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July 19, 2007
Chair in Systems Thinking & Practice
The University of Queensland, Australia
SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND RURAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT (NRSM)
The School of Natural and Rural Systems Management has integration, systems thinking and systems dynamics as its core business, and is fast becoming areference point in Queensland, Australia and internationally for its integrative and systems-based approaches towards the development of sustainable systems. These concepts warrant an approach that goes beyond School and Faculty borders and the School sees an interdisciplinary approach as the only way to deal with complex management problems to help build a more sustainable future. Through collaboration, the School¹s three areas of focus - natural systems, economic and business systems and social systems - create integrated areas for innovative research, teaching and service. The School also value adds to relevant programs in Schools and Faculties across UQ to help deliver graduates who are fully equipped to participate in a challenging and turbulent 21st Century knowledge society.
A new position for a Chair in
Systems Thinking and Practice has been established and will be co -funded
between UQ and the ŒAgriculture and Environment Group (AEG) of AgResearch in
New Zealand. AgResearch is New Zealand¹s largest Crown Research Institute and
conducts research and development that underpins the pastoral sector¹s
sustainability and profitability.
The Role: The University of
Queensland and AgResearch agree that Systems Thinking and its application
will underpin research and education for moving towards sustainable futures.
The Chair in Systems Thinking and Practice will support both organizations in
achieving an outstanding international reputation in systems thinking and
practice to the benefit of Australia and New Zealand; by:
- facilitating the development and application of systems theory and methodologie in solving complex problems in sustainable management of agro-ecosystems, and
- providing leadership to help build a systems culture and appropriatecapacity in both organisations. This will also involve frequent traveling between Australia and New Zealand.
The
successful applicant will possess a PhD in a relevant field and
a well-established international reputation in systems theory, practice
and research. A deep knowledge in Systems Thinking and experience
in Participatory Systems Analysis, Dynamic Modelling, and development
of Decision Support Systems in the broad field of natural resource
management is essential. High quality research credentials, including
evidence of publications in high quality refereed journals and attracting
research funds are also required.
Remuneration: This is a continuing,
full-time appointment at Academic Level E (Professor). The remuneration
package will be AUS$147,277 per annum, which includes 17% employer
superannuation contributions.
Contact: Obtain the position description
and selection criteria online. For further information regarding the
position, contact Professor Ockie Bosch, the Head of School, on +61 7
54601047 or email [email protected].
Applications: Send applications addressing the selection criteria
to: The Human Resources Consultant
Faculty of Natural Resources,
Agriculture and Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton,
QLD, 4343 or email [email protected].
Posted by ACASA on July 19, 2007 at 10:17 AM in Announcements | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 08, 2007
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is a way of looking at organizations that emphasizes the interconnections between parts of an organization and external environments. It is also a method for solving organizational problems and helping organizations change. Systems thinking is especially appropriate in the field of public health because public health managers and leaders work in large, complex organizations whose success depends upon the cooperation of other organizations and institutions. As applied to organizations, systems thinking was made popular by Peter Senge's 1994 book, The Fifth Discipline; but a systems approach is also the basis of theories in many fields, from biology to psychology.
To read the rest of this post, please click on the following URL: Systems Thinking
More reading on Systems Thinking
Posted by ACASA on July 8, 2007 at 09:19 AM in blog post | Permalink | Comments (0)
July 07, 2007
International Journal of Systems Science
Published By: Taylor & Francis
Modern systems are becoming more and more complex and sophisticated in their
demand for performance, reliability and increasing autonomy. Historically,
highly analytic and numeric based methods have sufficed, frequently simplifying
the problem to allow analytical tractability. Many manufactured and natural
systems (biological, ecological and socio-economic) cannot be adequately
represented quantitively alone; qualitations and heuristics, linguistics etc,
knowledge is frequently required within a common information-processing
framework. A wide range of new theories, methodologies and techniques is
required to ‘enable' such systems, and thus engineering and integration to deal
with these demands. The primary aim of the International Journal of
Systems Science is to become world leader in the exciting and
demanding field of intelligent systems engineering and its applications.
For details on how to submit a paper to International Journal of Systems Science go to: International Journal of Systems Science
Posted by ACASA on July 7, 2007 at 05:41 PM in Announcements | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack