Science & Society bilateral initiative in social sciences, arts and humanities
Activity 8: Modelling social change for public policy
Science & Society is a predefined bilateral initiative created by a partnership of 22 institutions from Poland and Norway, jointly conducting 11 activities, with a total budget of PLN 2.5 million. The initiative is coordinated by the Jagiellonian University, operated by the National Science Centre, and financed from the Bilateral Cooperation Fund of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2021 and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. Project number: UMO-2024/43/7/HS6/00002.
Project duration: 8 months (September 2024 – April 2025)
Project budget: 102 000 EUR (joint for UwB and NORCE)
This initiative aims to strengthen cooperation between scientists and the non-university sector, enabling knowledge transfer and its use in decision-making processes and strengthening the capacity for civic engagement.
As part of the initiative, the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Białystok, together with the Norwegian NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, are implementing activity (No. 8) entitled Modelling social change for public policy. The aim of this action is to familiarise decision-makers with the multi-agent modelling method, which offers enormous possibilities in predicting the impact of planned changes on social phenomena. Thanks to the experience gained in the project based on modelling the secularisation phenomenon and the technical support (in the form of the University Computing Centre), the University of Białystok has the capabilities and resources to support rulers, decision-makers and all institutions in predicting the impact and making key decisions. The action includes a series of meetings and consultations with stakeholders at local and national levels, both in Poland and Norway, and the publication of a guide to modelling for representatives of public authorities.
The project is carried out in partnership between Society and Cognition Unit (SCU) at University of Białystok and Norwegian Center for Modeling Social Systems (CMSS) at NORCE Research Center.
3 main pillars of the activity
Consultation meetings
A series of consultation meetings will be organised and held with policymakers and stakeholders at the local, regional and national levels. These consultations will be an opportunity to learn about the needs of representatives of public institutions and politics and will enable the popularisation of the modelling method in these circles. It also allows bringing together stakeholders from public institutions, civil society organisations (CSO), as well as academia and business.
Guide development
Conclusions, observations and insights from the consultation meetings along with previous experiences of SCU and CMSS will be the basis for developing the manual for stakeholders on the implementation of modelling in the processes of shaping public policies. These materials will show how to use social simulation and modelling for policy making, interpret simulated data, build a collaborative culture around model creation and interpretation, and outline the role of public institutions in co-creating models and testing policy scenarios.
Summit
The main activity will be the organisation of an open event addressed to a wide audience, with particular emphasis on key stakeholders from public institutions across Europe. The meeting will be devoted to the possibilities offered by the use of modelling in predicting and directing social changes, as well as serve as a platform to showcase studies of its successful implementations and challenges accompanying the introduction of this approach in public institutions.