Working at distance on a Banathy Conversation bridges geographicially dispersed locations (and time zones) through online Internet technologies.
Conversation organizers arrange for the venue, and may describe an overall theme to guide across teams.
"[There] is considerable variation in the initial stages. Organizers may identify general goals and concerns early on. At least as often, they will assume that participants will gravitate to and co-define topics / issues over time; instead, they first work out logistics -- for example, they select the site and dates, often a year or more in advance." [Dyer, Jones et. al (2015), p. 44]
[1] Dyer, G., Jones, J., Rowland, G., & Zweifel, S. (2015). The Banathy Conversation Methodology. Constructivist Foundations, 11(1), 42–50. http://constructivist.info/11/1/042, cached on drive.lab.csrp.institute
For the 2026 event in collaboration with the sLab at OCAD University, there are two major programming changes:
Hosting on an urban university campus has reweighted in-person participation to more local residents in Toronto, with a few systemicists flying in for the week.
The emphasis has shifted from systems theories and methods, towards "Problematique" as a "system of problems". The early work of Bela H. Banathy started with "Global Problematique". For 2026, we focus on the problems of primary interest to candidate participants.
Responses to the Call for Participation can be directed to David Ing (via LinkedIn, or via Google Calendar), or via any of the participants involved with the 2026 event.
More background on the Call for Participation, and the history of Conversations originated by Bela A. Banathy was related with the Systems Thinking Ontario meeting on 2026-02-09.
For individuals without easy access to Google products, the CSRP Institute lends support to Google Workspace for Nonprofits access.
The first two tasks request access to lab.csrp.institute.
Respond to Call for Participation: https://forms.gle/maSJN9aKSU8R5eeKA
Request onboarding to lab.csrp.institute: https://forms.gle/wce6suoRbPWw4XFE7
The next three tasks are better done after access to lab.csrp.institute has been granted.
Login to lab at https://accounts.google.com
On mobile device, install apps for Google Workspace: Equipping
On computer, install Google Chat standalone app: Equipping
In the Water Cooler Space on Google Chat, say hello: https://chat.google.com/room/AAAA7H-DUi0/e6Lff4sLAs4/e6Lff4sLAs4?cls=10