Groningen Center for Social Complexity Studies

07/01/2026

🟡 As INCITE-DEM draws to a close, we would like to invite everyone who followed us on this journey to its grand final: our closing event, 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆.

This capstone event in Brussels will bring together the knowledge and results that we have gathered during these past three years and present it in an interactive and exciting manner.

🟡 With addresses and round table appearances by our co-hosts, MEPs Ana Catarina Mendes and Matjaž Nemec (among other illustrious guests and speakers), we will address how our 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 can be 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀, and with the closing parallel sessions, the event participants will have a unique opportunity to 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 we have created under the guidance of their designers.

❗Stay tuned for more information about the day's activities in the following weeks - we hope you will join us!

The closing event will take place in the EU Parliament, as well as in hybrid form Online. To find out more about what we will present at the event and to register, please visit:

📝 https://incite-dem.eu/news/join-us-at-our-closing-event-shaping-the-future-of-democracy/


University of Groningen TLÜ digitehnoloogiate instituut / School of Digital Technologies Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Focus - društvo za sonaraven razvoj Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes - ce3c Eco-union NTNU - Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Kyoto Club

22/12/2025

On the occasion of the doctoral defense of Jonas Stein on January 26, 2026, there will be a small workshop entitled “Decision-making and opinion formation in diverse groups: Theoretical and empirical investigations.”
The workshop will take place on January 26, 13:00 – 15:00 at Room Gamma (1131-0007) at the Faculty of Philosophy, Oude Boteringestraat 52, 9712 GL Groningen. After the workshop, you are warmly welcome to attend Jonas’ public defense and subsequent reception at the Academy Building of the University of Groningen at 16:15.
Jonas’ dissertation topic is of course closely related to the workshop. The dissertation project was supervised by Andreas Flache, Jan-Willem Romeijn, Vincenz Frey and Michael Mäs.
The workshop is open to interested scholars without requiring prior registration of attendance. It will host the following speakers:
13:00 – 13:50
Ulrike Hahn (Birbeck, University of London): (Non-)Independence, Order effects, and Polarisation in Social Networks
Jan Lorenz (Constructor University Bremen): Wealth Inequality, Misperception, and Wealth Taxation in an Agent-Based Model
14:10 – 15:00
Leah Henderson (University of Groningen): When do our differences drive us apart?
Jonas Stein (University of Groningen): Reconciling epistemic and identity diversity: Pathways to better decision-making in social groups

20/10/2025

Open now, our online course on , including easy to use social simulations in .

Check here: https://futurelearn.com/courses/growing-apart/1…

Sharing is much appreciated.

14/10/2025

New MOOC: Growing Apart: What is Polarisation and what can we do about it.

As of 20 October 2025, the University of Groningen, together with the University of Warsaw, the University of Tartu and the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, has launched this new massive open online course (MOOC) on the dynamics of polarisation on Futurelearn, including animations and social simulations to experiment with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmrLBb0F3M0

We would like to invite you to have a look at this wonderful new resource developed by our Center of Information Technology and University College Groningen. If you think this is relevant for your network, please share the announcement via email or social media.

Kind regards,

Tom Spits, Shaoni Wang & Wander Jager

Learn what social polarisation is, what key mechanisms drive societies apart and how to deal with this in your everyday life.Learn more in our online course ...

11/09/2025

Are you (interested in) teaching Agent Based Modelling? And/or are you curious how norms can prevent a better product to conquer a market? Do you want to play with diffusion processes and tipping points in social networks? Then explore our newly consumer choice simulation model published in the standard library of Netlogo.

http://netlogoweb.org/launch ://netlogoweb.org/assets/modelslib/Sample%20Models/Social%20Science/Consumer%20Choice.nlogox

In the tab “Model Info” you will find information on how it works, how to use it, things to notice and 5 experiments to exercise with.

This work originates from our ACTISS project (https://actiss-edu.eu), and we would like to thank Jacob Kelter from Netlogo.org for his support.

02/09/2025

A Dutch announcement:

Nog een beperkt aantal plaatsen....

Geïnteresseerd in democratische vernieuwing? Zin om kritisch mee te denken over een aantal democratische innovaties? Kom dan langs op 11 September in Groningen voor een workshop waarin we zes democratische innovaties gaan bekijken (beperkte plaatsen).

Wanneer: 11 September, 14:00 - 17:00
Waar: House of Connections, Grote Markt 21, 9712 HR Groningen
Registratie: https://lnkd.in/e6Vddyj9

Zet in je agenda:
📅 : https://lnkd.in/eXNAHnRZ

We hebben zes innovaties ontwikkeld in het EU INCITE-DEM project.

1: Het ‘Buurthuis’, een gedurfde democratische innovatie die de manier waarop burgers en instellingen in het komende decennium met elkaar omgaan, opnieuw zou kunnen definiëren.

2: De Permanente Burger Vergadering (the Permanent Citizen Assembly).

3: De participatie navigatie app: een digitaal platform aangestuurd door AI dat bureaucratie en participatieve democratie op elk niveau faciliteert - van buurten tot landen en zelfs wereldwijd.

4: Democratie toelage-initiatief: dit initiatief stelt burgers in staat om elke maand één betaalde vrije dag van het werk op te eisen om te besteden aan de gemeenschap, democratie of zelfonderwijs.

5: Democracy Laboratory is een baanbrekend initiatief dat zich inzet voor educatie in het gemeenschapsleven en daarmee de maatschappelijke betrokkenheid nieuw leven inblaast.

6: De Inclusieve Burgerconsultatie. Stel je een stad voor waar democratie niet alleen draait om het eens in de paar jaar stemmen, maar om een ​​continu proces dat de stem van de burgers het hele jaar door tot leven brengt in lokale planningsprocessen.

Deze zes innovaties willen we in subgroepen eens kritisch doornemen.
Na afloop volgt een plenaire afsluiting met een borrel.

Vragen? Mail [email protected]

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

05/06/2025

Trump and Musk start fighting. Perhaps they should read our new article introducing the "dialogue tool", a simple simulation to play with opinion dynamics. See:

Transitioning to sustainable systems often faces significant challenges. People from different backgrounds often have different views on sustainability, which may lead to group polarisation. To promote collective participation in the transition to sustainability, it is critical to understand the dri...

21/05/2025

Next Tuesday 15:00 we present a webinar on our DIALOGUE TOOL, a simple Agent Based Model suitable for practitioners and education. Be welcome to join in! Info:

Apr 29, 2025 | News INCITE-DEM kindly invites you to attend the first in a series of four webinars REFLECTING ON CONFLICTS IN PLANNING PROCESSES USING THE DIALOGUE TOOL presented by Wander Jager and Shaoni Wang of the University of Groningen on Tuesday, MAY 27th // 15:30 – 17:00 CET The presentati...

21/05/2025

Event
Visit of Dr. Marco Janssen: Self-Governance of the Commons

Join us for an engaging talk by Dr. Marco Janssen (Arizona State University) on the sustainable use of shared resources. Drawing from experimental research and real-world applications in India, he will explore how games and participatory tools can foster cooperation and improve resource governance. A must-attend for those interested in sustainability, collective action, and interdisciplinary approaches!

Date | Wed 28 May, 2025
Time | 13.00–14.30
Location| House of Connections

More information and registration

Join us on 28 May at House of Connections for a lecture by Dr. Marco Janssen on Self-Governance of the Commons, exploring how communities cooperate to...

06/04/2025

Strengthening Democracy Against Polarisation.
This was the title of the discussion Stephano Braghiroli (European Studies, University of Tartu) and I had, nicely moderated by Nataliia Sokolovska (Alexander von Humboldt Institut for internet and society).

This episode, where I coin the term "Walt Disneyfication" to address our tendency to reduce complex multidimensional problems into a simple good-versus-evil frame is now available on youtube: https://lnkd.in/e8CA9A-J

This is part of our Actiplex educational project https://socialpolarisation.eu, where material (games, simulations, online courses) will be shared.

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

19/03/2025

Come sail with me, and experience socio-ecological complexity in our summerschool of University of Groningen and the Waddenacademie, August 25-29. More info, a log of last year and registration: https://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/sustainable-landscapes/?lang=en