Participatory model-based policy exploration for the mobility transition

Journal Article (2025)
Author(s)

K.J. Führer (TU Delft - Policy Analysis)

Floortje d’Hont (TU Delft - Policy Analysis)

Etiënne Rouwette (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen)

J.H. Kwakkel (TU Delft - Policy Analysis)

Research Group
Policy Analysis
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2025.101683
More Info
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Publication Year
2025
Language
English
Research Group
Policy Analysis
Volume number
34
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Abstract

Decision-making in the context of the mobility transition requires considering complexity, many actors, and uncertainty about the future. So, choosing effective policies to achieve a more sustainable system is challenging. We build on participatory modeling and decision-making under deep uncertainty to create a novel approach to investigate the capabilities of decision-makers to interact with an agent-based model to explore various transport policies. This paper reports the results of two workshops with students exploring the mobility transition for a fictional version of a city in the Netherlands The participants made decisions in the role of either government or transport provider and evaluated the systemic impact of those decisions. We found that the participants were well-equipped to deliberate policy options under deep uncertainty using model simulations depicting a range of possible outcomes under different scenarios, embracing uncertainty in some respects and ignoring it in others. This study demonstrates the potential of participatory model-based exploration for mobility transitions to deliberate policy options under uncertainty using an agent-based model.