Computational Model Library

Displaying 10 of 96 results framework clear search

This model is an agent-based simulation designed to explore how climate-induced environmental degradation can contribute to the emergence of social violence in coastal communities that depend heavily on ecosystem services for their livelihoods. The model represents a coupled social–ecological system in which environmental shocks—such as sea level rise and marine ecosystem decline—affect local economic conditions, food security, and community stability.

Agents in the model represent individuals whose livelihoods depend on coastal ecosystems. Environmental degradation reduces ecosystem productivity and increases economic hardship, which can lead to the formation of grievances among agents. The model incorporates behavioral thresholds that determine how individuals respond to hardship and perceived injustice. Under certain conditions—particularly when institutional capacity and law enforcement effectiveness are limited—these grievances may escalate into violent behavior.

The simulation allows users to explore how different climate scenarios, levels of ecosystem degradation, livelihood dependence, and institutional responses influence the probability of social instability and violence. By modeling the interactions between environmental stress, socio-economic vulnerability, and governance capacity, the model provides a computational framework for examining potential pathways linking climate change and conflict in coastal social–ecological systems.

A simulation model for Dublin city

umesh7lowe | Published Friday, April 10, 2026

An agent-based model of urban travel behaviour in Dublin, Ireland, built in NetLogo and empirically grounded in 2016 travel survey data. Each agent represents a Dublin resident initialised with real socio-demographic attributes — including age, gender, household size and car ownership, income, driving licence status, and access to local amenities — alongside observed trip characteristics such as distance, travel time, and trip type (work, shopping, leisure).
At each time step, agents choose between four transport modes (car, public transport, cycling, and walking) across short, medium, and long trips. Mode choice is governed by a preference vector that weighs personal need satisfaction against social influence from neighbouring agents reflecting consumat framework. Satisfaction evolves dynamically based on cost (incorporating Irish motor tax bands and per-km operating rates), travel time, and trip-type suitability, with an uncertainty parameter capturing variability in perceived utility over time.
The model tracks aggregate modal shares and total CO2 emission at each tick, enabling exploration of how policy interventions — such as fuel taxation, public transport pricing, or active travel incentives — might shift the city’s travel demand profile over 100 simulated days.

The aim of this model is to study the dynamic propagation of individual climate adaptive behaviours in different scenarios within the analytical framework of conservation motivation theory, focusing on the impact of social and experiential learning on the adoption of climate adaptive behaviours by coastal farmers.
Model for paper “Promoting climate resilience through learning-based behavioural change: Insights from an agent-based model of a coastal farming community in Guangxi, China” in Environmental Science & Policy, Volume 179, May 2026, 104375, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104375

Peer reviewed A dynamic identity model for misinformation in social networks

emdhar | Published Friday, February 27, 2026

A dynamic identity model for misinformation in social networks, an agent-based model of social identity and misinformation dynamics.

I developed this model as a part of my master’s thesis, “Does social identity drive belief and persistence in online misinformation? An agent-based modelling approach” at University College Dublin, Ireland (2024-2025).

The purpose of this model is to further understand the dynamics of misinformation sharing as an expression of social identity. I introduce a framework to understand the influence of self-categorisation on misinformation persistence in social network. It integrates a social learning model with the Dynamic Identity Model for Agents (DIMA) using simple logic to simulate the social trade-offs driving misinformation and observe the effects on misinformation spread.

This model implements a coupled opinion-mobility agent-based framework in NetLogo, extending Attraction-Repulsion Model (ARM) dynamics with endogenous migration in continuous 2D space.

Each agent has an opinion s in [0,1] and a spatial position (x,y). Agents interact locally within an interaction radius, with exposure-controlled interaction probability. Opinion updates follow ARM rules: attraction for small opinion distance and repulsion for large distance (tolerance threshold T). After social interaction, agents move according to a social-force mechanism that balances attraction to similar neighbors and avoidance of dissimilar neighbors, controlled by orientation bias (approaching goods vs leaving bads). The model also includes an optional exposure-mobility coupling setting.

Main outputs include polarization (P), spatial assortativity (Moran’s I), mixed-neighbor fraction (f_mix), and good-component count (N_g). The model is designed to study phase behavior of polarization and segregation under mobility and tolerance heterogeneity.

Peer reviewed The Andean Resource Management Model (ARMM)

Olga Palacios | Published Tuesday, January 20, 2026

ARMM is a theoretical agent-based model that formalizes Murra’s Theory of Verticality (Murra, 1972) to explore how multi-zonal resource management systems emerge in mountain landscapes. The model identifies the social, political, and economic mechanisms that enable vertical complementarity across ecological gradients.
Built in NetLogo, ARMM employs an abstract 111×111 grid divided into four Andean ecological zones (Altiplano, Highland, Lowland, Coast), each containing up to 18 resource types distributed according to ecological suitability. To test general theoretical principles rather than replicate specific geography, resource locations are randomized at each model initialization.
Settlement agents pursue one of two economic strategies: diversification (seeking resource variety, maximum 2 units per type) or accumulation (maximising total quantity, maximum 30 units). Agents move between adjacent zones through hierarchical decision-making, first attempting peaceful interactions—coexistence (governed by tolerance) and trading (governed by cooperation)—before resorting to conflict (theft or takeover, governed by belligerence).
The model demonstrates that vertical complementarity can emerge through fundamentally different mechanisms: either through autonomous mobility under political decentralization or through state-coordinated redistribution under centralization. Sensitivity analysis reveals that belligerence and economic strategy explain approximately 25% of outcome variance, confirming that structural inequalities between zones result from political-economic organization rather than environmental constraints alone.
As a preliminary theoretical model, ARMM intentionally maintains simplicity to isolate core mechanisms and generate testable hypotheses. This foundational framework will guide future empirically-calibrated versions that incorporate specific archaeological settlement data and geographic features from the Carangas region (Bolivia-Chile border), enabling direct comparison between theoretical predictions and observed historical patterns.

This model explores the coupled dynamics of social norm diffusion and finite resource depletion. Extending the “Affordance Landscape” framework by Kaaronen & Strelkovskii (2020), this simulation investigates how resource scarcity and regeneration rates influence the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours.

The model addresses the gap by linking behavioural norms to a depleting common-pool resource. It tests whether sustainable norms can diffuse rapidly enough to prevent ecological collapse and identifies “tipping points” where resource scarcity acts as a driver for behavioural change.

FRAMe (Flood Resilience Agent-Based Model)

Wenhan Feng | Published Wednesday, October 22, 2025

The FRAMe (Flood Resilience Agent-Based Model) serves as a framework designed to simulate flood resilience dynamics at the community level, focusing on a rural settlement in the Mekong River Basin. Integrating empirical data from extensive surveys, Bayesian networks, and hydrological simulations, the framework quantifies resilience as a trade-off between robustness (resistance to damage) and adaptability (capacity for dynamic response). Agents include households, governments, and other actors, linked by social and governance networks that facilitate knowledge transfer, resource distribution, and risk communication. FRAMe incorporates mechanisms for flood forecasting, policy interventions (education, aid, insurance), and individual and collective decision-making, grounded in Protection Motivation Theory and MoHuB frameworks. The framework’s spatially explicit design leverages GIS data, which supports scenario testing of governance structures and stakeholder interactions. By examining policy scenarios and agent behavior, FRAMe aims to inform adaptive flood management strategies and enhance community resilience.

This Agent-Based Model is designed to simulate how similarity-based partner selection (homophily) shapes the formation of co-offending networks and the diffusion of skills within those networks. Its purpose is to isolate and test the effects of offenders’ preference for similar partners on network structure and information flow, under controlled conditions.

In the model, offenders are represented as agents with an individual attribute and a set of skills. At each time step, agents attempt to select partners based on similarity preference. When two agents mutually select each other, they commit a co-offense, forming a tie and exchanging a skill. The model tracks the evolution of network properties (e.g., density, clustering, and tie strength) as well as the spread of skills over time.

This simple and theoretical model does not aim to produce precise empirical predictions but rather to generate insights and test hypotheses about the trade-off between partnership stability and information diffusion. It provides a flexible framework for exploring how changes in partner selection preferences may lead to differences in criminal network dynamics. Although the model was developed to simulate offenders’ interactions, in principle, it could be applied to other social processes involving social learning and skills exchange.

An agent-based model of scapegoating

Carlos Paes | Published Thursday, August 28, 2025 | Last modified Thursday, August 28, 2025

This agent-based model investigates scapegoating as a social mechanism of crisis management. Inspired by René Girard’s mimetic theory, it simulates how individual tension accumulates and spreads across a small-world network. When tension exceeds certain thresholds, leaders emerge and accuse marginalized agents, who may attempt to transfer blame to substitutes. If scapegoating occurs, collective tension decreases, but victims become isolated while leaders consolidate temporary authority. This simulation provides a conceptual and methodological framework for exploring how collective blame, crisis contagion, and leadership paradoxes emerge in complex networks. It can also be extended with empirical data, such as social media dynamics of online harassment and virtual lynching, offering potential applications for both theoretical research and practical crisis monitoring.

Displaying 10 of 96 results framework clear search

This website uses cookies and Google Analytics to help us track user engagement and improve our site. If you'd like to know more information about what data we collect and why, please see our data privacy policy. If you continue to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies.
Accept