TUESDAY, 24 May

With this workshop, we want to initiate a dialogue between legal scholar and agent-based modelers. The method would be a useful addition to the toolbox of legal scholarship and we think that especially modelers with an interest in norms and institutional constraints of human behavior can profit from legal insights. In order to facilitate an active kick-off, we plan an exchange in small groups: (law) researchers are invited to hand in short “proposals for discussion”, i.e., theoretical or empirical puzzles, where ABM could provide a useful perspective. We select those that are most interesting and distinct from each other as puzzles to be discussed in small groups during the workshop. Groups present their discussion as e.g., flow diagrams, at the end of the workshop, and decide whether they might want to pursue (some of) the puzzles further.

Schedule
09:35 Introduction
09:35 – 09:45 Brief overview of the puzzles (up to 3) and split into groups
09:45 – 10:00 More detailed description of the puzzles in the groups
10:00 – 10:45 Discussion in the groups, brief break
10:45 – 11:00 Presentation of results

Institutional modelling is a branch of agent-based modelling that pays special attention to social structure by incorporating institutions, ie., the formal and informal rules that shape and regulate individual behaviour and interaction. One of the approaches to institutional modelling uses the Institutional Grammar (IG) which is used for collecting institutional data for modelling purposes, coding institutions, and integrating them into different parts of an agent-based model. The goal of this session is to introduce the IG and explain how it can be used for Institutional Modelling. Besides giving an introduction, we work through an example model of a Common pool resource setting where institutions emerge from the simulation. This Netlogo model will be shared among the audience to explore the model, extend and adapt it to get a better grasp of the opportunities associated with Institutional Modelling.

Schedule
11:15 –11:30 – Welcome + introduction to Institutional Grammar
11:30 -11:55 – Explaining the model
11:55 – 12:00 – small break and downloading the model
12:00 – 12: 20 – Individuals play with models
12:20 – 12:45 – Discussion, what Institutional Grammar can bring etc

This workshop is organized by the Special Interest Group on Education. The main focus is to discuss with both the members and other interested participants about the role of social simulation in education. How to acknowledge what exists and strengthen it.
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– How to get an early start? What can be developed/made available for primary and secondary schools? Can/should we connect this to programming education and, more generally, curricula development?
– How to get an early start? What can be developed/made available for primary and secondary schools? Can/should we connect this to programming education and, more generally, curricula development?
– How to acknowledge social simulation education? On endorsement of social simulation courses/education by ESSA.
– How to educate a broader audience by bringing social complexity in the frame of mind of the public/decision/policymakers? What are models that we share as a community (being approachable as well as inspirational)? What are key lessons that we can share?
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We’ll shortly introduce the topics and have breakout sessions to collect ideas you may have, discuss them, identify. trade-offs between different approaches and develop an agenda with next steps. So please be invited to join, and simmer beforehand on some ideas you have.
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Schedule
13:30 – 13:45 Introduction to the topics
13:45 – 14:10 Breakout: Round 1 – collecting
14:10 – 14:20 Reporting back
14:20 – 14:45 Breakout: Round 2 – structuring and next steps
14:45 – 15:00 Wrap up

My agent-based modelling journey began when I was looking for a nonintrusive way to experiment with how people form or join and leave conversational groups in parties (social gatherings). I have since worked on two other interesting agent-based modelling projects. One to explore the dynamics of energy use in households and another to simulate community-level water management in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on my experience of developing these models, in this talk, I will discuss two specific issues that inspire me, challenge me, and make me want to do better as an agent-based modeller: (1) collecting evidence for agent-based modelling and (2) providing evidence through agent-based modelling (e.g., for policymaking). I will also facilitate an interactive discussion with the audience to explore different perspectives on these topics.