[Fis] Autopoietic Ecology in Action – Cambridge workshop (with online participation)

[Steve Watson]

Dear colleagues,

Several recent exchanges on this list — on contingency, communication, recursive processes, organisational learning, and biological signalling — have prompted me to share an upcoming workshop at Cambridge that may be of interest.

Autopoietic Ecology in Action:
Building interdisciplinary ecologies for research, policy, and practice
23 January 2026, 10:30–15:00 (UK time)
Hybrid format: in-person at the Alison Richard Building and online
Registration: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/49067/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jTl2dfjy$ 

The workshop builds on the framework developed in Autopoietic Ecology: Rethinking Systems, Meaning, and Matter (Watson & Brezovec, 2025), and is designed as a practical exploration of how knowledge systems — academic, institutional, technological, biological, civic — self-organise, couple, and sometimes misrecognise one another.

The event uses a structured “speed-dialogue” format to surface:

  *   where different systems’ distinctions conflict or align,

  *   how enabling structures shape what counts as a signal within different domains,

  *   and how recursive processes of co-regulation can support interdisciplinary, intersectoral, or human–AI collaboration.

In many ways, the workshop takes inspiration from themes long present in FIS, including:

  *   the empirical orientation championed by Loet Leydesdorff, whose work on recursion and communication remains foundational;

  *   the concern, expressed recently by Mark, Joe, and others, with how contingency signals become intelligible within particular organisational or biological structures;

  *   and the longstanding inquiry within FIS into what allows different knowledge systems to coordinate without reducing one another.

We will also demonstrate the AE-Engine, a prototype developed at EdgeLab that applies the AE framework to human–AI interaction and institutional knowledge ecologies. Rather than optimising or predicting, the system supports structural coupling across distinct meaning systems, enabling more transparent and cooperative forms of decision and learning.

Given the topics currently in play on this list — autopoiesis, heteropoiesis, contingency, recursive communication, biological and organisational signalling, and the limits of classical information — I hope some of you may find the workshop a useful space to experiment with these ideas in practice.

With best wishes,
Steve


Dr Steven Watson

Associate Professor Transdisciplinary Studies
Faculty of Education
University of Cambridge
Room 3S19, Donald McIntyre Building
184 Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 8PQ

Tel: 44 (0) 1223 (7)67584

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-watson-8b130017/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jR3dIXOT$ 


Associate Editor: AI & Society<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://link.springer.com/journal/146__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jQYXuqzt$ >

Co-Founder: Cambridge Global Knowledge Nexus<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.cambridgeglobalknowledge.co.uk/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jVJtVgpb$ > & EdgeLab<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cambridgeedgelab.org/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jZXPaM6H$ >


Fellow of Wolfson College
Wolfson College
Barton Road
Cambridge CB3 8BB






Recent publications:

Watson, S. & Brezovec, E. (2025). Autopoietic Ecology: Rethinking Systems, Meaning, and Matter. https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18462.24649__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jRHYhT3T$ 

Watson, S. (2025). Trust and the Crisis of Democratic Communication https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19268.33923__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jZn7Wy5o$ 

Watson, S. (2025). The integration of generative AI in education. https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33570.75204__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jeflcVQr$ 

Watson, S. (2025). Emergent discourses in generative AI in education. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.29773.14562__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jS9HtkBD$ 
Watson, S., Brezovec, E., & Romic, J. (2025). The role of generative AI in academic and scientific authorship: An autopoietic perspective. AI & SOCIETY. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02174-w__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jfD8ycsv$ 
Watson, S., & Romic, J. (2024). ChatGPT and the entangled evolution of society, education, and technology: A systems theory perspective. European Educational Research Journal. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://doi-org.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/10.1177/14749041231221266__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jUoCq8W4$ 

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