Dear RC51 Members,

This issue is marked by the loss of Felix Geyer. We thank Bernd Hornung for the obituary written on behalf of the RC51 Board and all those who have collaborated to reflect on the respect we have for him and his legacy: the basis of sociocybernetics. We only can affirm here that we will continue with working to amplify the scope of sociocybernetics; to understand, act upon, and transform complex social problems.

This issue is to update you on RC51 activities. In our 2020 conference we had the chance to work in a collaborative manner in order to propose an adaptive format to the worldwide circumstances that impede us in our ability to travel and meet. The RC51 2020 conference has proven that if we put technology on our side, we can create the conditions to discuss and share our research in a meaningful manner. Thanks to the efforts of our board we had a 3-day conference with 30-40 attendees from 11 different countries. Each day we held a session of two and a half hours in order to facilitate participation in most of the different time zones of the RC51 members. Each author produced a video to explain their paper. You can see them all in our RC51 Youtube channel, and contact the author if you want to continue the debate. You have also the access to 2 of our 3 sessions through the same link (visit https://tinyurl.com/RC51youtubechannel). 

Despite the conditions, we were able to produce a discussion that has given us unexpected outcomes. We are on the way to forming an updated RC51 manifesto, a product of a collaborative online work, and we discussed during the conference research oriented to analysing COVID-19 effects in different places of the world, using a systemic and reflective approach. You can read the follow up in this very newsletter.

Now we are on the track of preparing the RC51 sessions of the ISA FORUM 2021 that due COVID19 will be held online from the 23th to the 28th February 2021. This requires an adaptation of the original format and program to the realm of online conferences. You can get the session titles and details in the following link:

If you click in each title you will find a description of the session. Soon we will provide information for new abstract submissions. We thank all session organisers and participants that have confirmed their participation!

Among other good news, we can now celebrate the first issue on the series Brill Research Perspectives with the title Sociocybernetics and Political Theory in a Complex World: Recasting Constitutionalism by Roberto Gustavo Mancilla Castro. Making the most of internet tools we invite you to the presentation of the book using this link on the 12th November 2020 meet.google.com/snh-tqkd-kfi (see also pg.34 of the newsletter)

If you have any queries related to RC51 remember that you can write to the board to propose and suggest activities. Let us know your thoughts!

On behalf of the RC51 Board

Patricia E. Almaguer

RC51 President