Vision

We are striving to create a Center of Excellence in "Systems Thinking" in collaboration with a number of schools at the University of Pennsylvania and a number of corporate partners.

We believe that ACASA should:

Dedicate itself to education, research, service, and outreach programs for the purpose of personal, organizational, and community development.

Represent a focal point (i.e., knowledge and competency bank) for all Systems- Thinking-related academic activities, research, and practices that are scattered around the globe.

Provide continuity to the pioneering work guided by the philosophy created at Penn by Edgar Arthur Singer, Jr. and practiced by a number of luminaries at Penn including Russell Ackoff (in honor of whom the Center is named: the Ackoff Center for Advancement of Systems Approaches).

Develop a critical mass of integrated ideas and approaches that will enable the Center to evolve into a world-class institution through mutually beneficial and cooperative relationships with other centers interested in the advancement of Systems Thinking and systems education.

Bridge the gap between the "soft" and "hard" sciences as it relates to systems science, and between engineering and the humanities.

Extend its offerings beyond the walls of the University. Through the application of information technology and the Internet, the Center should be able to offer distance and distributed learning.