System Dynamics

Ongoing projects

• Shaping European Research Leaders for Marine Sustainability (SEAS)
• WorldTrans - Transparent Assessments for Real People

Completed projects

• Africa’s Coexistence Landscapes (ACL)
• Coastal Ocean Assessment for Sustainability and Transformation (COAST Card)
• CO-CREATE – Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policy with youth
• GREEN HEAT – towards collaborative local decarbonization
• SURE-Farm: Towards SUstainable and REsilient EU FARMing systems
• SYNAGRI: Developing synergies between the bioeconomy and regional food systems for a sustainable future

• Towards a Post-Normal Integrated Assessment Modelling Praxis to Democratise Climate Policy Response
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Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely; Rajah, Jefferson K.; Conway-Moore, Kaitlin; Savona, Natalie; Knai, Cécile; Vlad, Ioana;...Kopainsky, Birgit (2025). Converging perspectives on the processes exacerbating adolescent obesity: an integrative systems approach. Social Science & Medicine.

Ocak, Semra; Saysel, Ali Kerem (2025) The Deep-Sea Discharge Project and the failure of environmental conservation in the Ergene Basin, Turkey. Water Alternatives.

Rajah, Jefferson K.; Kopainsky, Birgit (2025). A systematic method to integrate co-produced causal loop diagrams based on feedback stories. System Dynamics Review.

Bremer, Scott Ronald; Meisch, Simon; Hempel, Manuel; Dunn-Sigouin, Etienne (2024). Adapting seasonal beekeeping patterns in western Norway. Time & Society.

Buzogany, Raquel Froese; Kopainsky, Birgit; Gonçalves, Paulo (2024). Developing theoretically grounded causal maps to examine and improve policy narratives about global challenges. System Dynamics Review.

Isanezhad, Amir; Zarifian, Shapour; Raheli, Hossein et al. (2024). Participatory system dynamics modeling for groundwater resources management (Case study: Marand Plain, Iran). Water and Soil Management and Modeling.

Klimasauskaite, Aiste; Drivdal, Laura ; Larsen, Håkon; Nedelciu, Claudiu Eduard (2024). Could deep-sea mining sustain sustainability? The international seabed authority and the UN 2030 agenda. Resources Policy.

Kopainsky, Birgit; Dula, Ivan; Gkini, Christina (2024). Integrating distributive justice in system dynamics models of sustainability transitions. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

Langarudi, Saeed; Noor, Sajid (2024). System Dynamics Modeling and Analysis of New Mexico Oil Production and Taxation. Computational Economics. 

Méité, René; Bayer, Lukas; Martin, Michael; Amon, Barbara; Uthes, Sandra (2024). Modeling the environmental impacts of Asparagopsis as feed, a cow toilet and slurry acidification in two synthetic dairy farms. Heliyon.

Metic, Julija; Guzzo, Daniel; Kopainsky, Birgit; McAloone, Tim C.; Pigosso, Daniela C.A. (2024). A simulation-based approach for investigating the dynamics of rebound effects in the circular economy: A case of use-oriented product/service system. Journal of Environmental Management.

Naugle, Asmeret; Langarudi, Saeed; Clancy, Timothy (2024). What is (quantitative) system dynamics modeling? Defining characteristics and the opportunities they create. System Dynamics Review.

Oostdijk, Maartje; Elsler, Laura G.; Van Deelen, Julie et al. (2024). Modeling fisheries and carbon sequestration ecosystem services under deep uncertainty in the ocean twilight zone. Ambio.

Pallaske, Georg. (2024.) Analyzing sustainable development strategies through multi-method integration in the Green Economy Model. Ecological Modelling. 

Rajah, Jefferson K.; Atkins, Ashley E.P.; Tang, Christine; Bax, Kathelijne Pietie; Wilkerson, Brooke E; Fernald, Alexander G. (2024). Understanding Hydrologic, Human, and Climate System Feedback Loops: Results of a Participatory Modeling Workshop. Water.

Secci, Daniele; Saysel, Ali Kerem; Uygur, İzel; Yoloğlu, Onur Cem; Zanini, Andrea; Copty, Nadim K. (2024). Modeling for sustainable groundwater management: Interdependence and potential complementarity of process-based, data-driven and system dynamics approaches. Science of The Total Environment. 

Soriano, Bárbara; Paas, Wim; Reidsma, Pytrik; San Martín, Carolina; Kopainsky, Birgit; Herrera, Hugo (2024). Overcoming collapse of farming systems: shifting from vicious to virtuous circles in the extensive sheep farming system in Huesca (Spain). Ecology & Society.

Tang, Christine; Zaini, Raafat; Langarudi, Saeed. (2024). Uncovering the unknown with REMODEAL: A systematic method for reference mode elicitation. System Dynamics Review.

Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely ; Onal, Furkan; Hendricks, Gaironeesa et al. (2023). Understanding the dynamics emerging from the interplay among poor mental wellbeing, energy balance-related behaviors, and obesity prevalence in adolescents: A simulation-based study. Obesity Reviews.

Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely; Gebremariam, Mekdes; Romanenko, Eduard et al. (2023). System dynamics simulation models on overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews.

Aguiar, Anaely ; Romanenko, Eduard; Hendricks, Gaironeesa; Fismen, Anne-Siri; Nwosu, Emmanuel; Savona, Natalie (2023). Mental health matters in obesity prevention: exploring the dynamic relationships between mental well-being and obesity-related behaviours in adolescents. Population Medicine.

Blanchard, Laurence; Conway-Moore, Kaitlin; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely ; Onal, Furkan et al. (2023). Associations between social media, adolescent mental health, and diet: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews.

Clancy, Timothy; Langarudi, Saeed Pourmasoumi; Zaini, Raafat (2023). Never the strongest: reconciling the four schools of thought in system dynamics in the debate on quality. System Dynamics Review.

Conway-Moore, Kaitlin; Cecile, Knai; Finegood, Diane et al. (2023). Co-creating obesity prevention policies with youth: Policy ideas generated through the CO-CREATE project. Obesity Reviews.

Khan, Aima; Qureshi, Muhammad Azeem (2023). Policy analysis to maximize the firm value: performing firm valuation using system dynamics. Journal of Modelling in Management.

Knai, Cécile; Savona, Natalie; Finegood, Diane; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely et al. (2023). Learning from the CO-CREATE project: A protocol for systems thinking across research (STAR). Obesity Reviews.

Kopainsky, Birgit Ursula; Kapmeier, Florian (2023). Dynamic implications of the biological link between bovine milk and meat production for operationalizing the planetary health diet. Nature Food.

Loo, Pei Shan; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely ; Kopainsky, Birgit (2023). Simulation-Based Assessment of Cholera Epidemic Response: A Case Study of Al-Hudaydah, Yemen. Systems.

Moxnes, Erling (2023). Challenges for sustainability: misperceptions and misleading advice. System Dynamics Review.

Moxnes, Erling; Naumov, Sergey (2023). Analysis of dynamic models by optimization. System Dynamics Review.

Nwosu, Emmanuel; Makwambeni, Patricia; Herstad, Sondre Haugsbø; Etsebeth, Hanli; Hendricks, Gaironeesa; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely et al. (2023). Longitudinal relationship between adolescents' mental health, energy balance-related behavior, and anthropometric changes. Obesity Reviews.

Potthoff, Kerstin; Kopainsky, Birgit (2023). Norwegian low-intensity ovine and bovine farming systems—a resilience perspective. Norwegian Journal of Geography.

Rajah, Jefferson K.; Chernicoff, William; Hutchison, Christopher J. et al. (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.

Sabie, Robert; Langarudi, Saeed Pourmasoumi; Perez, Kevin et al. (2022). Conceptual Framework for Modeling Dynamic Complexities in Produced Water Management. Water.

Schoenberg, William Alexander; Eberlein, Robert; Davidsen, Pål Ingebrigt (2023). Measuring the change in behavior of a system with a single metric. System Dynamics Review.

Schoenberg, William Alexander (2023). In response to: “Never the strongest: reconciling the four schools of thought in system dynamics in the debate on quality.” — System Dynamicists versus problems, not versus fellow System Dynamicists! System Dynamics Review.

Schoenberg, William Alexander; Hayward, John; Eberlein, Robert (2023). Improving Loops that Matter. System Dynamics Review.

Thompson, William J.; Varma, Varun; Jörin, Jonas et al. (2023). Smallholder farmer resilience to extreme weather events in a global food value chain. Climatic Change.

Trellevik, Lars-Kristian Lunde (2023). Exploring exploration—how to look for deep-sea minerals. Mineral Economics.

Wisiecka, Katarzyna; Konishi, Yuumi; Krejtz, Krzysztof et al. (2023). Supporting Complex Decision-Making: Evidence from an Eye Tracking Study on In-Person and Remote Collaboration. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.

Yan, Haiyan; Wang, Linlin; Goh, Jenson; Shen, Wuzhi; Richardson, John; Yan, Xinyue (2023). Towards Understanding the Causal Relationships in Proliferating SD Education—A System Dynamics Group Modelling Approach in China. Systems.

Bang, Rasmus; Trellevik, Lars-Kristian Lunde (2022). Perspectives on exploration and extraction of seafloor massive sulfide deposits in Norwegian waters. Mineral Economics.

Bang, Rasmus; Trellevik, Lars-Kristian Lunde (2022). Reserve-dependent capital efficiency, cross-sector competition, and mineral security considerations in mineral industry transition. Mineral Economics.

Beitnes, Synnøve S.; Kopainsky, Birgit; Potthoff, Kerstin (2022). Climate change adaptation processes seen through a resilience lens: Norwegian farmers’ handling of the dry summer of 2018. Environmental Science & Policy.

Benabderrazik, Kenza; Jeangros, Laurence; Kopainsky, Birgit et al. (2022). Addressing the resilience of tomato farmers in Ghana facing a double exposure from climate and market. Ecology & Society.

Benabderrazik, Kenza; Kopainsky, Birgit; Monastyrnaya, Elena et al. (2022). Climate resilience and the human-water dynamics. The case of tomato production in Morocco. Science of The Total Environment.

Hendricks, Gaironeesa; Savona, Natalie; Rodriguez, Anaely Aguiar et al. (2022). Adolescents’ Perspectives on the Drivers of Obesity Using a Group Model Building Approach: A South African Perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Herrera de Leon, Hugo Jose; Schütz, Lilli; Paas, Wim et al. (2022). Understanding resilience of farming systems: Insights from system dynamics modelling for an arable farming system in the Netherlands. Ecological Modelling.

Herrera de Leon, Hugo Jose; Videira, Nuno; Korzilius, Hubert P.L.M. et al. (2022). Reflecting on factors influencing long-lasting organisational effects of group model-building interventions. System Dynamics Review.

Herrera de Leon, Hugo Jose; Kopainsky, Birgit (2022). Using microworlds for policymaking in the context of resilient farming systems. Journal of Simulation.

Holmström, Paul; Björk-Eriksson, Thomas; Davidsen, Pål Ingebrigt et al. (2022). Insights Gained From a Re-analysis of Five Improvement Cases in Healthcare Integrating System Dynamics Into Action Research. International Journal of Health Policy and Management.

Khan, Aima; Qureshi, Muhammad Azeem (2022). Modelling the dynamics of firm valuation: An assessment of impact of exchange rate fluctuations on firm value using system dynamics. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

Lindqvist, Andreas; Fornell, Rickard; Prade, Thomas et al. (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.

Nicholson, Charles; McRoberts, Keenan; Öz, Besir Suleyman et al. (2022). A dynamic systems analysis of factors affecting success of identitypreserved products: the case of high-oleic soybeans. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review.

Savona, Natalie; Brown, Andrew; Macauley, Talia; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely et al. (2022). System mapping with adolescents: Using group model building to map the complexity of obesity. Obesity Reviews.

Schrage, Jesse Benjamin; Donnellan Barraclough, Alicia May; Wilkerson, Brooke E et al. (2022). Developing positional awareness in sustainability science: four archetypes for early career scientists working in an SDG world. Sustainability Science.

Thompson, William D.; Blaser-Hart, Wilma; Jörin, Jonas et al. (2022). Can sustainability certification enhance the climate resilience of smallholder farmers? The case of Ghanaian cocoa. Journal of Land Use Science.

Wilkerson, Brooke E; Romanenko, Eduard; Barton, David Nicholas (2022). Modeling reverse auction-based subsidies and stormwater fee policies for Low Impact Development (LID) adoption: a system dynamics analysis. Sustainable Cities and Society.

Zolfaghari, Mahshid; Meshkovska, Biljana; Banik, Anna et al. (2022). Applying a systems perspective to understand the mechanisms of the European School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. European Journal of Public Health.

Benabderrazik, Kenza; Kopainsky, Birgit; Tazi, L. et al. (2021). Agricultural intensification can no longer ignore water conservation – A systemic modelling approach to the case of tomato producers in Morocco. Agricultural Water Management.

Breien, Fredrik Sundt; Gkini, Christina (2021). The Hero’s Lock Down: Differences in Learning Potential Between Linear and Non-linear Narratives in Serious Games. Games and Learning Alliance (GALA 2021).

Decouttere, Catherine; Banzimana, Stany; Davidsen, Pål et al. (2021). Insights into vaccine hesitancy from systems thinking, Rwanda. Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Kliem, Daniel; Scheidegger, Alexander; Kopainsky, Birgit (2021). Closing the mineral construction material cycle – An endogenous perspective on barriers in transition. Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

Lindqvist, Andreas; Fornell, Rickard; Prade, Thomas et al. (2021). Human-water dynamics and their role for seasonal water scarcity – a case study. Water Resources Management.

Meuwissen, M.P.M.; Feindt, P.H.; Slijper, T. et al. (2021). Impact of Covid-19 on farming systems in Europe through the lens of resilience thinking. Agricultural Systems.

Nicholson, Charles F.; Stephens, Emma C.; Kopainsky, Birgit et al. (2021). Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Case examples and priority information needs. Agricultural Systems.

Nicholson, Charles F.; Stephens, Emma C.; Kopainsky, Birgit et al. (2021). Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Current status and recommended improvements. Agricultural Systems.

Rieder, Erica; Larson, Lincoln; 't Sas-Rolfes, Michael et al. (2021). Using participatory system dynamics modeling to address complex conservation prob-lems: Tiger farming as a case study. Frontiers in Conservation Science.

Savona, Natalie; Macauley, Talia; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely et al. (2021). Identifying the views of adolescents in five european countries on the drivers of obesity using group model building. European Journal of Public Health.

Tadesse, Aklilu Tilahun; Davidsen, Pål Ingebrigt; Moxnes, Erling (2021). Adapting Interactive Learning Environments to Student Competences: The Case for Complex Dynamic Systems. SpringerBriefs in Educational Communications and Technology. 

Wilkerson, Brooke E; Trellevik, Lars-Kristian Lunde (2021). Sustainability-oriented innovation: Improving problem definition through combined design thinking and systems mapping approaches. Thinking Skills and Creativity. 

Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely (2020). The role of systematic reviews in the system dynamics modelling process. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

Barton, Michael C.; Alberti, Marina; Burke, Edmund et al. (2020). Call for transparency of COVID-19 models. Science.

Gallagher, Louise; Kopainsky, Birgit; Bassi, Andrea Marcello et al. (2020). Supporting stakeholders to anticipate and respond to risks in a Mekong River water-energy-food nexus. Ecology & Society.

Herrera de Leon, Hugo Jose; Kopainsky, Birgit (2020). Using system dynamics to support a participatory assessment of resilience. Environment Systems and Decisions.

Herrera de Leon, Hugo Jose; Kopainsky, Birgit (2020). Do you bend or break? System Dynamics in resilience planning for food security. System Dynamics Review.

Holmström, Paul; Hallberg, Stefan; Björk-Eriksson, Thomas et al. (2020). Insights gained from a systematic reanalysis of a successful model-facilitated change process in health care. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

Khan, Aima; Qureshi, Muhammad Azeem; Davidsen, Pål (2020). A system dynamics model of capital structure policy for firm value maximization. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

Khan, Aima; Qureshi, Muhammad Azeem; Davidsen, Pål (2020). How do oil prices and investments impact the dynamics of firm value? System Dynamics Review.

Kliem, Daniel; Scheidegger, Alexander (2020). Participative Governance of the Swiss Construction Material Industry: Transitioning Business Models and Public Policy. In: Enabling Collaborative Governance through Systems Modeling Methods. Springer.

Kopainsky, Birgit; Frehner, Anita; Müller, Adrian (2020). Sustainable and healthy diets: Synergies and trade‐offs in Switzerland. Systems Research and Behavioral Science.

Nicholson, Charles F.; Kopainsky, Birgit; Stephens, Emma et al. (2020). Conceptual frameworks linking agriculture and food security. Nature Food.

Schoenberg, William Alexander; Davidsen, Pål; Eberlein, Robert (2020). Understanding model behavior using the Loops that Matter method. System Dynamics Review.

Wilkerson, Brooke; Aguiar Rodriguez, Anaely; Gkini, Christina et al. (2020). Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops. System Dynamics Review.

More publications can be found in our ResearchGate Lab repository.

For a full list of publications and presentations, also see the respective personal profile pages of our research staff.