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Describes how homeostatic models can be applied to modelling the normal processes, as well as the critical phenomena, such as paralysis, shock or collapse, which work in the polarised world. Discusses the development of civilisation against a background of the fight for resources, territories, spheres of influence, as well as the war between the technologies, behind which are the people. This produces an ultimately bad effect upon the ecology. Thus, unless the human race does not think better of it and changes the prevailing paradigm in relation to the nature and to the people themselves, a bitter pay‐off – the global ecological catastrophe – is due. Outlines a created simulating model of the community, which shows that a global ecological catastrophe is likely to occur between 2020 and 2050. This time frame represents a zone of bifurcation, which, it is said, may result in either the death of civilisation, or an excruciating process of rebirth, which would also involve a transition to the new information technologies (based on the principles of the plasma, vacuum, or torsion fields, and so forth). In order to avert the global ecological catastrophe, suggests that it is necessary to accept the noospheric thinking code and, among other changes the organisational structure of the United Nations Organization (UNO), and the relationships between countries.

Received histories present national accounts as universal, purely economic measures based mostly on theoretical foundations. This paper argues that this is an anachronistic approach to the long and uneven development of these estimates and builds on geopolitical economy to examine national income estimates as quantifications of state power. First, it reveals national income accounts to be historically and geographically contingent rather than universal, suggesting contestation instead of any hegemony or dominance of one central ideology. Second, the economic power and motivations of nation-states, rather than economic theory, are at the core of the design of national income estimates, which are used to promote states’ position in international competition as well as advocate for particular national economic policies. The history of national accounting closely tracks the rise of the nation-state, the unique phase of British hegemony, the two World Wars, the east-west competition of the Cold War, and the north-south competition of the recent two decades. To this day, revisions to national accounting systems reflect the shifting balance of power and incessant international competition.

The purpose of this paper is to report a further step in the authors' research and suggest a new – 4th order cybernetics, applying it to the issue of a sustainable future, that must unavoidably result from the current socio‐economic crisis surfacing in 2008 as the top of an iceberg, or humankind of the current civilization has poor chances to survive. One‐sided solutions do not prove to work; they make us think of systems and cybernetics.

Qualitative research with application to real‐life cases.

While cybernetics is about steering, i.e. influencing, cybernetics of the 1st and 2nd order might be insufficient for solving the problem, and cybernetics of the 3rd order might serve us better, but not enough either. The authors' thesis reads: they might better be put in a new synergy with the (Universal) Dialectical Systems Theory and Cybernetics of Conceptual Systems to make a new kind of systems theory/cybernetics called cybernetics of the 4th order. It should help human beings to attain the requisite holism of the human approach and the requisite wholeness of outcomes of human action.

A more holistic concept of cybernetics is suggested.

Control of ecological problems of today might be made easier.

This is the first publication about the concept of the 4th order cybernetics, especially with application to issues of sustainability.

Focuses on homeostatics which deals with the problems of maintaining dynamic stability of vital parameters, functions, rhythms, cycles and trends of development. The paper also considers the problems of harmony and disharmony in living organisms, natural, social and artificial systems.

Not many weeks back, according to newspaper reports, three members of the library staff of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London were dismissed. All had refused to carry out issue desk duty. All, according to the newspaper account, were members of ASTMS. None, according to the Library Association yearbook, was a member of the appropriate professional organisation for librarians in Great Britain.

Homeostatics is a new science, which, it is considered, advances at a rate which may supersede cybernetics. It reveals the informational laws that govern the living matter and projects them on to all systems. Homeostasis (Gk: homoios – “similar” and stasis – “state” or “standing”) can be represented as a dynamic maintenance of assigned values, parameters, functions and trends of development (decay).

The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of the international volunteer programme’s dance4life (D4L) in Russia. The programme aims to address taboos, stigma, discrimination, HIV/AIDS prevention and the promotion of sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and a healthy lifestyle among adolescents. The programme uses an “edutainment” model that involves young people through music, dance and youth icons. Educated volunteers provide schoolchildren with comprehensive information on SRHR and demonstrate the practical application of life and leadership skills. The programme ends with a celebration event.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Only those who got as far as stage three of the process, 20 per cent of those who begun, were sampled. The qualitative research involved youth aged 13-19 (20 interviews, six focus groups), teachers (eight interviews), volunteer team members (eight interviews) and programme managers in four project regions and in Moscow (five interviews). In the quantitative research 105 respondents took part, of whom 48 per cent were 13-16 years old, 44 per cent were 17-19 years old and 8 per cent were 20-23 years old. Both boys and girls were included in the sample.

Young people’s participation in D4L had a significant positive impact on perceptions of SRHR and knowledge levels, changed some misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and helped develop social and healthy lifestyle skills. The programme contributed to the growth of voluntary activity and the organizational skills of participants. Teachers’ perceptions of SRHR changed positively after their participation in the programme.

The fact that the sample is only those who completed all stages of the programme, 20 per cent of the overall population who began it, is clearly a source of bias. The size of the quantitative research sample (n=105) does not allow disaggregation of data by region nor by gender: this limitation was minimized by choosing four regions with relatively comparable socio-economic status, and through quota sampling in equal proportions for boys and girls. This is the first time such a study has been conducted, so it is not possible to draw conclusions about the long-term impact of the programme.

The short implementation period allows for the dissemination of information and training to large numbers despite limited funding.

The D4L approach provides information on SRHR to youth, which arouses their interest, and is perceived as relevant and important. Programme participants use this information themselves and share it with their friends, parents and other adults.

The D4L programme is unique in Russia: there is no regular sexual education in Russian schools. School programmes are rarely evaluated with the methods used in this study.

The chapter is devoted to considering the aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic influence on the global and Russian electronics industry. The work aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the electronic industry in the world and Russia from various angles. As a result of the study, the main features of the global electronic industry are highlighted, including leadership of Western European countries, Japan and the United States in the segment of high price electronics; the leadership of the new industrial countries in a lower price segment; active development of microelectronics as an electronics industry segment and its colossal role in the economy of modern countries; the trend towards acquisitions of small companies by large corporations and other industry. Key problems of the Russian electronics are identified, including a small fraction of the global electronics dependence of Russian industry on imported electronic components, a huge backlog of electronic industry of Russia in comparison of world leaders and the newly industrialized countries, technological backwardness of many enterprises of electronic industry, the low level of qualification as a whole industry. The novelty of the research is highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the electronics industry. The study highlights both negative consequences (decline in production of many electronic enterprises, disruption of supply chains, insufficient financing of the industry) and positive aspects (active growth of the segment of household appliances and electronics), as well as an impetus to the development of new directions of world electronics (radio-photonics, optoelectronic and quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, laser technology).

This paper aims to analyze the modern approaches to the development of tourist value proposition and to discuss relevant cases of small cities in Russia.

The paper uses a case study approach based on the experience in Vladimir Region with respect to government and its support for tourism development.

Based on the analysis of the main approaches to the development of tourist value propositions of small cities, the experience of the Vladimir Region is used to discuss composite tourist products that combines different values for tourists.

Several recommendations are offered for developing and improving the tourist value propositions of small cities, including clear positioning of a destination from competitors, communicating values that are of high interest to target segments, event marketing, extension of tourist experiences and networking of small cities that can contribute to the composite tourist value proposition.

The main output of this paper is to provide understanding of approaches to developing tourist value propositions for small cities that can be used in transitional economies to contribute to the sustainable development of the territory, based on the experience of the Vladimir Region, Russia.

This paper aims to characterize community archives in the common array of the manuscript collection of the National Library of Russia (NLR). The purpose of the paper is to identify the features of organization of the archival system of Russia and the place of community archives in it. The authors intend to characterize the features of origin, history of existence and preservation of archives of public organizations in Russia on the example of the archives of Russian societies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; to spread knowledge about historical communities of Russia and their archival heritage and to discuss the value of community archives and their information potential.

The research is based on the traditional methodology of the academic archival studies. At the same time interdisciplinary approach plays a great role in the field of study of community archives. The findings of the study were obtained as a result of the application of methods of historical research and special historical disciplines: archival heuristics, archive studies, source studies and archeography. The data were complemented by documentary analysis, including materials of nine archives, documents concerning acquisition and storage of these archives.

As a result of the study of different community archives in the Manuscript Department of the NLR the authors came to the conclusion about poor preservation and diffusion of these archives. It suggests the necessity of developing methods of virtual archive reconstruction.

This is the first study to date on the community archives in Russia. The first attempt to attribute and classify community archives of the NLR.