To share, develop, and disseminate Viable Systems Thinking in order to investigate the survival conditions of individuals and organizations in the diverse contexts of economics, environment, and society, and to promote their achievement;
Association for Research on Viable Systems is a non-political, independent association with unlimited duration and no profit motive. It has full legal capacity and complete statutory and managerial autonomy, and it operates under Articles 36 and following of the Italian Civil Code.
The Association, exclusively pursuing purposes of social utility and solidarity, and inspired by the principles of systemic thinking, has the following objectives (Article II of the Statute):
To share, develop, and disseminate Viable Systems Thinking in order to investigate the survival conditions of individuals and organizations in the diverse contexts of economics, environment, and society, and to promote their achievement;
To carry out educational activities and promote culture and art for disadvantaged individuals due to physical, mental, economic, social, or familial conditions, including but not limited to the establishment of scholarships or training courses for such individuals, to help them recover Viability;
To create a national and international network of scholars interested Viable Systems Thinking, encouraging a diversity of disciplinary backgrounds;
To foster dialogue and promote connections with other scientific research communities on systems, rooted in or inspired by systemic thinking, at both the national and international levels;
To contribute to the development of inter- and trans-disciplinary knowledge within the systems research movement;
To carry out and manage research, study, and publishing projects related to the association's objectives;
To promote Viable Systems Thinking for the governance and management of organizations, directing efforts toward the development and sharing of a social code that encourages consonance and resonance, aligning behavioral patterns with the principles and values of social solidarity;
To engage in support and charity activities, both in Italy and abroad, in favor of other entities that directly assist individuals deserving of social solidarity, or in favor of other non-profit organizations or public bodies operating in the fields of social assistance, civil rights protection, and scientific research.
Some years ago, during a time when the Italian university system, broadly speaking, was experiencing that ideal moment where, after a long ascent in the social sphere, the conditions for an inevitable decline began to take shape, a small group of enthusiastic researchers, relaxed in that pleasant state of suspension and lightness that marks the end of the rise and the beginning of the fall, started to become interested in a systemic view of reality.
The compelling works of authors such as Korzybski, Bogdanov, von Bertalanffy, von Foerster, and later Beer, Varela, Flores, and many others sparked a growing interest in systemic concepts, leading to the development of an innovative conception of systemic thinking in the social sciences: the Vital Systems Approach (VSA).
With the publication in English of the work by Professor Gaetano Maria Golinelli in 2010, which formalized the foundational concepts of the VSA, the approach was introduced to an international and multidisciplinary audience of scholars. Acknowledgment of the validity of this approach in representing and understanding organizations and their behaviors came from researchers and scholars engaged in studying both individuals and collectives in any kind of social organism. Works based on the VSA can be found in studies related to management, marketing, organization, as well as in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and even physics and neurology.
With the aim of facilitating the dissemination of the work accomplished and fostering the interest and participation of an ever-growing number of researchers attracted or intrigued by the conceptual evolution of the Viable Systems Approach (VSA), the Association for Research on Viable Systems (ASVSA) was founded.
The Association is open to those who, interested in achieving its objectives, share its spirit and ideals. To offer participation options suited to individual needs and preferences, there are three categories of members:
Those who have achieved particular merits or distinguished themselves in line with the objectives of the Association can be granted the status of honorary members by the Board of Directors upon the proposal of members. In special cases, under the same conditions, an honorary member may also be granted the title of Honorary President;
secretariat@asvsa.org
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