Exascale Agent-Based Modelling for Policy Evaluation in Real-Time (ExAMPLER)

Exascale computing can potentially revolutionise the way in which we design and build agent-based models (ABM) through, for example, enabling scaling up, as well as robust calibration and validation. At present, there is no exascale computing operating with ABM (that we are aware of), but pockets of work using High Performance Computing (HPC). While exascale computing is expected to become more widely available towards the latter half of this decade, the ABM community is largely unaware of the requirements for exascale computing for agent-based modelling to support policy evaluation. This project will engage with the ABM community to understand what computing resources are currently used, what we need (both in terms of hardware and software) and to set out a roadmap by which to make it happen

Exascale Agent-Based Modelling for Policy Evaluation in Real-Time (ExAMPLER)

Exascale computing can potentially revolutionise the way in which we design and build agent-based models (ABM) through, for example, enabling scaling up, as well as robust calibration and validation. At present, there is no exascale computing operating with ABM (that we are aware of), but pockets of work using High Performance Computing (HPC). While exascale computing is expected to become more widely available towards the latter half of this decade, the ABM community is largely unaware of the requirements for exascale computing for agent-based modelling to support policy evaluation. This project will engage with the ABM community to understand what computing resources are currently used, what we need (both in terms of hardware and software) and to set out a roadmap by which to make it happen

MIning Relationships Among variables in large datasets from CompLEx systems (MIRACLE)

Social scientists have used agent-based models (ABMs) to explore the interaction and feedbacks among social agents and their environments. Agent-based models are dynamic computer simulations of human societies and behaviours in which individuals and their interactions are explicitly represented. This bottom-up structure of ABMs enables simulation and investigation of complex systems and their emergent behaviour with a high level of detail. This detail means that such models have a very large number of variables, creating highly multidimensional “big data” that are difficult to analyse using traditional statistical methods, in part because many of the relationships among the variables are nonlinear

Simulating the Role of Norms in Processes of Social Innovation:Three Case Studies

Norms and values are critical drivers in social innovation processes, such as community projects on sustainable energy. Simulating such processes could help uncover conditions that support these social innovations. Capturing the rich literature on drivers of social innovation in more simple computational rules is a challenge however. In this paper, we present three empirically grounded case simulations addressing social innovations where norms and values play a role. The results emphasise that normative influences and values affecting opinions and behaviour cannot be addressed in isolation when studying real cases of social innovation. An integrated perspective is needed to identify who is most likely to deviate from a given norm, and how contagious this deviation is. These factors, such as needs, values, similarity and reputation, are embedded in a wider behavioural and social-cognitive context and hence require embedding into an integrated modelling framework of humans in the community. We conclude by considering how social-economic data can be used in combination with theory-based rules to simulate normative processes in a convincing way.</p

Resilience and Engagement: some thoughts on the magnetic impact of small change

This paper considers the gap between knowing and mobilised action and investigates local urban examples where action is mobilised. The purpose of this is to consider what such examples can tell us about the conditions required to mobilise action and hence how to foster those conditions. Making cities sustainable is now a major aim and claim of most cities in the world. A myriad of definitions of sustainable development have been proposed but it has not been easy to find one that simultaneously satisfies economists, ecologists, sociologists, philosophers and policy makers. The problem in part relates to uncertainty about the object of sustainability, rather than the idea itself. What is it that ought to be sustained? It is increasingly internationally recognised that many effective solutions for environmental sustainability have their roots in local action and co-ordination. For that reason capacity within local government and the mobilisation of participation at the local level is a pivotal enabler for change. In the context of the discussion raised by the Cities, Nature Justice Conference and project, this paper focuses on discussion of urban local contexts and discusses the importance of local participation and engagement as critical enablers for mobilised action. Of particular interest in these local contexts, is the movement from a state of awareness of social and environmental issues of sustainability, to an active, constructive awareness that informs changes in behaviour and action that lead to sustainable practices of living