SUSTAINING OUR SOCIAL AND NATURAL CAPITAL

The 12th Australia New Zealand Systems Society Conference 2006

EVENT DETAILS

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

event overview

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 was 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 urbanisation due to the proximity of Sydney. This was 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 sought 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 was 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 were 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 was 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 included:

• ‘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.

PUBLICATIONS

2006. ANZSYS Conference. Program

2006. ANZSYS Conference. “Sustaining our Social and Natural Capital”. List of proceedings.