Goal of the research groups on Complex Societal Problems & Issues

 

Handling complex societal problems needs a special approach. Handling societal problems in an interdisciplinary way has become a must for our society and a challenge for the human sciences. The problems society is confronted with are difficult to handle. There is a growing gap between the complexity of these problems and the human capacity to deal with them. There is a need for better methods and tools, more knowledge and imagination. Scientific knowledge is needed to survive amidst these problems.

Therefore methodology for complex societal problems has become a new field of scientific attention. Some of the scientific reasons for this special approach are that the problems are seldom defined, change during their development, many actors are involved often with a different view on the problem, with different interest and with different ‘solutions’ in mind. Societal reasons for this special approach is the importance of these problems for society, the impact they have on many people, and the large amount of money involved. Combining the effort of scientists who are working in this field is an inspiring serious challenge from the perspective of a number of disciplines. Combining existing knowledge and creating new insights with methods and tools for supporting complex societal problems is a challenge for scientists from different fields.

The goal of the Research Groups  on Methodology for Complex Societal Problems is to increase and to combine the available scientific knowledge regarding the handling of complex societal problems. Means to reach this goal are organizing workshops and conferences, publishing proceedings and books in which the discussion on this subject can take place.

 

All  Research Groups work closely together with each other and other groups that are scientifical near. The Euro research en West-Euro group research works close together with the Dutch Nosmo Research Group on Complex Societal Problems & Issues.

 

The number of members of  the research groups  is steadily growing. The members of the research groups come from different fields and are working at universities and research Institutes all over the world. There is a high degree of activity and interaction amongst the members of the group. By the reaction of the audience there is a feeling that this subject of the Operational Research field is winning more and more interest as it is in social sciences. There is also a growing interest from the side of policy makers who recognize that the problems they are confronted with are complex problems, which are not easy to solve, and which need an complex integral approach. The growing interest is needed, because the problems society is confronted with should be efficient and sustainable handled. Complex societal problems like in Europe the recent troubles in the agro-industry as the Mad-Cow disease and the Mouth and Foot disease, SARS, and the continue problems with in the area of transportation and large city problems. The worldwide problems in the area of healthcare like malaria and AIDS, and the water problems (too less, too much and not clean)

 

Books of Complex societal Problems & Issues &

Abstracts Books of conference presentations

 

Conferences

Year reports research groups

Agenda's of Research Meetings

 

Become a member of the research groups?

 

 Methods of Complex Societal Problems & Issues: COMPRAM

 

Dr. Dorien  DeTombe

Chair International Research Society on Methodology of Societal Complexity

P.O. Box. 3286, 1001 AB Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Europe

Tel: +31 20 6927526

E-Mail: 

DeTombe@nosmo.nl     ; http://www.complexitycourse.org

 

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©Dorien J. DeTombe, All rights reserved, first created 1998, update January 2007