Metaphorum 2026 · Toward Resilient and Ethical Viable Systems

Ecosystemic Transdisciplinary Action Research: An AIESS-Based Methodology for Regenerative Organisational Cybernetics

Purpose: Contemporary organisational challenges increasingly transcend organisational boundaries, involving interconnected ecological, social, institutional, governance, and economic systems. While the Viable System Model (VSM) provides a powerful framework for understanding organisational viability, there remains a need for methodologies that support ecosystemic diagnosis, embeddedness, collaborative learning, intervention, and regeneration across interacting systems within an ecosystem. This paper introduces Ecosystemic Transdisciplinary Action Research (ESTAR), developed within the All Interacting Evolving Systems Science (AIESS) paradigm, as a complementary methodology for addressing these challenges. Methods: ESTAR combines ecosystemic diagnosis, transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation, participatory action research, and iterative regenerative intervention. The methodology is grounded in four foundational axioms of AIESS—interconnectedness, interdependence, interactions, and intentionality—and operationalises them by systematically identifying ecosystem dimensions, their critical factors, variables, and regenerative processes. Findings: The paper presents a methodological framework that demonstrates how ESTAR enables researchers and practitioners to diagnose evolving complexity, facilitate collaborative learning among multiple stakeholders, and design interventions that strengthen organisational viability while enhancing ecosystem balance, coherence, and regenerative capacity. The approach complements cybernetic principles by extending analysis beyond organisational recursion to the dynamics of interacting variables in an ecosystem. Implications/Contributions: ESTAR contributes an emerging methodology for organisational cybernetics by integrating systems science, transdisciplinary inquiry, and action research into a coherent ecosystemic framework. It offers a practical approach for extending VSM-informed practice toward regenerative organizations and ecosystems. Speaker: Amar Nayak — Xavier Institute of Management, XIM University

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