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Teaching the Complexity of Urban Systems with Participatory Social Simulation

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Advances in Social Simulation

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Complexity ((SPCOM))

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Abstract

We describe how we use social simulation as a core method in a new master’s program designed to teach future leaders of urban change to deal with the complexity inherent in current societal transformations. We start by depicting the challenges with regard to cross-disciplinary knowledge integration and overcoming value-based, rigid thinking styles that inevitably arise in the process of solving ecological, technological, or social problems in cities new and old. Next, we describe a course based on urban modeling and participatory approaches, designed to meet those challenges. We reflect on our first experience with this approach and discuss future developments and research needs.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge funding from the European Funds for Regional Development, grant number 85009319.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Timo Szczepanska, Max Priebe & Tobias Schröder

Authors
  1. Timo Szczepanska
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  2. Max Priebe
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  3. Tobias Schröder
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Kista, Sweden

    Harko Verhagen

  2. Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Melania Borit

  3. Linnaeus University Centre for Data Intensive Sciences and Applications, Växjö, Sweden

    Giangiacomo Bravo

  4. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Nanda Wijermans

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Szczepanska, T., Priebe, M., Schröder, T. (2020). Teaching the Complexity of Urban Systems with Participatory Social Simulation. In: Verhagen, H., Borit, M., Bravo, G., Wijermans, N. (eds) Advances in Social Simulation. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34127-5_43

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