Inaugural speech prof.dr. T. Filatova (Faculty of TPM)

On April 26, Professor Tatiana Filatova (TPM) will give her inaugural speech 'Economic and social dimensions of climate change'.

Climate is changing. It already causes disruptions to socio-economic systems worldwide, emphasizing the urgent need for climate mitigation and adaptation actions across various scales, from governments to businesses and individuals. The growing acknowledgment of the significant role human actors play in shaping climate outcomes drives a proliferation of computational models that include societal dynamics. Yet, replacing a representative rational actor dominant in climate policy models with a variety of behaviorally rich agents that interact, learn, and adapt is challenging. Computational agent-based models are the key research method for exploring dynamic responses of complex socio-economic systems to climate change.

Over the past decades, this field has progressed from simplistic theoretical models to empirically grounded large-scale simulations that inform the design of climate policies. Advancements in computational methods enable the integration of social science theories with data on behavioral change, social networks, climate, and environmental data to create artificial societies and explore their evolution over time. Looking back on this progress, it is essential to acknowledge the outstanding challenges, including understanding behavioral change, learning processes, social interactions, market expectations, and regional economic dynamics in the climate change context where past data may not represent future trends and where regime shifts are expected.

Date: Friday 26 April 2024
Time: 15.00h
Location: Aula (Auditorium) Mekelweg 5 in Delft

Click here to register.