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Critical Systems Thinking, Systemic Intervention, and Beyond (2021)
Book Chapter
Midgley, G., & Rajagopalan, R. (2021). Critical Systems Thinking, Systemic Intervention, and Beyond. In G. S. Metcalf, K. Kijima, & H. Deguchi (Eds.), Handbook of Systems Sciences (107-157). Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0720-5_7

Applied systems thinking has evolved since the 1950s through three paradigmatic waves. Authors in the first wave regarded systems as real-world entities, and systems models as representations of reality, so objectivity was important. In contrast, sec... Read More about Critical Systems Thinking, Systemic Intervention, and Beyond.

Re-thinking de-risking: a systems theoretical approach (2021)
Journal Article
Tambe, N., & Demetis, D. (in press). Re-thinking de-risking: a systems theoretical approach. Journal of Money Laundering Control, https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-04-2021-0030

Purpose: This paper aims to explain the de-risking phenomenon through Luhmann’s risk/danger model and demonstrate that de-risking should be facilitated and encouraged. Design/methodology/approach: The paper applies Luhmann’s system theory and more sp... Read More about Re-thinking de-risking: a systems theoretical approach.

Cultural ecosystem services and wellbeing policies for tourism – transnational and national challenges and opportunities (2021)
Journal Article
Dłużewska, A., Tuohino, A., & Correia, F. (2021). Cultural ecosystem services and wellbeing policies for tourism – transnational and national challenges and opportunities. Czasopismo Geograficzne, 91(1-2), 285-306

The aim of the paper is to present the results of a comparative study about cultural ecosystem services (CES ), wellbeing and tourism policies in UK , Finland and Poland in the years 2012–2018. We start with a review of the theoretical background and... Read More about Cultural ecosystem services and wellbeing policies for tourism – transnational and national challenges and opportunities.

Online child sexual exploitation: a new MIS challenge (2021)
Journal Article
Demetis, D. S., & Kietzmann, J. (2021). Online child sexual exploitation: a new MIS challenge. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 22(1), 5-40. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00652

© 2021, Association for Information Systems. All rights reserved. This paper deals with the difficult yet increasingly important MIS phenomenon of online child sexual exploitation (online CSE). Through the use of secondary and publicly available data... Read More about Online child sexual exploitation: a new MIS challenge.

Designing interagency responses to wicked problems: Creating a common, cross-agency understanding (2020)
Journal Article
Sydelko, P., Midgley, G., & Espinosa, A. (2021). Designing interagency responses to wicked problems: Creating a common, cross-agency understanding. European journal of operational research, 24(1), 250-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.11.045

Wicked problems are open-ended, highly interdependent issues that cross agency, stakeholder, jurisdictional, and geopolitical boundaries. In response, there has been advocacy for interagency working. However, this confounds conventional approaches to... Read More about Designing interagency responses to wicked problems: Creating a common, cross-agency understanding.

Seventeen Pieces: Displacement, Misplacement and Conservation (2020)
Journal Article
Merali, Y., Mourad, K., & Ghanem, M. (2020). Seventeen Pieces: Displacement, Misplacement and Conservation. New England Journal of Public Policy, 32(2), Article 7

This article explores the systemic importance of art in the conservation of images, historical reference, and cultural meaning as displaced victims of humanitarian crises make the transition from the land of their birth to a new country with a differ... Read More about Seventeen Pieces: Displacement, Misplacement and Conservation.

How Systems Thinking Enhances Systems Leadership (2020)
Report
Hobbs, C., & Midgley, G. (2020). How Systems Thinking Enhances Systems Leadership. London: National Leadership Centre

Systems leadership is only part of what is needed to deal with cross-cutting issues. Leaders need to be allowed to step back from the system they are in, think about what they are trying to achieve in relation to the bigger picture, and collaborate w... Read More about How Systems Thinking Enhances Systems Leadership.

Exploring Boundaries in Food Systems Research: Implications for Projects on UK Food Security (2020)
Report
Helfgott, A., & Midgley, G. (in press). Exploring Boundaries in Food Systems Research: Implications for Projects on UK Food Security. Swindon: RCUK Global Food Security Programme (subcontract to University of Oxford)

Executive Summary This report describes the Global Food Security (GFS) Boundaries Project, which represents the first systematic attempt to apply critical systems thinking and practice to a food systems research programme (as opposed to a single... Read More about Exploring Boundaries in Food Systems Research: Implications for Projects on UK Food Security.

Systemic evaluation of community environmental management programmes (2020)
Journal Article
Foote, J., Midgley, G., Ahuriri-Driscoll, A., Hepi, M., & Earl-Goulet, J. (2021). Systemic evaluation of community environmental management programmes. European journal of operational research, 288(1), 207-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2020.05.019

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Community environmental management (CEM) involves the facilitation of community partnerships, local dialogue, consultation and participative decision-making. This is increasingly seen as a solution to some of the more complex env... Read More about Systemic evaluation of community environmental management programmes.

Foreword (2020)
Book Chapter
Midgley, G. (2020). Foreword. In Immersive Systemic Knowing: Advancing Systems Thinking Beyond Rational Analysis (xi-xi). Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49135-2

This is the Foreword to a book by Raghav Rajagopalan called "Immersive Systemic Knowing: Advancing Systems Thinking Beyond Rational Analysis", published by Springer, New York, in October 2020.

Expertise in research integration and implementation for tackling complex problems: when is it needed, where can it be found and how can it be strengthened? (2020)
Journal Article
Bammer, G., O’Rourke, M., O’Connell, D., Neuhauser, L., Midgley, G., Klein, J. T., …Richardson, G. P. (2020). Expertise in research integration and implementation for tackling complex problems: when is it needed, where can it be found and how can it be strengthened?. Palgrave communications, 6(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0380-0

© 2020, The Author(s). Expertise in research integration and implementation is an essential but often overlooked component of tackling complex societal and environmental problems. We focus on expertise relevant to any complex problem, especially cont... Read More about Expertise in research integration and implementation for tackling complex problems: when is it needed, where can it be found and how can it be strengthened?.

Breaking bad online: a synthesis of the darker sides of social networking sites (2019)
Journal Article
Demetis, D. S. (2020). Breaking bad online: a synthesis of the darker sides of social networking sites. European Management Journal, 38(1), 33-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2019.12.013

This essay deconstructs the ultra-dark side of social media and explores the variety of ‘bad’ behaviour online by looking at a wide spectrum of exploitative practices. Through the use of primary data from an online platform, we posit the question ‘Wh... Read More about Breaking bad online: a synthesis of the darker sides of social networking sites.

‘The play’s the thing’: A creative collaboration to investigate lived experiences in an urban community garden (2019)
Journal Article
Black, Y. (in press). ‘The play’s the thing’: A creative collaboration to investigate lived experiences in an urban community garden. Management Learning, https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507619886209

Presenting the backstage story of a non-traditional qualitative research project, I illustrate how a creative approach can stimulate participant dialogue and encourage researcher reflexivity. Working with an award-winning playwright and the staff and... Read More about ‘The play’s the thing’: A creative collaboration to investigate lived experiences in an urban community garden.

Stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions (2019)
Journal Article
Gregory, A. J., Atkins, J. P., Midgley, G., & Hodgson, A. (2020). Stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions. European journal of operational research, 283(1), 321-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2019.10.044

© 2019 The Authors This paper addresses the under-researched issue of stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions. A concise framework is proposed to aid critical reflection in the design and reporting of stakeholde... Read More about Stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions.

Towards a heart and soul for co-creative research practice: A systemic approach (2019)
Journal Article
Nicholas, G., Foote, J., Kainz, K., Midgley, G., Prager, K., & Zurbriggen, C. (2019). Towards a heart and soul for co-creative research practice: A systemic approach. Evidence and Policy, 15(3), 353-370. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426419X15578220630571

© Policy Press 2019 The language of co-creation has become popular with policy makers, researchers and consultants wanting to support evidence-based change. However, there is little agreement about what features a research or consultancy project must... Read More about Towards a heart and soul for co-creative research practice: A systemic approach.

An observer-relative systems approach to information (2019)
Conference Proceeding
Demetis, D., & Lee, A. (2019). An observer-relative systems approach to information. In Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (6300-6309)

By returning to the foundational principles of second-order cybernetics and resting on the central role of the observer, this essay explores how the distinction between data/information can be conceptualized. Using systems theory, we derive a series... Read More about An observer-relative systems approach to information.

When humans using the IT artifact becomes IT using the human artifact (2018)
Journal Article
Lee, A. S., Demetis, D. S., & Lee, A. (2018). When humans using the IT artifact becomes IT using the human artifact. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 19(10), 929-952. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00514

Following Demetis & Lee (2016) who showed how systems theorizing can be conducted on the basis of a few systems principles, in this conceptual paper, we apply these principles to theorize about the systemic character of technology and investigate the... Read More about When humans using the IT artifact becomes IT using the human artifact.