Simulating Sustainability: Guiding Principles to Ensure Policy Impact

摘要

This paper showcases examples for surprising emergent phenomena from agent-based models developed to support sustainability-focused decision making. Based on these experiences, ten guiding principles are proposed to minimize the risk of redundancy and inefficacy of agent-based modeling due to the widening gap between scientific endeavors and policy deliberations. These guiding principles are not meant to constitute a comprehensive list but to trigger a debate aiming for a continuous improvement of recommendations for applied agent-based modeling in sustainability related policy contexts.