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Birgit Müller

Bio: Birgit Müller is an academic researcher from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sustainability & Resilience (network). The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 53 publications receiving 4764 citations.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The ODD + D protocol may prove helpful for describing ABMs in general when human decisions are included and incorporates a section on 'Theoretical and Empirical Background' to encourage model designs and model assumptions that are more closely related to theory.
Abstract: Representing human decisions is of fundamental importance in agent-based models. However, the rationale for choosing a particular human decision model is often not sufficiently empirically or theoretically substantiated in the model documentation. Furthermore, it is difficult to compare models because the model descriptions are often incomplete, not transparent and difficult to understand. Therefore, we expand and refine the 'ODD' (Overview, Design Concepts and Details) protocol to establish a standard for describing ABMs that includes human decision-making (ODD + D). Because the ODD protocol originates mainly from an ecological perspective, some adaptations are necessary to better capture human decision-making. We extended and rearranged the design concepts and related guiding questions to differentiate and describe decision-making, adaptation and learning of the agents in a comprehensive and clearly structured way. The ODD + D protocol also incorporates a section on 'Theoretical and Empirical Background' to encourage model designs and model assumptions that are more closely related to theory. The application of the ODD + D protocol is illustrated with a description of a social-ecological ABM on water use. Although the ODD + D protocol was developed on the basis of example implementations within the socio-ecological scientific community, we believe that the ODD + D protocol may prove helpful for describing ABMs in general when human decisions are included.

386 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The analysis reveals the substantial potential of SES models to address issues that are of utmost importance for managing complex human-environment relationships, such as: the implications of ecological and social structure for resource management, and uncertainty in natural and social systems and ways to address it.
Abstract: Conventional approaches to natural resource management are increasingly challenged by environmental problems that are embedded in highly complex systems with profound uncertainties. These so-called social-ecological systems (SESs) are characterized by strong links between the social and the ecological system and multiple interactions across spatial and temporal scales. New approaches are needed to manage those tightly coupled systems; however, basic understanding of their nonlinear behavior is still missing. Modeling is a traditional tool in natural resource management to study complex, dynamic systems. There is a long tradition of SES modeling, but the approach is now being more widely recognized in other fields, such as ecological and economic modeling, where issues such as nonlinear ecological dynamics and complex human decision making are receiving more attention. SES modeling is maturing as a discipline in its own right, incorporating ideas from other interdisciplinary fields such as resilience or complex systems research. In this paper, we provide an overview of the emergence and state of the art of this cross-cutting field. Our analysis reveals the substantial potential of SES models to address issues that are of utmost importance for managing complex human-environment relationships, such as: (i) the implications of ecological and social structure for resource management, (ii) uncertainty in natural and social systems and ways to address it, (iii) the role of coevolutionary processes in the dynamics of SESs, and (iv) the implications of microscale human decision making for sustainable resource management and conservation. The complexity of SESs and the lack of a common analytical framework, however, also pose significant challenges for this emerging field. There are clear research needs with respect to: (i) approaches that go beyond rather simple specifications of human decision making, (ii) development of coping strategies to deal with (irreducible) uncertainties, (iii) more explicit modeling of feedbacks between the social and ecological systems, and (iv) a conceptual and methodological framework for analyzing and modeling SESs. We provide ideas for tackling some of these challenges and indicate potential key focal areas for SES modeling in the future.

301 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a framework, MoHuB (Modelling Human Behavior), to facilitate a broader inclusion of theories on human decision-making in formal natural resource management models.

291 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this article, a general and unifying methodology for ecological economics is developed, which integrates philosophical considerations on the foundations of ecological economics with an adequate operationalization and provides a systematic and integral view on ecological economics, and thus allows the relationship between contributions to the field that have so far been perceived as very heterogeneous and largely unrelated.
Abstract: We develop a general and unifying methodology for ecological economics which integrates philosophical considerations on the foundations of ecological economics with an adequate operationalization. We argue that the subject matter and aims of ecological economics require a specific combination of inter- and transdisciplinary research, and discuss the epistemological position on which this methodology is based. In accordance with this understanding of inter- and transdisciplinarity and the underlying epistemological position, we develop an operationalization which comprises simultaneous analysis on three levels of abstraction: concepts, (generic) models and case studies. This provides a systematic and integral view on ecological economics, and thus allows one to see the relationship between contributions to the field that have so far been perceived as very heterogeneous and largely unrelated. At the same time, this methodological framework may provide orientation for the further development of ecological economics.

163 citations


Cited by
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Proceedings ArticleDOI
22 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Some of the major results in random graphs and some of the more challenging open problems are reviewed, including those related to the WWW.
Abstract: We will review some of the major results in random graphs and some of the more challenging open problems. We will cover algorithmic and structural questions. We will touch on newer models, including those related to the WWW.

7,116 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A forum to review, analyze and stimulate the development, testing and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies at regional, national and global scales as mentioned in this paper, which contributes to real-time policy analysis and development as national and international policies and agreements are discussed.
Abstract: ▶ Addresses a wide range of timely environment, economic and energy topics ▶ A forum to review, analyze and stimulate the development, testing and implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies at regional, national and global scales ▶ Contributes to real-time policy analysis and development as national and international policies and agreements are discussed and promulgated ▶ 94% of authors who answered a survey reported that they would definitely publish or probably publish in the journal again

2,587 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The definition of ODD is revised to clarify aspects of the original version and thereby facilitate future standardization of ABM descriptions and improves the rigorous formulation of models and helps make the theoretical foundations of large models more visible.

2,186 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual model of an ideal-typical transdisciplinary research process is synthesized and structures such a set of principles from various strands of the literature and empirical experiences, looking at challenges and coping strategies as experienced in transdisciplinary sustainability projects in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia.
Abstract: There is emerging agreement that sustainability challenges require new ways of knowledge production and decision-making. One key aspect of sustainability science, therefore, is the involvement of actors from outside academia into the research process in order to integrate the best available knowledge, reconcile values and preferences, as well as create ownership for problems and solution options. Transdisciplinary, community-based, interactive, or participatory research approaches are often suggested as appropriate means to meet both the requirements posed by real-world problems as well as the goals of sustainability science as a transformational scientific field. Dispersed literature on these approaches and a variety of empirical projects applying them make it difficult for interested researchers and practitioners to review and become familiar with key components and design principles of how to do transdisciplinary sustainability research. Starting from a conceptual model of an ideal–typical transdisciplinary research process, this article synthesizes and structures such a set of principles from various strands of the literature and empirical experiences. We then elaborate on them, looking at challenges and some coping strategies as experienced in transdisciplinary sustainability projects in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. The article concludes with future research needed in order to further enhance the practice of transdisciplinary sustainability research.

1,927 citations