of complexity, ambiguity, and connectivity in a neo-liberal era. Eddy’s (2010) community college change communication framework and Hernes’ (2008, 2014) ideas of process organizational theory inform these themes. By doing so, the informed strategy creation can help harmonize and advance collective goals for both colleges and provincial institutions