First call inviting participation in
The 12th Australia New Zealand Systems Society Conference
“Sustaining our Social and Natural Capital”
3rd – 6th December 2006
Carrington Hotel, Katoomba, NSW Australia
Co-hosts:
Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute
Action Learning Action Research and Process Management Association (ALARPM)
Society for Organisational Learning (SOLA) Australia
ISCE Events, Mansfield, USA
Our efforts to sustain our communities, and the natural environments that support them, are challenged by our ability to communicate effectively between our different forms of knowledge. Respect for diversity and difference, drawing upon all our methods of inquiry and advocacy, and learning to find common ground, are all part of the integrative approach needed to address the complexity of the challenges we face. This conference is an opportunity for practitioners from broad ranging traditions to share their experiences regarding integrative and innovative approaches that can make a difference.
Communities living alongside the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area are both aware of the significant local natural and cultural heritage, while being increasingly influenced by urbanization due to the proximity of Sydney. This is a particularly relevant location for a conference addressing these issues. The language of ‘natural and social capital’ is now well entrenched in international policy rhetoric, but our sense of connectedness in our communities and organisations continues to erode, along with the integrity of our natural and agricultural ecologies. This conference seeks to celebrate the initiatives we are involved in, while critically considering how we can learn from other’s experiences to enhance our own practice.
This conference is relevant to people from broad ranging backgrounds and experience, including:
Practitioners involved in natural resource management and policy, community engagement, environmental governance, community development; sustainable business development, and ecotourism.
Natural and social scientists, facilitators, communicators, educators, community advocates, and traditional custodians, who are interested in crossing boundaries of knowledge and methodologies.
Systems practitioners, action researchers, organisational learning practitioners, and those involved in integrative approaches such as integrated catchment management, adaptive management, cultural development, and environmental education.
Practitioners who embrace systems principles in the design, evolution and operation of engineering systems.
People who communicate and facilitate learning through storytelling, art, music, and alternative means of expression.
Conference design
Plenary sessions, and follow on workshops will be organised around the following thematic clusters:
Resilience, ecology and governance,
Cultural knowledge and heritage,
Creativity, organization and complexity,
Systems thinking and dynamics,
Social sustainability and community,
Livelihood, innovation and opportunity,
Language, learning and transdisciplinary practice,
Engineering systems and infrastructure design.
An inclusive and conversational conference design is being developed, with facilitators supporting a process of: mentoring submitted papers through formal peer review; organising plenary panels of papers relating to thematic clusters; developing issues raised through ‘open-space’ workshop conversations; and supporting break out workshops and local field visits. Additional key elements of the conference will include:
‘Welcome to country’ to respect traditional custodians,
‘Circle of elders’ conversation with invited leading practitioners,
‘Marketplace’ for showcasing organisations, businesses and products.
Field trips to local initiatives and places of significance.
Costs and getting there
Conference registration costs will be kept to a minimum and will be approx. A$500 for full registration and A$300 for students. Very reasonable accommodation packages will be available at the Carrington Hotel, along with alternative quality budget accommodation nearby. The Carrington Hotel is in walking distance of Katoomba Railway Station, which is approx. 2 hours west of Sydney. Railway connections from Sydney International and Domestic Airports are comfortable and easy. The website for the venue is
http://www.thecarrington.com.au.
Invitation to participate and contribute papers
You are invited to participate in the conference through submitting a paper, contributing to workshops, and involvement in the range of planned and emergent activities. Papers are invited, on any aspects of relevance to the conference themes. Papers must be original work that has not been submitted to other conferences or journals, and reflections on work in progress are particularly sought as means of showcasing emerging work. All papers submitted within the dates below will be formally peer reviewed, in a mentoring spirit, and published on a CD of the conference proceedings. Papers will have a 2500 word limit and formatting should follow the guidelines at:
http://emergence.org/ECO_site/web-content/sub_info.htmlKey dates
15th April 2006 Abstracts due (250 words)
31st July 2006 Submission of papers due.
1st September 2006 Reviews completed. Authors notified of reviewers comments.
15th October 2006 Final date for submission of revised and formatted papers.
31st October 2006 Registration closes.
Administration and interest in attending
Please address all inquiries and correspondence to Roger Attwater, Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (
r.attwater@bmwhi.org.au). Further information and registration form will be placed on a conference website as soon as this is established, with updates emailed to all people who indicate their interest.
If you are planning to attend please reply by email, fax or mail to the following form to assist our preliminary planning and keep you informed of progress.
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EXPRESSION OF INTEREST TO ATTEND / SUBMIT A PAPER
12th ANZSYS Conference – Sustaining our Social and Natural Capital
Carrington Hotel, Katoomba, 3rd – 6th December 2006
? Yes I am interested in attending the conference
? Yes I am interested in submitting a paper
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Contact details:
Mail address:
Phone: Fax:
Email:
Please either:
1. Email this to
r.attwater@bmwhi.org.au2. Fax this to: 02 4782 4686
3. Mail to: PO Box 576 Katoomba NSW 2780 Australia