BASIC ORIENTATION: COMMUNITIES AS COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
The theory and science of Complexity can powerfully inform the development of sustainable communities. When a community is conceptualized as a complex adaptive system, it is recognized as a dynamic network of diverse agents interacting with one another and the environment to co-evolve over time (Agar, 2005, 2004a, 2004b). "Agents" are the people or entities that have the capacity to change intentionally and thereby influence one another and the evolution of a system (McKelvey, 1999). Complexity emphasizes processes of self-organization among agents as the central means of fostering the ongoing health, resilience and hardiness of a system, whether that system is a family, an organization, or a community (Capra, Juarrero, & Sotolongo, 2007).
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This Group = Can be posted to from email fast and easy, posts are private to members, achieved, but CANNOT be edited. Allows for easy access to files, photos, links, database, polls, calendar.
Wiki = Each page must be edited directly, all are private to members only. Allows for all the above if you can program them or copy the HTML code from somewhere else.
BLOG = Can be posted to from email fast and easy, posts are private to members, achieved, and CAN be edited by members. Also has many built in widgets that are easy to use and customize.
New Links = this is the PDF file Heather prepared
Links = from the Brownbag
