- E-mailBirgit.Kopainsky@uib.no
- Phone+47 55 58 30 92
- Visitor AddressFosswinckels gate 6Lauritz Meltzers hus5007 BergenRoom724
- Postal AddressPostboks 78025020 Bergen
What does it take to feed a growing and more demanding global population while staying within planetary and social boundaries? And how do we get there - how do we minimize trade-offs and maximize synergies; how do we make sure that all voices are heard and represented?
I am a systems thinker and modeler with a passion for learning in and about food and other social-ecological systems. In my research, I explore the role that system dynamics analysis and modeling techniques play in facilitating transformation processes in social-ecological systems, such as the transition towards sustainable agri-food systems on local, national and international levels. My goal is to provide guidelines for learning about complex dynamic systems and for making information about climate change, agriculture and food security both accessible and relevant for action. I work both in Europe and in several sub-Saharan African countries.
I am particularly passionate about engaging with a wide range of stakeholders by creatively adapting proven tools and techniques from systems thinking and system dynamics modeling to advance decision-making in social ecological systems and to achieve breakthrough moments of understanding for those stakeholders to become champions of change towards resilience and sustainability.
2022. En mulighet for småbønder i Afrika. https://www.bistandsaktuelt.no/matsikkerhet-matvarepriser-tanzania/en-mulighet-for-smabonder-i-afrika/308328
2021. PhDs stepping up to policy brief call. https://www.uib.no/en/sdgbergen/146088/phds-stepping-policy-brief-call
2021. Practitioner Profile: Birgit Kopainsky, University of Bergen (UiB), Norway. System Dynamics Blog WiSDom. https://systemdynamics.org/practitioner-profile-birgit-kopainsky-university-of-bergen-uib-norway/
2021. Group Model Building Online. Experiences and Insights. System Dynamics Society Seminar Series. 10.03.2021:
- Recording, presentation and templates: https://systemdynamics.org/event/group-model-building-online-experiences-and-insights-seminar/.
- Follow-up blog post: https://systemdynamics.org/webinar-qa-group-model-building-online/
2020. Når systemet kollapser må system-tenkerne innovere – for å innovere. OPPkvikker - faglig frokostmøte med Universitetet i Bergen. Innovasjonsuken OPP. https://www.innovasjonsukenopp.no/arrangement/oppkvikker-faglig-frokostmoete-med-universitetet-i-bergen/
2019. A first of its kind (pioneer): PhD Interdisciplinary course at UiB. https://www.slate.uib.no/single-post/2019/10/23/A-first-of-its-kind-pioneer-PhD-Interdisciplinary-course-at-UiB.
2019. FN gir ph.d.-kandidatar ved UiB ei utfordring / Creative problem solving. The UN gives PhD candidates at UiB a challenge. University of Bergen Aktuelt / News. https://www.uib.no/svf/126248/fn-gir-phd-kandidatar-ved-uib-ei-utfordring / https://www.uib.no/en/svf/126252/un-gives-phd-candidates-uib-challenge
2017. Med blikk på bærekraften i europeisk landbruk / EU funding for climate dynamics project. University of Bergen Aktuelt / News (interview). http://www.uib.no/svf/104655/med-blikk-p%C3%A5-b%C3%A6rekraften-i-europeisk-landbruk / http://www.uib.no/en/svf/104634/eu-funding-climate-dynamics-project
2015. UiB-forskere lytter til afrikanske bønder / Listening to the voices of Africa's farmers. University of Bergen Aktuelt / News (interview). http://www.uib.no/aktuelt/92385/uib-forskere-lytter-til-afrikanske-b%C3%B8nder / http://www.uib.no/en/news/92401/listening-voices-africa%E2%80%99s-farmers
2014. På randen av en matkrise. HUBRO, 20-21. (interview)
2014. On the verge of a food crisis. The UiB Magazine, 2014/2015, 24-25. (interview)
- (2023). Simulation-Based Assessment of Cholera Epidemic Response: A Case Study of Al-Hudaydah, Yemen. Systems.
- (2023). Enabling Mobility: A Simulation Model of the Health Care System for Major Lower-Limb Amputees to Assess the Impact of Digital Prosthetics Services. Systems. 1-27.
- (2022). workshop i SYNAGRI.
- (2022). Using microworlds for policymaking in the context of resilient farming systems. Journal of Simulation. 1-25.
- (2022). Understanding resilience of farming systems: Insights from system dynamics modelling for an arable farming system in the Netherlands. Ecological Modelling. 12 pages.
- (2022). Integrating diverse perspectives: meaning-making process in participatory system dynamics.
- (2022). Impacts of future climate on local water supply and demand – A socio-hydrological case study in the Nordic region. Journal of Hydrology Regional Studies.
- (2022). Discussant; Second Open Plenary Discussion.
- (2022). Climate resilience and the human-water dynamics. The case of tomato production in Morocco. Science of the Total Environment.
- (2022). Climate change adaptation processes seen through a resilience lens: Norwegian farmers’ handling of the dry summer of 2018. Environmental Science and Policy. 146-154.
- (2022). Can sustainability certification enhance the climate resilience of smallholder farmers? The case of Ghanaian cocoa. Journal of Land Use Science. 407-428.
- (2022). Applying a systems perspective to understand the mechanisms of the European School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. European Journal of Public Health. iv107-iv113.
- (2022). An outlook on the Future of Agricultural Policy: Experiences from Norway.
- (2022). Addressing the resilience of tomato farmers in Ghana facing a double exposure from climate and market. Ecology & Society.
- (2022). A dynamic systems analysis of factors affecting success of identity-preserved products: the case of high-oleic soybeans . International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 16 pages.
- (2021). Using participatory system dynamics modeling to address complex conservation prob-lems: Tiger farming as a case study. Frontiers in Conservation Science.
- (2021). Institutional synergies for sustainability learning - the university as ecosystem and social actor.
- (2021). Human-water dynamics and their role for seasonal water scarcity – a case study. Water resources management.
- (2021). Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Current status and recommended improvements. Agricultural Systems. 1-28.
- (2021). Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Case examples and priority information needs. Agricultural Systems. 1-10.
- (2021). Closing the mineral construction material cycle – An endogenous perspective on barriers in transition. Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
- (2021). Agricultural intensification can no longer ignore water conservation – A systemic modelling approach to the case of tomato producers in Morocco. Agricultural Water Management.
- (2020). Working towards system dynamics modeling and simulation of policies in Co-Create.
- (2020). Using system dynamics to support a participatory assessment of resilience. Environment Systems and Decisions.
- (2020). Sustainable and healthy diets: Synergies and trade‐offs in Switzerland. Systems research and behavioral science.
- (2020). Supporting stakeholders to anticipate and respond to risks in a Mekong River water-energy-food nexus. Ecology & Society.
- (2020). Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops. System Dynamics Review.
- (2020). Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops. System Dynamics Review.
- (2020). PhD for innovation. Experiences with the pilot version of a PhD course on interdisciplinary problem solving and creativity.
- (2020). OPPkvikker - faglig frokostmøte med Universitetet i Bergen.
- (2020). Impacts of improved strategies and policy options on the resilience of farming systems across the EU. D5.6 . .
- (2020). Impacts of Future Scenarios on the Resilience of Farming Systems across the EU As-sessed with Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. D5.5 . .
- (2020). How can System Dynamics contribute to transformation in social-ecological systems?
- (2020). Do you bend or break? System Dynamics in resilience planning for food security. System Dynamics Review.
- (2020). Crises as opportunities. Presidential address.
- (2020). Connecting the dots. Systems thinking as a unifying language in interdisciplinary work.
- (2020). Conceptual frameworks linking agriculture and food security. Nature Food. 541-551.
- (2020). Call for transparency of COVID-19 models. Science. 482-483.
- (2020). Afterword. Systems research and behavioral science.
- (2019). System Dynamics at Sixty: The Path Forward.
- (2019). Sustainable and healthy diets. Synergies and trade-offs in Switzerland.
- (2019). Short-term versus long-term decision trade-offs: Evidence from a model-based observational experiment with African small-scale farmers. Systems research and behavioral science. 215-228.
- (2019). Setting Priorities to Address the Research Gaps Between Agricultural Systems Analysis and Food Security Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. .
- (2019). Review of existing system dynamics models on overweight/obesity in children and ado-lescents. D7.1 H2020 project CoCREATE. .
- (2019). PhD for Innovation: Interdisciplinary problem solving and creativity.
- (2019). Participatory modelling updates expectations for individuals and groups, catalyzing behavior change and collective action in water‐energy‐food nexus governance. Earth's Future. 1337-1352.
- (2019). On using system dynamics to build adaptive capacity with small-scale farmers in developing countries.
- (2019). Navigating between analytical rigor and inclusiveness in participatory systems modeling.
- (2019). Integrated simulation for national development planning. Kybernetes. 208-223.
- (2019). DR-UK Banana Value Chain Climate Resilience Workshop. Forming a transdisciplinary platform to generate stakeholder designed strategies to enhance climate resilience. .
- (2019). DR-UK Banana Producer Resilience Assessment. Understanding preparation, impacts and recovery responses to hurricane-induced flooding for smallholder banana producers. .
- (2019). A framework to assess the resilience of farming systems. Agricultural Systems. 1-10.
- (2019). #foodcanfixit. How food and system dynamics have given me a career.
- (2018). Understanding the transition to a bio-based economy: Exploring dynamics linked to the agricultural sector in Sweden. Sustainability. 1-22.
- (2018). The bio-based economy: Dynamics governing transition pathways in the Swedish forestry sector. Sustainability. 1-18.
- (2018). Synergies and trade-offs between healthy consumption and sustainable production.
- (2018). Simulation-based field experiments to study dynamic decision making.
- (2018). Scenarios for EU Farming. Deliverable 1.2. .
- (2018). Report on Resilience Framework for EU Agriculture. Deliverable 1.1. .
- (2018). Public Policy Planning to Enhance the Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems to Climate Change. Operationalising Resilience Concepts from a Dynamic Perspective.
- (2018). On using system dynamics to build adaptive capacity with small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
- (2018). Impact Assessment Tool to Assess the Resilience of Farming Systems and their Delivery of Private and Public Goods. Deliverable 5.1. .
- (2018). A systems education at Bergen. 7 pages.
- (2017). Ökonomische und ökologische Wirkungen der Schweizer Land- und Ernährungswirtschaft: Bestandsaufnahme und mögliche kritische Faktoren in der Zukunft.
- (2017). Transforming food systems at local levels: using participatory system dynamics in an interactive manner to refine small-scale farmers’ mental models. Ecological Modelling. 101-110.
- (2017). The Dynamics of Food Availability in sub-Saharan Africa. An Endogenous Perspective on Food Production Systems.
- (2017). System dynamics as a framework for understanding human-environment dynamics. 12 pages.
- (2017). SURE-Farm: Towards SUstainable and REsilient EU FARMing systems.
- (2017). Participatory system dynamics mapping for collaboration and socioecological integration in the Lake Tana region. 16 pages.
- (2017). Natural resource management: Contributions of system dynamics to research, policy and implementation. Selected papers from the Seventh European System Dynamics Workshop, at University of Bergen, Norway. Systems research and behavioral science. 378-385.
- (2017). Experts’ opinion about the interaction of sustainable nutrition, health and future of agricultural systems in Switzerland.
- (2017). Evidence about dynamic decision-making based on a field experiment with African farmers.
- (2017). Evidence about dynamic decision-making based on a field experiment with African farmers.
- (2017). Development of organic farming in Europe at the crossroads: Looking for the way forward through system archetypes lenses.
- (2017). Development of organic farming in Europe at the crossroads: Looking for the way forward through system archetype lenses. Sustainability.
- (2017). Designing robust policy for sustainable development of organic farming in Switzerland: A simulation-based approach.
- (2017). Cournot markets in the field: The case of Zambian farmers.
- (2017). A Food Systems Perspective for Food and Nutrition Security beyond the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Systems research and behavioral science. 178-190.
- (2016). Subsistence Farming Household. Dynamic Profile.
- (2016). Resilience in food systems: The case of tef in Ethiopia. Sight and Life. 22-27.
- (2016). Investigating the drivers of innovation diffusion in a low income country context. The case of adoption of improved maize seed in Malawi. Futures: The journal of policy, planning and futures studies. 161-175.
- (2016). Farmers' Decision Making and Food Insecurity: The Case of Ethiopian Households A System Dynamics Approach.
- (2016). Can organic farming reduce vulnerabilities and enhance the resilience of the European food system? A critical assessment using system dynamics structural thinking tools. Sustainability. 32 pages.
- (2016). 34th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society 2016. System Dynamics Society.
- (2015). Was heisst nachhaltige Intensivierung für die europäische Landwirtschaft?
- (2015). The more you see the less you “get”: On the importance of a higher-level perspective for understanding dynamic systems.
- (2015). The effect of prior exploration as an instructional strategy in system dynamics learning environments. Simulation & Gaming. 293-321.
- (2015). The Maize Value Chain in Zambia: Dynamics and Resilience Towards Production Shocks.
- (2015). System dynamics and sustainable intensification of food systems: Complementarities and challenges.
- (2015). System dynamics and simulation-gaming: Overview. Simulation & Gaming.
- (2015). System Dynamics zur Verbesserung der Nahrungsmittel-Versorgungssicherheit in Afrika.
- (2015). Rethinking agriculture in a shrinking world: Operationalization of resilience with a System Dynamics perspective.
- (2015). Representation and Dynamic Implications of Mental Models of Food Systems: A case study of dynamic decision making of smallscale farmers in Zambia .
- (2015). Maize Losses During Storage: A System Dynamics approach to the Food Reserve Agency Case in Zambia.
- (2015). Learning as conceptual change during community based group interventions. A case study with smallholder farmers in Zambia.
- (2015). LEARNING ABOUT SYSTEMS THROUGH INTERACTION: A CASE STUDY WITH SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN ZAMBIA.
- (2015). Food system resilience: Defining the concept. Global Food Security. 17-23.
- (2015). Food provision and environmental goals in the Swiss agri-food system: System dynamics and the social-ecological systems framework. Systems research and behavioral science. 414-432.
- (2015). Filling the cups: Learning about systems through community-based processes.
- (2015). Effects of structural transparency in system dynamics simulators on performance and understanding. Systems. 152-176.
- (2015). Dynamic simulation modeling in social-ecological systems.
- (2015). Dynamic decision making in coupled social ecological systems. Integration of small-scale farmers’ goals, resources and strategies for natural resource manage-ment in Amhara region, Ethiopia.
- (2015). Dynamic Decision-Making About Natural Resource Use In Ethiopia.
- (2015). A system dynamics framework to promote sustainability in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia social-ecological system.
- (2015). A system dynamics approach for examining mechanisms and pathways of food supply vulnerability. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 321-336.
- (2014). Using system dynamics in food security projects.
- (2014). Systems Education at Bergen. Systems. 159-167.
- (2014). Sustainable Development Goals and Targets on Food and Nutrition Security through Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems in the Post-2015 Agenda. Background Paper. .
- (2014). Strengthening Links between Policy and Research for Sustainable Development in the Lake Tana Basin.
- (2014). På randen av en matkrise. Hubro. Magasin for Universitetet i Bergen. 20-21.
- (2014). On the verge of a food crisis. University of Bergen, International Magazine. 24-25.
- (2014). Good governance in a complex world. System dynamics for agriculture and food security.
- (2014). Food insecurity in Ethiopia: Population, food production and market.
- (2014). Exploring Policies to Enhance the Difffusion of Conservation Agriculture in Zambia through Understanding Dynamic Behavior.
- (2014). Exploratory model of conservation agriculture adoption and diffusion in Zambia: A dynamic perspective.
- (2014). Ernährungssicherheit und Ressourceneffizienz in der Schweiz – Ein Widerspruch?
- (2014). Dynamic thinking about food system vulnerabilities in highly developed countries: Issues and initial analytic structure.
- (2014). Dynamic decision making in coupled social-ecological systems. Smallholder farmers’ goals, resources and constraints in improving food security and adapting to climate change in Zambia.
- (2014). A conceptual framework for the discussion of targets and indicators for a post-2015 goal on food and nutrition security through sustainable agriculture and food systems.
- (2013). Using system dynamics in food security projects.
- (2013). The complexity of the world food system. Integrated analyses of food system outcomes.
- (2013). The challenges of modeling agriculture. Experiences from a system-dynamics based application in Switzerland.
- (2013). Synergies and trade-offs between environmental and economic outcomes in agri-food systems. A system dynamics approach to scenario and policy analysis.
- (2013). Social Dynamics Overriding Utility Evaluations for Good and Bad: Implications for the Design of Sustainable Food Security Policies in Sub-Saharan African Countries. 19 pages.
- (2013). Planificación para la adaptación al cambio climático con la ayuda de modelos de simulación. Experiencias y lecciones de Burkina Faso en África.
- (2013). Planificación para la adaptación al cambio climático con la ayuda de modelos de simulación.
- (2013). Panelist comments to “A practitioner’s guide to green economy modeling tools.”.
- (2013). Knowledge analysis in coupled social-ecological systems. What do stakeholders in sub Saharan Africa know about the dynamic complexity of climate change, agriculture and food security?
- (2013). Implications of trends in global food and nutrition security at national level – The example of Switzerland.
- (2013). Exploring synergies between system dynamics and a social-ecological systems framework. The case of the Swiss agri-food system between production, environmental and public health goals.
- (2013). Adaptation to climate change in sub Saharan Africa. A multi-sector impact analysis for Burkina Faso.
- (2012). Teaching resource management with web-based models and multi-player games.
- (2012). Sustainable agriculture and climate change. Policy analysis and design using system dynamics.
- (2012). Food for all. Recommendations for enhancing the implementation of food security and sustainable agriculture and food systems.
- (2012). Dynamics of Poverty Traps in Kenya. Modelling Food Security, Population Growth and the Poverty Trap. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
- (2012). Designing sustainable food security policies in sub-Saharan African countries: how social dynamics over-ride utility evaluations for good and bad. Systems research and behavioral science. 575-589.
- (2012). Automated assessment of learners' understanding in complex dynamic systems. System Dynamics Review. 131-156.
- (2012). Assessing understanding and learning about dynamic systems.
- (2011). Simulator-supported descriptions of complex dynamic problems: experimental results on task performance and system understanding. System Dynamics Review. 142-172.
- (2011). Measuring knowledge acquisition in dynamic decision making tasks.
- (2011). Application of the Malaria Management Model to the Analysis of Costs and Benefits of DDT versus Non-DDT Malaria Control. PLOS ONE.
- (2010). A Blend of Planning and Learning Simplifying a Simulation Model of National Development. Simulation & Gaming. 641-662.
- (2008). Learning about Dynamic Problems with Computer Simulators: A Case of System Dynamics Simulation Models. 3 pages.
- (2008). Closing the Loop: Promoting Synergies with Other Theory Building Approaches to Improve System Dynamics Practice. Systems research and behavioral science. 471-486.
More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)
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