About GSS

Global Systems Science‭ (‬GSS‭)
  • studies global systems like the internet,‭ ‬the global city system,‭ ‬and more,‭
  • develops evidence,‭ ‬concepts and doubts concerning such systems,‭
  • helps practitioners dealing with them to reflect on their experiences and to assess possible consequences of their actions,
  • and combines advanced computing technologies with conversations bridging the gap between science and society.

As most things in life can be captured by a crisp definition only in very provisional ways‭ (‬try‭ ‬“time‭“‬,‭ ‬“life‭“‬ or‭ ‬“definition‭”‬) this statement offers a‭ ‬pretty provisional definition.‭ ‬ It‭ ‬shall help to make‭ ‬the case for a concerted,‭ ‬worldwide effort in the science community to pay more attention to the effects of globalization on the risks and opportunities human ecological systems are‭ ‬faced with,‭ ‬and for that purpose‭ ‬to‭ ‬develop a number of new ICT tools that will facilitate dealing with the high volume of data that such an effort necessarily entails.‭

The vision guiding GSS is to make full use of progress in ICT to improve the way scientific knowledge can stimulate,‭ ‬guide,‭ ‬be used by,‭ ‬and help evaluate policy and societal responses to global challenges like climate change,‭ ‬financial crisis,‭ ‬pandemics,‭ ‬ global growth of cities.‭ ‬A crucial part of GSS is new ways to have citizens engaged into policy processes and process to acquire data.‭ ‬This is linked‭ ‬to aspects of citizen science as social engagement.

If the results of the kind of research we propose are to be useful to society,‭ ‬we need to reach out widely and intensively to engage large numbers of people in the approach,‭ ‬and to explain the results to an even larger community.‭ ‬This necessarily involves a much closer integration between‭ ‬electronic and‭ ‬human aspects of our information-processing systems‭ ‬-‭ ‬it entails spreading computer literacy,‭ ‬but also transforming the ICT tools at our disposal in many different ways that help us improve the interface between people and machines.‭ ‬One part of that task is to design novel ways of communication that use well-designed narratives to‭ ‬capture and‭ ‬transmit complex ideas about the global systems we are developing and experiencing.