Journal of Industrial Ecology: Special Issue on Complexity and Industrial Ecology
Journal of Industrial Ecology
Call for Papers: Special Issue on Complexity and Industrial Ecology
Deadline: February 1, 2008
The Journal of Industrial Ecology invites you to submit articles for a special issue on Complexity and Industrial Ecology by February 1, 2008. Gerard Dijkema of TU Delft, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, The Netherlands, and Lauren Basson of the University of Surrey, Centre for Environmental Strategy, U.K. will serve as co-editors.
Theme: Complexity and Industrial Ecology
Industrial ecology endeavors to “understand how the industrial system works, how it is regulated, and its interaction with the biosphere; then, on the basis of what we know about ecosystems, to determine how it could be restructured to make it compatible with the way natural ecosystems function.” (Erkman, 1997). Much like ecosystems, man-made systems constantly evolve because individuals, organizations, governments decide on consumption, industrial design, (dis)investment and regulation respectively in response to and in interaction with their respective environment.
In complexity theory system evolution is a central paradigm. Under its banner, a range of methodologies and associated tools have been developed, such as artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, agent-based modeling, system dynamics and hybrid modeling. It may therefore be seen that the use of complexity theory and tools has potential to shift the frontier of industrial ecology, by enhancing the quality of systems analysis and by underpinning recommendations for redirecting industrial development towards sustainability.
Scope: From Foundations to Applications
We would like to capture and illustrate the state-of-the art in complexity and industrial ecology and build on the success of the 2007 International Society for Industrial Ecology’s ISIE2007 conference. We would welcome papers that relate to one or more of the following themes:
• Transitions to Sustainability in a Complex World
o Governance of change in complex man-made systems
o Complexity and Transition Management
• Complex Systems Theory
o Foundations of and Scope for Complexity in Industrial Ecology
o Complexity, Systems Thinking, Socio-Technical Systems, Systems-of-systems
o Artificial Intelligence, Multi-Agent Systems, Problem Formulation, Design of Experiments
• Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems in Industrial Ecology
o Proof of Concept Models (Agent Based Models, Evolutionary Models, Hybrid Models)
o Applications and Case studies
Submission and Peer Review
• Papers should be concise and to the point, typically some 10 pages, with a maximum of 7,000 words.
• No special formatting requirements prior to peer review; however, use a well known file type (MS Word, WordPerfect, PDF, RTF).
• Papers should be submitted via email file attachment to
• An EndNote template for formatting references according to the journal’s style can be downloaded from <www.endnote.com/support/enstyledetail.asp?DKEY=714200664531UAA>.
• Papers will be peer reviewed in a single blind process
• Papers must be previously unpublished and not submitted for publication elsewhere.
Inquiries
Questions about Theme and Content of the Complexity and Industrial Ecology Special Issue can be directed to the co-editors: Gerard P.J. Dijkema (g.p.j.dijkema@tudelft.nl) or Lauren Basson (l.basson@surrey.ac.uk). Additional questions about the preparation of the manuscript should be directed to the Journal Editor (indecol@yale.edu).
Posted on November 01, 2007