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<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Dear colleagues,</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>Autopoietic Ecology in Action:<br>
Building interdisciplinary ecologies for research, policy, and practice</b><br>
<b>23 January 2026, 10:30–15:00 (UK time)</b><br>
<b>Hybrid format: in-person at the Alison Richard Building and online</b><br>
Registration: <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/49067/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jTl2dfjy$" target="_new" class="decorated-link" rel="noopener" data-start="896" data-end="938" data-outlook-id="fc230b75-6896-4ea5-a83b-48cd20caa969" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/49067/</a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The workshop builds on the framework developed in
<i>Autopoietic Ecology: Rethinking Systems, Meaning, and Matter </i>(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.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The event uses a structured “speed-dialogue” format to surface:</span></p>
<ul data-start="1339" data-end="1603" style="text-align: left;">
<li style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p role="presentation">where different systems’ distinctions conflict or align,</p>
</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p role="presentation">how enabling structures shape what counts as a signal within different domains,</p>
</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p role="presentation">and how recursive processes of co-regulation can support interdisciplinary, intersectoral, or human–AI collaboration.</p>
</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In many ways, the workshop takes inspiration from themes long present in FIS, including:</span></p>
<ul data-start="1695" data-end="2125" style="text-align: left;">
<li style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p role="presentation">the empirical orientation championed by Loet Leydesdorff, whose work on recursion and communication remains foundational;</p>
</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p role="presentation">the concern, expressed recently by Mark, Joe, and others, with how contingency signals become intelligible within particular organisational or biological structures;</p>
</li><li style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p role="presentation">and the longstanding inquiry within FIS into what allows different knowledge systems to coordinate without reducing one another.</p>
</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">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.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">With best wishes,<br>
Steve</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i>Dr Steven Watson</i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i>Associate Professor Transdisciplinary Studies<br>
Faculty of Education<br>
University of Cambridge<br>
Room 3S19, Donald McIntyre Building<br>
184 Hills Road<br>
Cambridge CB2 8PQ<br>
<br>
Tel: 44 (0) 1223 (7)67584 </i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-watson-8b130017/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jR3dIXOT$" data-outlook-id="bbe0991c-54dd-496e-ba7f-9e8db456ffa9" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-watson-8b130017/</a></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i><br>
</i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i>Associate Editor:
</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><i><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://link.springer.com/journal/146__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jQYXuqzt$" data-outlook-id="e4996487-810b-4d29-8c4c-ffc1bdeee665" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">AI &
Society</a></i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i>Co-Founder:
</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><i><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.cambridgeglobalknowledge.co.uk/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jVJtVgpb$" data-outlook-id="c096e59a-06d4-4648-904f-35d3922ea710" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Cambridge
Global Knowledge Nexus</a></i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i> &
</i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><i><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cambridgeedgelab.org/__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jZXPaM6H$" data-outlook-id="b579fa39-433d-4bb7-a17d-b03c4548f631" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">EdgeLab</a></i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i> <br>
Fellow of Wolfson College<br>
Wolfson College<br>
Barton Road<br>
Cambridge CB3 8BB</i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i> </i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><u><br>
</u></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><i> </i></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: black;"><b>Recent publications:</b></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Watson, S. & Brezovec, E. (2025).
<i>Autopoietic Ecology: Rethinking Systems, Meaning, and Matter. </i></span><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18462.24649__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jRHYhT3T$" data-outlook-id="2405ec4e-ae34-4b07-bd1a-a37885e1f885" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18462.24649</a></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Watson, S. (2025).
<i>Trust and the Crisis of Democratic Communication </i></span><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19268.33923__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jZn7Wy5o$" data-outlook-id="cfb4f26f-a8eb-43e6-bf70-545249c9cbdd" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19268.33923</a></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Watson, S. (2025).
<i>The integration of generative AI in education. </i></span><span style="font-family: Aptos, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 120, 215); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33570.75204__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jeflcVQr$" data-outlook-id="002049c0-bac7-4e6e-ae95-6fc35a228e8f" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33570.75204</a></span></p>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Watson, S. (2025). <i>Emergent discourses in generative AI in education.</i> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.29773.14562__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jS9HtkBD$" data-outlook-id="c1ef3558-24cf-4167-9e5a-64b88323afe8">https://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.29773.14562</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Watson, S., Brezovec, E., & Romic, J. (2025). The role of generative AI in academic and scientific authorship: An autopoietic perspective.
<i>AI & SOCIETY</i>. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02174-w__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jfD8ycsv$" data-outlook-id="c712907b-6d4b-4983-a1f7-8e0ba27762dd">https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02174-w</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Watson, S., & Romic, J. (2024). ChatGPT and the entangled evolution of society, education, and technology: A systems theory perspective.
<i>European Educational Research Journa</i>l. </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 120, 215);"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://doi-org.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/10.1177/14749041231221266__;!!D9dNQwwGXtA!Rmx_71ivxt3ghrOraq07Q_AQyjBPy4-J_RTiQAOpZU1ri4BNUCVewJipS1oM5nJnKPIaeMD--Os8jUoCq8W4$" data-outlook-id="fffef83a-621a-4702-94c6-c21b4317a600">https://doi-org.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/10.1177/14749041231221266</a></span></div>
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