100 Years of Stafford Beer
Celebrating his Life, his Legacy and Beyond
September 17-19, 2026
Alliance Manchester Business School, Manchester
A Global Centenary Celebration
In 2026, Metaphorum is inviting you to celebrate with us the centenary of the birth of Stafford Beer, one of the most influential figures in Cybernetics and Systems Thinking. More than fifty years after his invention of the Viable System Model and Team Syntegrity, Beer's work remains urgently relevant as organisations and societies confront escalating complexity, ecological limits, technological disruption, and crises of governance. Metaphorum 2026 invites the global cyber-systemic community to reflect, reconnect, and reimagine organisational cybernetics through several interwoven themes. Through them we aim to honour Beer’s legacy while opening space for critical reflection and ways of continuing developing his theories and related practice.
Conference Highlights
- Documentary Screening: ‘100 Years of Stafford Beer’
- Festschrift Book Launch: A 100 Years of Stafford Beer’: A cyber-systemic legacy, whose time has come’. Eds Angela Espinosa, Markus Schwaninger, Jose Perez-Rios
- Journal Launch: Metaphorum Journal ‘Organisational Systems’
- Academic Contributions: Panels, Presentations, Workshops, Poster Sessions
- Creative Contributions: Videos, exhibitions, music, poetry, and arts
Hosted At
Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS)
In collaboration with the World Organization for Systems and Cybernetics (WOSC) and the Centre for Systems Studies (University of Hull).
View Venue & Travel Info →In collaboration with:
World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics (WOSC)
Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull (CSS)
American Society of Cybernetics (ASC)
International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR)
John Moores University - Stafford Beer Archive Collection
The International Network for Democratic Economic Planning (INDEP)
Publication Opportunities
Special Issue Invitation for Systemic Practice & Action Research
We are pleased to announce that selected high-quality papers presented at the Metaphorum Conference 2026 will be invited to be considered for the Special Issue: Toward Resilient, Just, and Ethical Viable Systems: Cybernetics, Resilience, and Socio-Ecological Futures of Systemic Practice and Action Research, published by Springer Nature.
This special issue invites contributions that explore how the Viable System Model (VSM) and its cybernetic principles can strengthen societal and organisational responses to complexity by enhancing resilience, supporting regeneration, and enabling democratic and ethically grounded governance. It welcomes theoretical developments and practice-based insights that extend or reinterpret the VSM in light of contemporary socio-ecological challenges. We encourage contributions that critically engage with the VSM's architecture, integrate it with complementary methodologies, or present empirical cases that yield theoretical insights.
For Further information regarding Themes, Topics of interest, and submission guidelines, Read More →