Vice President Research and Publications, International Society for the Systems Sciences.

SIG Chair: Action Research (see below for information)

Shankar Sankaran specialises in project management, systems thinking and action research. He is a Core Member of a UTS Research Centre on Megaprojects . He teaches project management at post-graduate level, in particular, Systems Thinking for Managers; Negotiation and Conflict Management; and governance and leadership. Shankar’s own research covers project governance, leadership, evaluation of action research and innovation. Shankar was the lead Chief Investigator of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant on Project Governance worth $ 450K and Chief Investigator in an ARC Linkage Project in Leadership Development of Not-for-profit organizations worth $ 423 K. He was a partner investigator in an international grant from Norway with European, Chinese and Australian researchers investigating trust and ethics in project governance and a Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Grant Exchanging Knowledge on the Impact of Action Research in the Pacific Rim.Among many other appointments, Shankar is a Distinguished Fellow, Action Research Centre, University of Cincinnati, USA, (http://cech.uc.edu/centers/arc.html), Vice President (Research and Publications) and Chair of the Action Research SIG at the International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) (http://isss.org/world/index.php), Associate Member of the Project Management Research Chair at ESG UQÁM Montreal, Canada (http://www.pmchair.uqam.ca/en/team/aasociated-members.html), Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Project Management (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-project-management/) and Regional Editor (Asia Pacific) of the International Journal of the Built Environment and Asset Management (http://www.inderscience.com/sample.php?id=380)Shankar worked for several years in industry before joining academia in 1999. His held Senior Management Positions in Yokogawa Electric Asia where he directed a large engineering operation delivering projects around the world. Due to his industry background Shankar is keenly interested in linking theory and practice. Prior to joining UTS Shankar was an Associate Professor at the Graduate College of Management at Southern Cross University, Gold Coast Campus, Australia teaching in a MBA program.Shankar is involved in managing conference tracks in Novel Research Methods in Organisational Project Management and Crisis Management and Recovery at the 2014 EURAM conference held at Valencia, Spain, and a Track in Project Management the forthcoming APROS/EGOS conference being held in Sydney in 2015.

SIG Chair: Action Research 
The focus of the AR SIG at ISSS is on the application of action research approaches to Systems Sciences where Action Research is defined as “a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging at this historical moment. It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions of pressing concern to people and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities”. (Reason and Bradbury 2008, p. 4). The focus of the AR SIG at ISSS is on the application of action research approaches to Systems Sciences where Action Research is defined as “a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging at this historical moment. It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions of pressing concern to people and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities”. (Reason and Bradbury 2008, p. 4).The AR SIG session at ISSS 2017 welcomes contributions on the application of action research in communities, organisations and society. As action research integrates theory and practice we welcome a variety of submissions that can contribute to an interesting dialogue at the conference,The theme for the 61st meeting is “From Science to Systemic Solutions: Systems Thinking for Everyone”. It would be good to keep this theme in mind while submitting your abstracts.Papers are expected to be 3,500 to 5,000 words in length excluding references and appendices. APA referencing style is preferred.Presenters can present their initial ideas in the Action Research SIG sessions at the ISSS 2017 meeting and develop their papers further for publication in the ISSS journal by end of 2017. These must be submitted for blind peer review by end September 2017Format:  Presentation: 20 mins; Q&A: 10 minsKeywords: Action Research; Systemic Intervention; Participatory Action Research; Systems Thinking; Reflective Practice