Birgitte Snabe analyzes how system dynamics modeling can be used in learning processes that focus on the transfer of the insights and reasoning behind a strategy forming process. In a second step, she shows how it can support the refining of implementation plans. A case study in action research tradition completes the theoretical discussions. Its subject is the building up of a large international company’s R&D resources in low-cost countries.

This book reports on innovative research and developments in automation. Spanning a wide range of disciplines, including communication engineering, power engineering, control engineering, instrumentation, signal processing and cybersecurity, it focuses on methods and findings aimed at improving the control and monitoring of industrial and manufacturing processes as well as safety. Based on the 6th International Russian Automation Conference (RusAutoCon2023), held as a hybrid conference on September 10–16, 2023, in/from Sochi, Russia, this book provides academics and professionals with a timely overview of and extensive information on the state of the art in the field of automation and control systems. It is also expected to foster new ideas and collaborations between groups in different countries.

This book provides a comprehensive approach to the study of policy analytics, modelling and informatics. It includes theories and concepts for understanding tools and techniques used by governments seeking to improve decision making through the use of technology, data, modelling, and other analytics, and provides relevant case studies and practical recommendations. Governments around the world face policy issues that require strategies and solutions using new technologies, new access to data and new analytical tools and techniques such as computer simulation, geographic information systems, and social network analysis for the successful implementation of public policy and government programs. Chapters include cases, concepts, methodologies, theories, experiences, and practical recommendations on data analytics and modelling for public policy and practice, and addresses a diversity of data tools, applied to different policy stages in several contexts, and levels and branches of government. This book will be of interest of researchers, students, and practitioners in e-government, public policy, public administration, policy analytics and policy informatics.

The extraordinary works and contributions of writers with different backgrounds ranging from academics to bureaucrats make this book rich in treasures to see how far the scientific development of public administration is dealing with global conditions which are currently starting to show signs of revival. At the same time, we can learn from when local to national governments have to work hard to provide public policies in the form of a stimulus to help the country get out of the problems caused by disease outbreaks. This book is contained of 38 selected writings that can be an excellent literature for for those who seek for reference on public policy. In addition, this book is expected to ignite further discussions within the scientific scope. Apart from the various shortcomings, we apologize profusely and hopefully this book can provide benefits to the wider community. We thank the authors and editors who have contributed their best energy, thoughts, and works.

Community Based System Dynamics introduces researchers and practitioners to the design and application of participatory systems modeling with diverse communities. The book bridges community- based participatory research methods and rigorous computational modeling approaches to understanding communities as complex systems. It emphasizes the importance of community involvement both to understand the underlying system and to aid in implementation. Comprehensive in its scope, the volume includes topics that span the entire process of participatory systems modeling, from the initial engagement and conceptualization of community issues to model building, analysis, and project evaluation. Community Based System Dynamics is a highly valuable resource for anyone interested in helping to advance social justice using system dynamics, community involvement, and group model building, and helping to make communities a better place.

This book describes the cognitive and interpersonal effects of group model building, and presents empirical research on what group model building achieves and how. Further, it proposes an integrated causal mechanism for the effects on participants. There have been multiple previous attempts at explaining the effects of group model building on participants, and this book integrates these various theories for the first time. The causal mechanisms described here suggest a variety of design elements that should be included in group model building practice. For example, practitioners typically try to reduce complexity for clients, to make the process feel more accessible. In contrast, the findings presented here suggest that the very act of muddling through complexity increases participants’ affective commitment to the group and the decisions made. The book also describes implications for theory and practice. System dynamics has traditionally been interested in using technical modeling processes to make policy recommendations. Group model building demonstrates that these same techniques also have implications for group decision making as a method for negotiating agreement. The book argues for the value of group model building as a mediating or negotiating tool, rather than merely a positivist tool for technical problems.

This book collects the best papers presented at a recent conference organized by SIEV (Italian Society of Appraisal and Valuation) to promote the interaction between Appraisal and Valuation and other social sciences to study the effects of migration on value and social, spatial and economic systems in a multicultural city. The book consists of seventeen papers in two parts. The first part, "Values and Relational Systems in Multicultural Societies", features how social sciences--including appraisal and valuation, urban planning, philosophy, psychology, and geography--take different approaches to studying values and relationships, converging to form a unified mosaic of complementary and interconnected knowledge. The second part, "Permeability and Permanence of Values in a Contemporary Multicultural City", highlights the most crucial topics on which appraisals and models focus to interpret and represent the influence of migration on the real estate market in different urban and territorial contexts, from historical centers, small towns, to tourist cities, also taking into account sustainability, maintenance and regeneration of cities.

Conflict is a major facet of many environmental challenges of our time. However, growing conflict complexity makes it more difficult to identify win-win strategies for sustainable conflict resolution. Innovative methods are needed to help predict, understand, and resolve conflicts in cooperative ways. Agent-Based Modeling of Environmental Conflict and Cooperation examines computer modeling techniques as an important set of tools for assessing environmental and resource-based conflicts and, ultimately, for finding pathways to conflict resolution and cooperation. This book has two major goals. First, it argues that complexity science can be a unifying framework for professions engaged in conflict studies and resolution, including anthropology, law, management, peace studies, urban planning, and geography. Second, this book presents an innovative framework for approaching conflicts as complex adaptive systems by using many forms of environmental analysis, including system dynamics modeling, agent-based modeling, evolutionary game theory, viability theory, and network analysis. Known as VIABLE (Values and Investments from Agent-Based interaction and Learning in Environmental systems), this framework allows users to model advanced facets of conflicts—including institution building, coalition formation, adaptive learning, and the potential for future conflict—and conflict resolution based on the long-term viability of the actors’ strategies. Written for scholars, students, practitioners, and policy makers alike, this book offers readers an extensive introduction to environmental conflict research and resolution techniques. As the result of decades of research, the text presents a strong argument for conflict modeling and reviews the most popular and advanced techniques, including system dynamics modeling, agent-based modeling, and participatory modeling methods. This indispensable guide uses NetLogo, a widely used and free modeling software package, to implement the VIABLE modeling approach in three case study applications around the world. Readers are invited to explore, adapt, modify, and expand these models to conflicts they hope to better understand and resolve.

This volume constitutes the refereed and revised post-conference proceedings of the 7th IFIP WG 5.15 International Conference on Information Technology in Disaster Risk Reduction, ITDRR 2022, held in Kristiansand, Norway, in October 2022. The 23 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 33 submissions. The papers focus on various aspects and challenges of coping with disaster risk reduction. The papers are categorized in the following topical subheadings: strategic disaster risk reduction; situational awareness; telecommunications, sensors and drones; collaborative emergency management; cybersecurity and privacy; earthquake and climate forecasting; social media analytics; community resilience.

Today’s leading authority on the subject of this text is the author, MIT Standish Professor of Management and Director of the System Dynamics Group, John D. Sterman. Sterman’s objective is to explain, in a true textbook format, what system dynamics is, and how it can be successfully applied to solve business and organizational problems. System dynamics is both a currently utilized approach to organizational problem solving at the professional level, and a field of study in business, engineering, and social and physical sciences.