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September 7, 2026 | RSDX–CMM+
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What is CMM+? The upcoming RSD15 online series features Coordinated Management of Meaning—or CMM (I’ll let Abbie explain that below). This is the second year that CMM has contributed an RSD programme dedicated to creating better social worlds. Speaking of social worlds: RSD15 Mapping Mondays and Workshop Wednesdays online sessions are running through November. RSDX.ONLINE/JOIN.
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In our lives, systems, social worlds
30 minute sessions all day—September 29, 2026
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Don't let this mouthful of big words stop you—Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) is exactly what it sounds like; it posits that communication itself is a coordinated management of meaning- that what is “going on” when we interact is a complex process of joint action which “makes” our social worlds. This social constructionist take on communicating is a stark (and important) deviation from the widely accepted transmission model of communication, which simply describes sending a message to a receiver (which may be accurate for radio waves, but it’s not quite the same for human beings).
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This co-creative process is present in everything we do. We are, after all, relational beings; and you can still be communicating, even without saying any words. Importantly, CMM provides a response to our often taken-for-granted ways of communicating, imploring us to use the CMMish take on communication as a lens, looking at what is being made in all we do and say. Our 'Communication Perspectives' day provides an opportunity to get a sense of the vast and diverse applications of the Coordinated Management of Meaning theory, and its practical sister, the Communication Perspective. Together, we will practice the application of CMM as a lens across a variety of fields, disciplines, and experiences. This day will consist of half-hour segments, each including a 15-minute presentation and another 15 minutes for questions and discussion.
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We encourage you to select the topics that are most interesting to you—perhaps some that align closely with your own areas of expertise, and some that are quite different—to get a taste of how CMM is being used (and could be used) in our lives, systems, and social worlds.
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Abbie Van Meter
Coordinated Management of Meaning
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CMM Communication Perspectives
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Tuesday, September 29 is a day of conversations. Join CMM practitioners and guests for 30-minute talks exploring how communication shapes learning, organisations, communities, democracy, wellbeing, and social worlds.
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CMM SESSION TIMES: Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4): 11:00–20:00 • South America (UTC−3): 12:00–21:00 • British Summer Time (UTC+1): 16:00–01:00 • Central European Summer Time (UTC+2): 17:00–02:00 • India Standard Time (UTC+5:30): 20:30–05:30 • China Standard Time (UTC+8): 23:00–08:00 • Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10): 01:00–10:00
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AGENDA•TUESDAY, SEPT 29
All sessions are 30 minutes
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America · BST · CEST
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Abbie VanMeter — A Mediation on Communication
Susana Carr — On Wellbeing for Social Work
Anokh Goodman
John Chetro-Szivos — On Pedagogy for Critical Thinking
Natasha Rascon — On Crafting the Student Experience
Rik Spann & Bart Buechner — On Re-Sounding & Re-Framing
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America · BST
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Laura Black — On Peacebuilding through Deliberation
Jonathan Shailor — On Performance and Narrative Reconstruction
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America
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Don Waisanen — On Improvisation for Democracy
Ilene Wasserman — On Leading Change in Organisations and Communities
Susan and John Parrish-Sprowl
Cheryl May — On Organising Communities
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America · AEST (+1 day)
Kate Lockwood Harris — On Organisational Trauma
Leander Kreltszheim — On Social and Environmental Design
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Daytime hours across EDT · AEST (+1 day)
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MONDAY, SEPT 28
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Mapping Mondays returns as live online studios featuring maps, models, visualisations, and exhibits contributed to the symposium. Contributors introduce their work, share how it was developed and used, and open it to discussion. The emphasis is on mapping as a way of thinking, inquiring, communicating, and making relationships visible.
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WEDNESDAY, SEPT 30
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Workshop Wednesdays bring together participatory sessions developed by RSD15 contributors across systemic design research and practice. Facilitators invite participants to explore methods, propositions, and practices through conversation, mapping, making, embodied practice, reflection, and other forms of collective inquiry.
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MAPPING SESSION TIMES. Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4): 07:00 & 11:00 • South America (UTC−3): 08:00 & 12:00 • British Summer Time (UTC+1): 12:00 & 16:00 • Central European Summer Time (UTC+2): 13:00 & 17:00 • India Standard Time (UTC+5:30): 16:30 & 20:30 • China Standard Time (UTC+8): 19:00 & 23:00 • Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10): 21:00 & 01:00
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Workshop Wednesdays
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WORKSHOP SESSION TIMES. Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4): 03:00–17:00 • South America (UTC−3): 04:00–18:00 • British Summer Time (UTC+1): 08:00–22:00 • Central European Summer Time (UTC+2): 09:00–23:00 • India Standard Time (UTC+5:30): 12:30–02:30 • China Standard Time (UTC+8): 15:00–05:00 • Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10): 17:00–07:00 (+1 day)
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AGENDA•WEDNESDAY, SEPT 30
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Daytime hours across BST · CEST · IST · CST • AEST
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Yeuk Fan Ng, Tamsin Greulich Smith, Brian Ng, Justin Lee Guang Jie, Lawson Lim Ther, Kok Young Chai and Tewin Goh
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SystemicStories AI: An AI-Enabled Systemic Design Atlas for Singapore’s Health & Care Sector
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America · BST · CEST · IST
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Marit Askbo, Thomas Gundersen and Omri Geiger
Mind the gap - transitions between systems and getting lost in the void
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America · BST · CEST
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Willow Gatewood
Fieldkeeper’s Log: entry [number] — exploring relational technologies through dramaturgy, poetics, and metaphor
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Daytime hours across EDT · South America • AEST (+1 day)
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Chelsea Mauldin and Natalia Radywyl
All Tomorrow’s Policies: Methods for Dual-Timeframe Policy Innovation
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Updates
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RSD15: The symposium is gathering momentum
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In addition to Mapping Mondays and Workshop Wednesdays, the programme includes online Paper Talks, the in-person symposium in Turin, and the post-symposium retreat at the Mon Viso Institute in the Italian Alps. Explore what’s coming up and be sure to add RSD15 to your calendar!
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Podcast: On the Future of Cybernetics
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Abbie Van Meter and past (and future) presidents of the American Society for Cybernetics—Larry Richards, Allenna Leonard, and Claudia Westermann—discuss ASC and the field of cybernetics.
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These conversations were recorded on-site in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil, at the 2026 ASC Conference in August 2026.
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Stories Lived. Stories Told. is an initiative of the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution.
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The Improvisational Mindset: How to invite the change clients, citizens, and our world desperately needs
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SEPTEMBER 23. Don Waisanen proposes that one of the most urgent tasks for work in nearly every field- from education, social work, and public service to management, finance, and health- is to shift participants from a traditional mindset to an improvisational mindset. During this highly interactive 90-minute session, Don will detail the differences between these two mindsets, offer core concepts and practices for application, and provide exercises that support a shift in being, thinking, and acting.
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Readings on systems thinking and systemic design
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David Ing shares the core readings for Understanding Systems, a course in the Master of Design program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCAD University's School of Graduate Studies in Toronto, Canada. Stephen Davies led the 13-week course.
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Namahn offers systemic design training
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Namahn Design Studio, Brussels | October 27&28. Kristel Van Ael and Koen Peters offer a two-day training that applies systemic design principles to practical scenarios, including discussions, hands-on exercises, and collaborative problem-solving.
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SDA is a member-supported community. Please consider becoming a member of the Systemic Design Association or donating to help sustain the communications platform and RSD repository, and maintain no-cost and low-cost access to SDA events, such as the Relating Systems Thinking and Design Symposium.
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