Launch of the European Research Group "Spatial Simulation for Social Sciences" (ERG S4)

The Università della Svizzera Italiana, represented by the Institute of Contemporary Urban Project i.CUP, the research group of Mathematics at the Accademia di architettura of Mendrisio and the Istituto di Ricerche Economiche of Lugano IRE, will be a member of the European Research Group "Spatial Simulation for Social Sciences" (ERG S4) coordinated by the prof. D. Pumain and by the Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France).

The S4 network aims at building a critical mass of excellent capabilities through joint activities in the field of spatial urban and regional modelling. The network will also foster the delivery of these new capabilities to a wider range of potential users throughout the EU, both in the academic world and in a variety of institutions confronted with the management of European space at different scales. The networking activities should lower the threshold for achieving local collective excellence.

Members of the network have designed a common approach to spatial modelling: models should take into account the user's demand and try to merge as far as possible expert and layman knowledge in the model by explicit integration of decision processes and their evaluation methods; complex spatial models are multilevel in that they mix individual behaviour and choices with aggregate components of the spatial configuration (structure and relative location of territories and network at various scales of organisation); dynamic modelling and previsions rely on detailed knowledge of temporal processes with different time-scales; models never remain purely theoretical but are always applied in several different spatial contexts and compared by referring each of them to specific use and applications; coupling of elementary modules is a method for model building which is preferred to the former construction of large comprehensive but hardly exportable models.

Main expected results

1. An analytical comparative inventory of spatial models for social science researchers; interfaces between different modelling concepts and frameworks, including:

• Large scale (spatial and temporal) dynamic models for exploring the possible future evolution of European population and activities distributions (European, national, regional and local scales) and policy testing.
• Flexible and integrated models for spatial simulation aiming at specific needs of urban planners and regional management bodies, including visualisation of simulation results of different policies.
• Interactive computer tools for local policies for a sustainable development; Models for on line map production (e.g. comparative and animated maps).
2. Increase of interdisciplinary knowledge on spatial change and interaction of social processes.
3. Diffusion of knowledge in member states and candidate states through:

 Development of dedicated websites
 Multilingual (French/English/Spanish) Encyclopedia of concepts in geography: Hypergeo
 Electronic publication platform (Special issues of Cybergeo, European Journal of Geography)
 Organization of international meetings
 Advanced training workshops

The ERG S4 officially begins at the 1st of January 2006 and will last 4 years.
The S4 website is accessible at http://s4.parisgeo.cnrs.fr/
A meeting launching the ERG S4 will be held in Paris at the end of April 2006. This is a one day meeting on Friday 28 April, 2006. Besides, a one day meeting will be organised by S4 within the framework of each next European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography (ECTQG) : The 15th ECTQG will take place from September 7 to 11, 2007 in Lausanne. The next one could be in Ireland in 2009 (to be confirmed).

Contact: Paolo Giordano, gruppo di ricerca della cattedra di Matematica, Accademia di Mendrisio, [email protected]