The challenges that confront our modern world are multifaceted and interdependent, calling for innovative approaches to policymaking. To address this need, the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) is inviting individuals seeking novel perspectives on public policy to attend our series of guest speaker events focusing on System Thinking in and for Public Policy. Esteemed specialists in system thinking and modeling will lead these lectures and will be organized and moderated by our faculty member, Dr. Mounia Drissi. The experts will impart valuable insights on the systemic qualities of public policies. They will address the interconnectedness of systems, relevant concepts such as emergence, synthesis, and feedback loops, and novel methods tailored to better structure modern policy challenges, enhance shock resilience, and fill in existing gaps between policy analysis and effective policy design. These lectures are aimed at students of public administration and public policy, academics, researchers, government employees, and all individuals who wish to acquire new toolkits for system thinking.
Lecture 1: Agent-Based Approach for Public Policy
Date: April 5th 2023
Time: 09:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Delivery Language: English
Speakers: Derek Cabrera (PhD, Cornell) and Laura Cabrera (B.S, M.P.A, & PhD, Cornell)
Join us for an insightful guest speaking session with Dr. Laura and Dr. Derek Cabrera as they discuss their groundbreaking Agent-Based Approach (ABA) for designing and implementing public policies. The Cabrera’s have co-authored several books: Systems Thinking Made Simple: New Hope for Solving Wicked Problem, Thinking at Every Desk: Four Simple Skills to Transform Your Classroom (Norton), Flock Not Clock: Design, Align, and Lead to Achieve Your Vision. They are co-editors of the Routledge Handbook of Systems Thinking, and members of the USMA’s Systems Engineering Advisory Board. In this session, these distinguished speakers will walk us through their developed ABA’s stepwise method for approaching Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), which finds answers to the limitations of applying Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) to public policy. Through real-life examples, the presenters will showcase the practicality of their approach and provide policymakers with valuable insights on how they can adopt this systemic perspective when designing policies.