ESSA 2011: modelling and simulating social dynamics
19/09/2011 - Press release
After the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, France will once again be hosting the ESSA (European Social Simulation Association) Conference, the 7th, from 19 to 23 September 2011 in Montpellier (Agropolis International). The event is co-organized by CEMAGREF (Institut de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement), CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), the IRD (Institut de recherche pour le développement), the LIRMM (Laboratoire d'Informatique, de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier) and UCAD (Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar).
In 2003, European researchers working on social systems modelling, many of them from CIRAD, founded the European Social Simulation Association (ESSA), a community of sociologists and modelling specialists working to model complex, notably socioeconomic, systems.
Of the various modelling methods, multi-agent systems are of particular importance. As Jean-Pierre Muller, a CIRAD researcher, explains: "multi-agent systems are a way of modelling social dynamics by explaining interactions. We are seeking to understand these complex systems, and modelling helps us come up with hypotheses ". He adds "within our GREEN research unit, it enables us to model from village to national level, using economics, sociology, geography and many other disciplines ".
Supporting socioeconomic systems
It is important to remember that researchers with CIRAD's GREEN research unit (Management of Renewable Resources and Environment) were pioneers in this field, and were among the first in France, in the 1990s, to use social systems modelling. They work in many developing countries, and worked to develop "adaptive modelling ". The aim, among other things, is to "involve the stakeholders concerned in modelling work so as to reveal the interactions between individual and collective behaviour patterns in relation to integrated, sustainable management of renewable natural resources ".
For instance, forest management by local communities in Madagascar, forest dynamics in West Africa involving crop and animal farmers, and pioneer front dynamics in relation to deforestation in the Amazon have all been analysed. Computer modelling and simulation tools are used to support collective learning, governance and public decision-making.
Systems modelling can also be applied to social networks, for instance by integrating "an understanding of how confidence and reputations are built " in exchanges (including Internet trading). In both North and South, the dynamics are much more extensive than one might think, and should continue to be studied.
A European and... international conference
A hundred or so participants are expected. Scientists from a large number of countries will be contributing, notably from (in decreasing order): France, Japan (with which CIRAD researchers have close links), Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Australia, North and South America, etc. The non-French-speaking world will be in the majority, as it is more open to social systems modelling.
The ESSA 2011 conference, which will be fairly general, will begin with a day of information about the platforms used in Montpellier:
This will be followed by four days of talks and parallel sessions on the following main topics:
• economic models
• social networks and their dynamics
• participatory modelling
• the dynamics of social conflict
• the dynamics of confidence and reputation
• culture modelling
• ontology and modelling of social systems
• environmental applications of modelling.
- Category: Coming up