Introduction

In the context of the increasing tension that today appears to derive firstly from an ideological short- circuit and only secondly from the current global economic and social crisis, the search for alternative models of development requires a new theoretical basis to prevent us from drifting into an ecology devoid of any real foundation and prospects.
Yet this quest for new theoretical grounds confronts us with the extreme difficulty of elaborating a systematic and cohesive synthesis of different contributions coming from all fields of knowledge.

In this context, the project that explores the theory of complexity appears to be at the forefront of our attempts to understand phenomena that are often unexplainable.
This difficulty in coming up with explanations seems to relate back to the fact that the radical paradigm change imposed by new knowledge overwhelms results and, more importantly, the very methods and languages used in scientific and philosophical research.
Ecology requires first of all that we rethink these methods and languages, reaching a new epistemology that can overcome reductionist simplifications, opening the way to a different view of life and of the processes that guide it.

The lectures of 2009 will examine this complexity.
We begin with Brian Goodwin and his search for a different language in the field of biology to use in identifying new parameters to help us understand the phenomena of self-generation and self-organization of life. Goodwin will focus in particular on the study of phytocomplexes, which present a concrete example of irreducible complexity.
Margaret Wheatley will discuss the theory of complexity in the context of business management and competitiveness. The current global economic crisis is marking the end of old capitalistic models and at the same time requires maximum efficiency, and we will be surprised to find that the latter can be achieved steering enterprises and organizations toward self-control and flexibility.

The year 2009, marking the bicentennial of Darwin's birth, will also provide us with the opportunity to meet Patrick Bateson, chair of the organizing committee of the Cambridge Darwin Festival, who will expound on the theory that revolutionized scientific knowledge, and Dusha Bateson, who will speak about Emma Darwin and the domestic context in which the great scientist worked.
A conscious reading of what emerges from these views might disconcert us, but it also points the way towards hope for a better world, and because of this deserves to be pursued.

Massimo Mercati