Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
In this message, we would like to update you on the 2004 Conference in Keble
College, Oxford. Please note: the paper submission deadline, as well as the
workshop proposals deadline, is the end of this week, April 2.
Firstly, a few words about the developing programme. In addition to the
usual broad range of topic-related parallel and poster paper presentations,
we are expecting a very full programme of round-table discussions, workshops
and debates, and around twenty commercial exhibitors. There is also a PhD
student colloquium immediately before the main conference, along with a full
day of workshops afterwards. We are also finalising details for three very
exciting special sessions around the theme of 'collegiality' and involving
eminent world experts and speakers. The sessions being planned are:
""Bringing Coherence and Consensus to Public Policy Making"". This session
will explore the populist political notion of 'joined-up thinking' in
government and public policy, wherein decisions and public funding are
targeted in a coherent and efficient manner towards issues that really
matter. This plenary will feature presentations by Geoff Mulgan, a senior
member in the Cabinet Office (the circle of senior UK government civil
servants and advisers) who will identify the issues and challenges in
co-ordinating thinking across a wide range of government departments,
followed by an input from Prof. Eric Wolstenholme, one of the world's
leading system dynamics practitioners whose modelling work on National
Health Service planning has been highly influential. The plenary will be
chaired by Peter Day, who is a leading BBC business correspondent and
analyst. A complementary contribution will be made by Vince Barabba, a
former senior executive with General Motors who is well known in the States
for his work on decision tools to improve decision making in both the
private and the public sectors. Later the same day we are holding a panel
session on the topics raised in these sessions.
""Insights for Systems Modelling - The broader community of systems
thinkers"". This plenary also reflects the conference theme by investigating
how system dynamics interfaces with other methodologies supporting
systematic thinking. Three eminent UK system scientists will present reports
and lead discussion resulting from an ESRC-funded series of workshops. The
presenters will be Peter Checkland, a world-leading soft system methodology
exponent and Emeritus Professor at Lancaster University; his Lancaster
colleague Prof. Mike Pidd; and John Morecroft, of MIT and London Business
School and a Past President of the System Dynamics Society.
""Emerging Theories about Deep Collective Learning"". This special session
will be led and co-ordinated by Peter Senge. Peter is, of course, an
exceptional system thinking proponent who has been a major influence in the
field through his practice with businesses and organisations and his
worldwide best seller 'The Fifth Discipline'. Most recently he has been
exploring a 'field theory' of change - how deep shifts in underlying
structures of meaning and awareness can develop and enable fundamentally new
actions and strategies. The development of this theory is the subject of his
new book, 'Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future', co-authored
with C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers. He hopes to
complement his views with a contribution from Danah Zohar, an MIT-trained
physicist now based in Oxford, who is a widely published author now
exploring the notion of 'Spiritual Capital' - how quantum theory can help us
understand the development of 'spiritual intelligence' and its effects on
the motivations that drive organisations.
We would also like to give some further information about the location and
conference facilities. The conference will be based in Keble College, one of
the 30 or more constituent colleges that comprise the University of Oxford,
and we will have exclusive use of all its facilities for the duration of the
conference. Although relatively new by Oxford standards - some of the other
colleges date back to the 12th and 13th centuries - Keble is housed in a
traditional enclosed structure of interlocking quadrangles (though not
necessarily rectangular!) with superior quality bedrooms, tutorial and
social facilities, dining hall and chapel, and whose buildings are stunning,
nationally-protected examples of classic Victorian architecture.
Surprisingly, it also boasts a state-of-the-art conference centre within its
walls, which enables it to be the leading conference location in Oxford.
For off-duty moments and for those accompanying delegates, the College is
ideally located. It is adjacent to the University's historic science
departments, including the Museum of Natural History in which we will hold
our main reception, and within a few minutes' walk of all the other sights
in Oxford. These include the cathedral in Christ Church College, the
Radcliff Camera Obscura, the world famous museums and libraries, as well as
the Oxford Story attraction. The city also has spectacular riverside walks
in the Parks and Christ Church Meadows (River Thames). Some of the other
colleges, including Magdalen, Merton and Trinity, are also must-see
institutions of enormous historical, social and architectural importance.
The city also has a range of stores, an old covered market and landmark pubs
like the Turf and Trout. It is a great city for taking an organised walking
tour or for just strolling, and is, of course, the uniquely evocative
location for the Inspector Morse detective stories.
The city is unfortunately terrible for car parking, but the obverse benefit
is that it is a great centre for travelling around by public transport.
London is barely an hour by train - running around every 20 minutes - and
the major airports are within easy access by train via London or direct
airport coach (bus) service (a one-hour trip every thirty minutes from
London Heathrow). Also easily reachable are Windsor, for the castle, Windsor
Great Park, and Legoland; Stratford-upon-Avon; picturesque Cotswold towns;
and many other cities and attractions.
Please contact one of us if you have questions about the programme, or the
Society Conference Office (isdc@albany.edu) for any administrative queries.
We look forward very much to welcoming you to Oxford in July.
Best regards,
Oxford Conference Programme Co-chairs
Graham Winch (graham.winch@pbs.plym.ac.uk)
Mike Kennedy (mike.kennedy@lsbu.ac.uk)
The 22nd International Conference of the System Dynamics Society
Oxford, England July 25 - 29, 2004
Conference website: http://www.systemdynamics.org Click on ""2004
Conference""