It is now possible to enter your membership for January to December 2013 online, using the RegOnline system that has been serving our conference registration for the past four years. Click here to go to the Membership Information Page.

We hope this will make the process simpler, and save you mailing costs!

You can still download a paper copy of the membership form, if you wish to fax, mail or email the form as in previous years.

If you have questions about the new process, please email the ISSS Office.

NEW INFORMATION for The 57th World Conference of the International Society for the Systems Sciences

We warmly invite you to join us in a unique experience that will contribute significantly to making systems thinking more mainstream around the world. The 57th Annual ISSS World Conference will provide you with an opportunity to showcase advances in systemic sustainability initiatives from around the world with hands-on experience in the UNESCO Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve and at Hai Phong City, the first city in the world to be managed using an integral systems approach.

NEW:  INFORMATION ON PLENARY AND PLANETARY SPEAKERS has been added to the conference web pages. Either use the Quickpaths links to the right of this page or for further information, PLEASE CLICK HERE!

Origin and Purpose of the ISSS

The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is among the first and oldest organizations devoted to interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems, and remains perhaps the most broadly inclusive. The Society was initially conceived in 1954 at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Kenneth Boulding, Ralph Gerard, and Anatol Rapoport. In collaboration with James Grier Miller, it was formally established as an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1956. Originally founded as the Society for General Systems Research, the society adopted its current name in 1988 to reflect its broadening scope.

The initial purpose of the society was "to encourage the development of theoretical systems which are applicable to more than one of the traditional departments of knowledge," with the following principal aims:

• to investigate the isomorphy of concepts, laws, and models in various fields, and to help in useful transfers from one field to another;
• to encourage the development of adequate theoretical models in areas which lack them;
• to eliminate the duplication of theoretical efforts in different fields; and
• to promote the unity of science through improving the communication among specialists.

In the intervening years, the ISSS has expanded its scope beyond purely theoretical and technical considerations to include the practical application of systems methodologies to problem solving. Even more importantly, it has provided a forum where scholars and practitioners from across the disciplinary spectrum, representing academic, business, government, and non-profit communities, can come together to share ideas and learn from one another. Please contact us for further information.

The ISSS World web site is one of the places where members convene, but it doesn't have to be the only place!

On Google Plus, there's a Systems Sciences Community where content is open on the web. Reading doesn't require registration. Posting content and comments requires a Google Plus identity.

For those who use Facebook, you can the Systems Science group membership to both view and to post. Just ask to join, and one of the moderators should approve your request.

These alternative venues are less formal than the official news on isss.org, and are tracked by many members of the society.

The ISSS logo, derived from the integral sign originally used by the founders of our society, illustrates the society's primary interest in integration and synthesis and can be used to demonstrate these principles. This version of the logo, adopted by ISSS in 1997, was designed by Thomas M. Mandel, the founding webmaster of ISSS.org.