David Herbert

Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, Önder Gürcan, Vanja Falck et al.

Climate governance processes involve complex interactions between heterogeneous citizens, advocacy groups, media actors, and political decision-makers. While agent-based models (ABMs) have been widely used to study environmental policy and socio-ecological systems, many existing approaches focus either on institutional dynamics or individual behavioural mechanisms in isolation. This paper presents a modular multi-level agent-based architecture that integrates empirically grounded cognitive decision models with strategic institutional behaviour within a unified simulation framework. The architecture combines (i) motive-based individual decision-making operationalised through the HUMAT and MOA frameworks, (ii) socially embedded influence processes via demographic homophily networks, and (iii) institutional strategy modules for environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs), media agents, and politicians. Political decisions emerge from the aggregation of multiple signals, including expert input, public mobilisation, party alignment, and media framing. The model is designed to be empirically calibrated through synthetic populations derived from survey data and and institutional parameters informed through Living Lab stakeholder engagement, and to support scenario-based exploration of climate-relevant land-use governance processes. Rather than presenting empirical results, this paper focuses on the architectural design principles, modular structure, and integration logic of the model. We discuss how this multi-layered approach contributes to the modelling of democratic climate governance and outline pathways for generalization and future validation.

Mohsen Balavar, Wenli Yang, David Herbert et al.

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have reignited interest in their impact on Computer-based Learning (CBL). AI-driven tools like ChatGPT and Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have enhanced learning experiences through personalisation and flexibility. ITSs can adapt to individual learning needs and provide customised feedback based on a student's performance, cognitive state, and learning path. Despite these advances, challenges remain in accommodating diverse learning styles and delivering real-time, context-aware feedback. Our research aims to address these gaps by integrating skill-aligned feedback via Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) into prompt engineering for Large Language Models (LLMs) and developing an application to enhance learning through personalised tutoring in a computer science programming context. The pilot study evaluated a proposed system using three quantitative metrics: readability score, response time, and feedback depth, across three programming tasks of varying complexity. The system successfully sorted simulated students into three skill-level categories and provided context-aware feedback. This targeted approach demonstrated better effectiveness and adaptability compared to general methods.