The systems sciences and cybernetics emerged in the years after World War II. These fields created many new approaches to engineering and management and contributed new ideas to existing academic fields. The new fields also identified similar concepts across a range of fields and began to create a general theory of systems. In addition the systems sciences created a variety of methods for managing complex systems, for example logistics, operations research and computer simulations. In the 1970s there was concern about population and environment balance. Currently there is increasing concern with governance, since the rate of presentation of problems seems to be greater than the ability of our institutions to manage them. This paper will discuss the history of systems science and cybernetics, the questions formulated and the solutions proposed, the difficulties encountered in finding a home within contemporary universities and some exciting lines of research now underway.

Data are clear: humankind is facing a global socio-economic crisis. Global bodies search for solution in ending the neoliberal monopolistic, rather than free market, economy, and in introduction of systemic behavior under the label of social responsibility. To support this effort, the research that is reported about in this contribution, suggests systemic perception of social responsibility to cause the end of abuse, strategy of promotion of social responsibility, and of suitable economic preconditions, supported by several lines of action, which everybody can trigger.

Complex societal problems are often wrongly addressed by politicians as mono-disciplinary, relatively easy to solve problems. By directly jumping to conclusions politicians overlook the complexity of the problems in their decision making process. Complex societal problems are generally interdisciplinary problems and should be addressed in a multi-disciplinary way considering the multiple actors and their interactions, the many variables involved, as well as the emotions that the problems provokes. These many interactions are the cause of the complexity of the problem handling process. It is high time that complex societal problems are addressed by the politicians in the right way using the methodology, methods and tools of the field of Methodology of Societal Complexity so the problems can be handled in an adequate, transparent, efficient and proper way, mitigating the damage the problems are causing. The field of Methodology of Societal Complexity developed ways to guide the problem handling process of complex societal problems for analysing, decision making and implementing interventions in an adequate, democratic and efficient way. The Compram methodology is a major methodology in this field and directs in a structured, democratic, and efficient way, the problem handling process of complex societal problems by using a multi-disciplinary, multi actor approach including emotional aspects. The OECD (2006) advised governments to handle complex societal problems that threaten global safety according to the Compram methodology. The universities should include issues of the field of Societal Complexity into their disciplines so that future managers are aware how complex societal problems should be handled.

Many factors (larger population, more dependency on technology, more human-caused interference in the natural systems and equilibria, climate changes,⋯) contribute to the seemingly growing number and severity of disasters. Additional exaggeration is generated by public media. As a consequence Disaster Prevention and Disaster Management must be given increased attention. The ultimate goal of Disaster Management is resilience of the affected system and thus the adequate and acceptable survival of the affected population.

We discuss system behavior in the case of an assault or disturbance: from being fragile (loss of their functionality due to the assault) to being resilient (having the capacity... of bouncing back to dynamic stability after a disturbance), or even antifragile (being able to "learn" so as to improve disaster resilience).

Resilience 2.0 identifies a new paradigm: modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are employed as a basis for enabling and improving resilience of a system. ICT provide the basis for sufficient preparation before an assault, for quick recognition of, and for effective, efficient reactions to disasters. Only the coordinated intra- and interphase deployment of ICT promises sufficient success and can bring resilience to currently as yet fragile systems. We discuss stressors (time and performance pressure, physical and psychological stress on personnel) and problems due to damaged ICT-platforms and communication infrastructure. The basic message is that computer-aided Disaster Management is able to offers a new level of reactivity: Resilience 2.0.

Knowing Man’s innate clocks functioning allows to understand WHEN and WHY therapies are efficient. Vigil chronotypes determination and respect allows to avoid scholars’ failure. Performances depend on chronotypes and time changes. Both minimal and maximal durations of night sleep cycles result from interactions between endogenous and exogenous clocks. Our ecoexotope is structured by solar, lunar and terrestrial rhythms which are synchronisers for endophysiotope clocks. Man night sleep changes depend on lunar cycles entrainment. Sleep analyses point to circa-annual solar rhythms used as controls to evidence circa-monthly lunar ones. To evidence physiological responses individual longitudinal records are used. To evidence lithotherapeutic effects, stimuli responses are tested according to a double-blind placebo-controlled survey. WHAT mineral to chose?, WHY?, HOW to treat?, WHEN? Compared with controls, jadeite or nephrite enhances night sleep quality with a 15 fold decrease of awakenings and urinations. The highest placebo effect was below 4 fold increase. Depending on minerals and trace elements, properties change. The mineral crystal structure is evidenced to have an action. The contact area with the skin is a limiting factor. Placebo effects are greater during the day phase. Red jasper treatment enhances the number and intensity of diurnal physical working. Minerals act in a dose-dependent manner and in synergy. Hematite sole gives a placebo effect, but increases the effect of serpentinite by a 15 fold value. Within a clocks network, the latency phase of the whole is shorter than the shortest latency phase of each clock, enhancing the system reactivity.

Increasing carbon emissions from large-scale human activities have contributed to global climate change, which has resulted in an increase in significant human crises. Therefore, as carbon abatement is a public good, coping with climate change is also a public-good; however, it suffers from many free-rider incentives, leading to a tragedy of the commons. Overcoming this challenge from a systemic perspective, requires that all sectors such as industry, government, and citizens on global, national, and regional levels engage in low-carbon development and the implementation of fair and efficient climate policies. Through a theoretical exploration of carbon abatement and a systemic description of low-carbon systems, this paper developed a cybernetic framework for coping with climate change, which consists of a cloud platform for data analysis, meta-synthetic engineering for decision support, a polycentric approach to extensive consultation and various functional goal achievement modules. On this basis, by combining the “invisible hand” and “visible hand” and by integrating negotiation at the global level, cooperation at the national level and knowledge at the local level, a multilevel policymaking model is proposed to address complex climate change problems. This cybernetic paradigm based innovative approach could provide valuable illumination to stakeholders seeking to cope with climate change.

The systems sciences are based on a universal language of systems which can be used within most academic disciplines in their endeavors for exploring the world. Currently, systems sciences cover a wide variety of different approaches like complex adaptive systems, resilient systems or systems engineering. One of the future extensions of the systems sciences comes through the applications of second-order systems science as a new field of reflexive studies on first-order systems science. This article provides a general background on the relations of first-order science and second-order science in general and then goes on to sketch a basic outline for the second-order systems sciences and their potentials for quality control and for innovations for the first-order systems sciences.