(Special Issue of Kybernetes, inspired by WOSC, 2024: Shaping Collaborative Ecosystems for Tomorrow)
The World Organisation for Systems and Cybernetics (WOSC) has, for more than half a century, provided a home for scholars exploring how interactions, structures and feedback shape the behaviour of complex systems (Perko, 2024). Kybernetes, as WOSC's longstanding academic partner, continues this tradition by serving as a platform where conceptual innovation meets systemic practice (Rudall, 2012). The 2024 WOSC Congress: “Shaping Collaborative Ecosystems for Tomorrow” highlighted the growing need for CyberSystemic perspectives across ecological, technological, organisational and societal domains (WOSC, 2024). This Special Issue, CyberSystemic examinations of collaborative ecosystems, emerges directly from that congress and presents a cross-section of work that collectively illustrates how systemic thinking can illuminate the dynamics of contemporary ecosystems.
In this special issue, among others, a selected number of the WOSC 2024 Congress contributions delve into various topics addressed at the Congress and provide insight into their significance for the further development of society, essential for coexistence on our planet. Each of the papers provides an insight by its own, but their true value lies in generating a more comprehensive picture of the complexity and the toolset to address it.
Interaction observation in academic publishing: a CyberSystemic approach (Perko, 2026) brings second-order cybernetics and critical interaction observation to scholarly communication by presenting publishing as a dynamic interaction shaped by roles, expectations and institutional structures. By observing the process from within, the work challenges assumptions about neutrality and reveals how knowledge production itself is embedded within a network of systemic interactions.
A VSM governance tool and agricultural paradigm change for climate and ecology (Jenkinson, 2026) addresses the challenge of ecological transformation and the need for viable governance structures. It demonstrates how agricultural systems, facing climate thresholds and paradigm shifts, depend on identity, purpose and coherence to remain regenerative. The work demonstrates that viability is not a static state but rather an ongoing negotiation between internal intentions and external conditions.
Integrating machine learning and system dynamics for climate-resilient viticulture: A case study from Slovenia (Borlinič Gačnik et al., 2026) presents a hybrid modelling approach that mirrors the hybrid nature of ecological–social systems themselves. By combining predictive analytics with dynamic modelling, it illuminates how nonlinear interactions, thresholds and feedback loops shape climate resilience. Viticulture serves as a tangible example of how long-term viability depends on anticipating change rather than reacting to it.
The ship-then-shop model: a cybernetic approach to sustainable transition in fashion supply chains (Igini et al., 2026) explores an emerging logistics paradigm built on anticipation and adaptive feedback. By treating supply chains as cybernetic systems, the work highlights how predictive intelligence can reduce overproduction and waste. At the same time, it highlights the ethical and socio-technical risks associated with algorithmic decision-making.
GAX-based time series hierarchical clustering algorithm (Li and Dang, 2026) enters the domain of environmental diagnostics, demonstrating how new symbolic representations can reveal hidden structures in large-scale pollution data. It reflects a CyberSystemic concern with making latent patterns visible, even when information is incomplete or uncertain. Such methods are crucial for decision-making in systems where perfect knowledge is impossible.
A novel seasonal grey prediction model with external impacts and its application (Hu and Wu, 2026) advances forecasting methods for systems characterised by periodicity and external shocks. By modelling seasonal behaviour and disturbance responses, the work offers tools for understanding how certain systems oscillate, adapt and recover. This approach is vital in domains where external pressures, such as economic, climatic or social, continually reshape the environment.
Research on dual-channel recycling strategy and policy recommendations of spent power battery (Cai et al., 2026) addresses circular-economy dynamics, illustrating how incentives, behaviours and systemic constraints interact within recycling ecosystems. It emphasises that policy interventions are not linear levers but rather components of a broader system in which actors adapt, anticipate and negotiate their roles.
Validation of the short form of the remote work stress scale (Keser et al., 2026) opens a window into the lived experience of distributed work as an interaction-rich environment. It reveals how cognitive load, organisational structure and social context shape workers' ability to adapt in hybrid systems. By creating a more concise tool to understand these pressures, the work shows that remote work is not simply a technological arrangement but a complex ecosystem in which well-being, communication and feedback loops are tightly intertwined.
Across these varied contributions, several themes stand out. Collaborative ecosystems, whether involving workers, farmers, consumers, institutions, data infrastructures or academic communities, are shaped by interactions rather than isolated actions. Viability depends on identity, governance and purpose. Predictive tools gain power when paired with interpretive models. Reflexivity is becoming increasingly indispensable as observers increasingly participate in the systems they study.
The implications are clear. As societies confront growing complexity, CyberSystemics offers not only analytical frameworks but also practical guidance for shaping ecosystems that are capable of learning, adapting and sustaining themselves. The work presented in this special issue encourages a future in which systemic insight informs action, collaboration replaces isolation and ecosystems – human, technological and natural – are shaped with awareness, responsibility and care.
