2021-04-12

April 12 (the second Monday of the month) is the 89th meeting for Systems Thinking Ontario. The registration is on Eventbrite at https://pattern-language-schuler.eventbrite.ca .

Patterns and Pattern Languages Supporting Cross-boundary Collaboration

For our April session of Systems Thinking Ontario, we will be honoured to have Douglas Schuler join us online from Seattle.

Doug was exposed to the original A Pattern Language in the mid-1970s.  It aimed to generate towns and buildings that would be alive and life-affirming.  That framework and perspective served to orient and structure collaboration under the auspices of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR).   The Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing conference in 2001 attracted over 100 pattern proposals.  These were ultimately transformed into the Liberating Voices pattern language containing 136 patterns by 75 authors.  This body of work is available online and in a book published by MIT Press in 2008. 

This pattern language addresses collaboration and civic intelligence, a critical under-developed resource necessary for democratic societies and public problem solving. Doug has led workshops in his teaching at the Evergreen State College, and with community groups designing actions and projects, around the world.

Doug is looking forward to an open discussion on the potential for patterns and pattern languages to help address wicked problems on a large scale, via technology, loose coordination, and social commitments. 

Douglas Schuler is currently chair of ACM SIGCAS and president of the Public Sphere Project as a non-profit organization in the State of Washington. Doug is Professor Emeritus at The Evergreen State College, former Chair of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), and a founding member of the Seattle Community Network (SCN).

Venue:

• The link for a Zoom conference will be sent upon preregistration.

• Unfortunately, due to the pandemic OCADU, sLab (Strategic Innovation Lab), 205 Richmond Street West, Room 410 is not available!

Suggested pre-reading: 

Public Sphere Project

• Ongoing work at https://labs.publicsphereproject.org/

Seattle Community Network

• "Defund Big Tech, Refund Community", https://techotherwise.pubpub.org/defund-big-tech.

Christopher Alexander's early work.

• In 1968, Christopher Alexander wrote about "Systems Generating Systems".

• Also in 1968, he was developing "A Pattern Language Which Generates Multi-Service Centers".

• Alexander published A Pattern Language. in 1977, then The Timeless Way of Building in 1979. These works targeted built environments (i.e. architecture of physical places).

Agenda

Post-meeting artifacts

Bloggers are encouraged to write about their learning and experiences at the meeting. Links will be added to this page.