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  • E-mailBirgit.Kopainsky@uib.no
  • Phone+47 55 58 30 92
  • Visitor Address
    Fosswinckels gate 6
    Lauritz Meltzers hus
    5007 Bergen
    Room 
    724
  • Postal Address
    Postboks 7802
    5020 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:

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)

  • Show author(s) (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. 15 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2023). System dynamics simulation models on overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews. 21 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Supporting Complex Decision-Making: Evidence from an Eye Tracking Study on In-Person and Remote Collaboration. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Smallholder farmer resilience to extreme weather events in a global food value chain. Climatic Change.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Simulation-Based Assessment of Cholera Epidemic Response: A Case Study of Al-Hudaydah, Yemen. Systems.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Norwegian low-intensity ovine and bovine farming systems—a resilience perspective. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift. 224-242.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Mental health matters in obesity prevention: exploring the dynamic relationships between mental well-being and obesity-related behaviours in adolescents. Population Medicine.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Dynamic implications of the biological link between bovine milk and meat production for operationalizing the planetary health diet. Nature Food. 1070-1074.
  • Show author(s) (2023). Co-creating obesity prevention policies with youth: Policy ideas generated through the CO-CREATE project. Obesity Reviews. 9 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2023). 12 questions to Birgit Kopainsky. GAIA.
  • Show author(s) (2022). workshop i SYNAGRI.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Using microworlds for policymaking in the context of resilient farming systems. Journal of Simulation. 1-25.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Understanding resilience of farming systems: Insights from system dynamics modelling for an arable farming system in the Netherlands. Ecological Modelling. 12 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Integrating diverse perspectives: meaning-making process in participatory system dynamics.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Discussant; Second Open Plenary Discussion.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Climate resilience and the human-water dynamics. The case of tomato production in Morocco. Science of the Total Environment.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Can sustainability certification enhance the climate resilience of smallholder farmers? The case of Ghanaian cocoa. Journal of Land Use Science. 407-428.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Applying a systems perspective to understand the mechanisms of the European School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. European Journal of Public Health. iv107-iv113.
  • Show author(s) (2022). An outlook on the Future of Agricultural Policy: Experiences from Norway.
  • Show author(s) (2022). Addressing the resilience of tomato farmers in Ghana facing a double exposure from climate and market. Ecology & Society.
  • Show author(s) (2022). A dynamic systems analysis of factors affecting success of identitypreserved products: the case of high-oleic soybeans. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 159-174.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Using participatory system dynamics modeling to address complex conservation prob-lems: Tiger farming as a case study. Frontiers in Conservation Science.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Institutional synergies for sustainability learning - the university as ecosystem and social actor.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Human-water dynamics and their role for seasonal water scarcity – a case study. Water resources management.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Current status and recommended improvements. Agricultural Systems. 1-28.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Food security outcomes in agricultural systems models: Case examples and priority information needs. Agricultural Systems. 1-10.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Closing the mineral construction material cycle – An endogenous perspective on barriers in transition. Resources, Conservation and Recycling.
  • Show author(s) (2021). Agricultural intensification can no longer ignore water conservation – A systemic modelling approach to the case of tomato producers in Morocco. Agricultural Water Management.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Working towards system dynamics modeling and simulation of policies in Co-Create.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Using system dynamics to support a participatory assessment of resilience. Environment Systems and Decisions.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Sustainable and healthy diets: Synergies and trade‐offs in Switzerland. Systems research and behavioral science.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Supporting stakeholders to anticipate and respond to risks in a Mekong River water-energy-food nexus. Ecology & Society.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops. System Dynamics Review.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops. System Dynamics Review.
  • Show author(s) (2020). PhD for innovation. Experiences with the pilot version of a PhD course on interdisciplinary problem solving and creativity.
  • Show author(s) (2020). OPPkvikker - faglig frokostmøte med Universitetet i Bergen.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Impacts of improved strategies and policy options on the resilience of farming systems across the EU. D5.6 . .
  • Show author(s) (2020). Impacts of Future Scenarios on the Resilience of Farming Systems across the EU As-sessed with Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. D5.5 . .
  • Show author(s) (2020). How can System Dynamics contribute to transformation in social-ecological systems?
  • Show author(s) (2020). Do you bend or break? System Dynamics in resilience planning for food security. System Dynamics Review.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Crises as opportunities. Presidential address.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Connecting the dots. Systems thinking as a unifying language in interdisciplinary work.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Conceptual frameworks linking agriculture and food security. Nature Food. 541-551.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Call for transparency of COVID-19 models. Science. 482-483.
  • Show author(s) (2020). Afterword. Systems research and behavioral science.
  • Show author(s) (2019). System Dynamics at Sixty: The Path Forward.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Sustainable and healthy diets. Synergies and trade-offs in Switzerland.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Setting Priorities to Address the Research Gaps Between Agricultural Systems Analysis and Food Security Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. .
  • Show author(s) (2019). Review of existing system dynamics models on overweight/obesity in children and ado-lescents. D7.1 H2020 project CoCREATE. .
  • Show author(s) (2019). PhD for Innovation: Interdisciplinary problem solving and creativity.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2019). On using system dynamics to build adaptive capacity with small-scale farmers in developing countries.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Navigating between analytical rigor and inclusiveness in participatory systems modeling.
  • Show author(s) (2019). Integrated simulation for national development planning. Kybernetes. 208-223.
  • Show author(s) (2019). DR-UK Banana Value Chain Climate Resilience Workshop. Forming a transdisciplinary platform to generate stakeholder designed strategies to enhance climate resilience. .
  • Show author(s) (2019). DR-UK Banana Producer Resilience Assessment. Understanding preparation, impacts and recovery responses to hurricane-induced flooding for smallholder banana producers. .
  • Show author(s) (2019). A framework to assess the resilience of farming systems. Agricultural Systems. 1-10.
  • Show author(s) (2019). #foodcanfixit. How food and system dynamics have given me a career.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Understanding the transition to a bio-based economy: Exploring dynamics linked to the agricultural sector in Sweden. Sustainability. 1-22.
  • Show author(s) (2018). The bio-based economy: Dynamics governing transition pathways in the Swedish forestry sector. Sustainability. 1-18.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Synergies and trade-offs between healthy consumption and sustainable production.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Simulation-based field experiments to study dynamic decision making.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Scenarios for EU Farming. Deliverable 1.2. .
  • Show author(s) (2018). Report on Resilience Framework for EU Agriculture. Deliverable 1.1. .
  • Show author(s) (2018). Public Policy Planning to Enhance the Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems to Climate Change. Operationalising Resilience Concepts from a Dynamic Perspective.
  • Show author(s) (2018). On using system dynamics to build adaptive capacity with small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Show author(s) (2018). Impact Assessment Tool to Assess the Resilience of Farming Systems and their Delivery of Private and Public Goods. Deliverable 5.1. .
  • Show author(s) (2018). A systems education at Bergen. 7 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Ökonomische und ökologische Wirkungen der Schweizer Land- und Ernährungswirtschaft: Bestandsaufnahme und mögliche kritische Faktoren in der Zukunft.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2017). The Dynamics of Food Availability in sub-Saharan Africa. An Endogenous Perspective on Food Production Systems.
  • Show author(s) (2017). System dynamics as a framework for understanding human-environment dynamics. 12 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2017). SURE-Farm: Towards SUstainable and REsilient EU FARMing systems.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Participatory system dynamics mapping for collaboration and socioecological integration in the Lake Tana region. 16 pages.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Experts’ opinion about the interaction of sustainable nutrition, health and future of agricultural systems in Switzerland.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Evidence about dynamic decision-making based on a field experiment with African farmers.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Evidence about dynamic decision-making based on a field experiment with African farmers.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Development of organic farming in Europe at the crossroads: Looking for the way forward through system archetypes lenses.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Development of organic farming in Europe at the crossroads: Looking for the way forward through system archetype lenses. Sustainability.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Designing robust policy for sustainable development of organic farming in Switzerland: A simulation-based approach.
  • Show author(s) (2017). Cournot markets in the field: The case of Zambian farmers.
  • Show author(s) (2017). A Food Systems Perspective for Food and Nutrition Security beyond the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Systems research and behavioral science. 178-190.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Subsistence Farming Household. Dynamic Profile.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Resilience in food systems: The case of tef in Ethiopia. Sight and Life. 22-27.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2016). Farmers' Decision Making and Food Insecurity: The Case of Ethiopian Households A System Dynamics Approach.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2016). 34th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society 2016. System Dynamics Society.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Was heisst nachhaltige Intensivierung für die europäische Landwirtschaft?
  • Show author(s) (2015). The more you see the less you “get”: On the importance of a higher-level perspective for understanding dynamic systems.
  • Show author(s) (2015). The effect of prior exploration as an instructional strategy in system dynamics learning environments. Simulation & Gaming. 293-321.
  • Show author(s) (2015). The Maize Value Chain in Zambia: Dynamics and Resilience Towards Production Shocks.
  • Show author(s) (2015). System dynamics and sustainable intensification of food systems: Complementarities and challenges.
  • Show author(s) (2015). System dynamics and simulation-gaming: Overview. Simulation & Gaming.
  • Show author(s) (2015). System Dynamics zur Verbesserung der Nahrungsmittel-Versorgungssicherheit in Afrika.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Rethinking agriculture in a shrinking world: Operationalization of resilience with a System Dynamics perspective.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Representation and Dynamic Implications of Mental Models of Food Systems: A case study of dynamic decision making of smallscale farmers in Zambia .
  • Show author(s) (2015). Maize Losses During Storage: A System Dynamics approach to the Food Reserve Agency Case in Zambia.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Learning as conceptual change during community based group interventions. A case study with smallholder farmers in Zambia.
  • Show author(s) (2015). LEARNING ABOUT SYSTEMS THROUGH INTERACTION: A CASE STUDY WITH SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN ZAMBIA.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Food system resilience: Defining the concept. Global Food Security. 17-23.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Filling the cups: Learning about systems through community-based processes.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Effects of structural transparency in system dynamics simulators on performance and understanding. Systems. 152-176.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Dynamic simulation modeling in social-ecological systems.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2015). Dynamic Decision-Making About Natural Resource Use In Ethiopia.
  • Show author(s) (2015). A system dynamics framework to promote sustainability in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia social-ecological system.
  • Show author(s) (2015). A system dynamics approach for examining mechanisms and pathways of food supply vulnerability. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 321-336.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Using system dynamics in food security projects.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Systems Education at Bergen. Systems. 159-167.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Sustainable Development Goals and Targets on Food and Nutrition Security through Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems in the Post-2015 Agenda. Background Paper. .
  • Show author(s) (2014). Strengthening Links between Policy and Research for Sustainable Development in the Lake Tana Basin.
  • Show author(s) (2014). På randen av en matkrise. Hubro. Magasin for Universitetet i Bergen. 20-21.
  • Show author(s) (2014). On the verge of a food crisis. University of Bergen, International Magazine. 24-25.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Good governance in a complex world. System dynamics for agriculture and food security.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Food insecurity in Ethiopia: Population, food production and market.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Exploring Policies to Enhance the Difffusion of Conservation Agriculture in Zambia through Understanding Dynamic Behavior.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Exploratory model of conservation agriculture adoption and diffusion in Zambia: A dynamic perspective.
  • Show author(s) (2014). Ernährungssicherheit und Ressourceneffizienz in der Schweiz – Ein Widerspruch?
  • Show author(s) (2014). Dynamic thinking about food system vulnerabilities in highly developed countries: Issues and initial analytic structure.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Using system dynamics in food security projects.
  • Show author(s) (2013). The complexity of the world food system. Integrated analyses of food system outcomes.
  • Show author(s) (2013). The challenges of modeling agriculture. Experiences from a system-dynamics based application in Switzerland.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Synergies and trade-offs between environmental and economic outcomes in agri-food systems. A system dynamics approach to scenario and policy analysis.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Planificación para la adaptación al cambio climático con la ayuda de modelos de simulación. Experiencias y lecciones de Burkina Faso en África.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Planificación para la adaptación al cambio climático con la ayuda de modelos de simulación.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Panelist comments to “A practitioner’s guide to green economy modeling tools.”.
  • Show author(s) (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?
  • Show author(s) (2013). Implications of trends in global food and nutrition security at national level – The example of Switzerland.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2013). Adaptation to climate change in sub Saharan Africa. A multi-sector impact analysis for Burkina Faso.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Teaching resource management with web-based models and multi-player games.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Sustainable agriculture and climate change. Policy analysis and design using system dynamics.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Food for all. Recommendations for enhancing the implementation of food security and sustainable agriculture and food systems.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Dynamics of Poverty Traps in Kenya. Modelling Food Security, Population Growth and the Poverty Trap. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
  • Show author(s) (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.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Automated assessment of learners' understanding in complex dynamic systems. System Dynamics Review. 131-156.
  • Show author(s) (2012). Assessing understanding and learning about dynamic systems.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Simulator-supported descriptions of complex dynamic problems: experimental results on task performance and system understanding. System Dynamics Review. 142-172.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Measuring knowledge acquisition in dynamic decision making tasks.
  • Show author(s) (2011). Application of the Malaria Management Model to the Analysis of Costs and Benefits of DDT versus Non-DDT Malaria Control. PLOS ONE.
  • Show author(s) (2010). A Blend of Planning and Learning Simplifying a Simulation Model of National Development. Simulation & Gaming. 641-662.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Learning about Dynamic Problems with Computer Simulators: A Case of System Dynamics Simulation Models. 3 pages.
  • Show author(s) (2008). Closing the Loop: Promoting Synergies with Other Theory Building Approaches to Improve System Dynamics Practice. Systems research and behavioral science. 471-486.

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