Systems: from science to practice

Book excerpt: Conversation were introduced by Bela H. Banathy at around 1980 as an alternative to the classical conferences. They reflect the insight that the greatest benefit for participants of a meeting were due to the discussions and conversations between participants and not so much as a result of the formal presentations of papers. The participants of Conversations follow the concepts and design of Bela Banathy. They discuss face-to-face (without formal presentation) in a self-guided way topics of scientific and social importance. The IFSR Conversation 2018 was held in St. Magdalena, Linz Austria, April 8 to 13, 2018. The overarching theme ('Systems: from science to practice') was the interaction between science and practice in the field of systems sciences, in order to enhance the understanding the role of systems sciences for humans and society. 26 systemists from ten countries formed four teams with the topics: 1. Systems Practice 2. What is Systems Science? 3. Active and Healthy Aging 4. Data Driven Systems Engineering This proceedings volume contains the reports of the 4 teams together with 3 personals views on Conversations and a historical overview of the evolution and growths of Conversations in general from 1980 to 2018.