Peter Barbrook-Johnson
Biographic Data
| ID | 1265148 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Peter Barbrook-Johnson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Peter |
| FAMILY NAME | Barbrook-Johnson |
| SIGNATURE | BARBROOK-JOHNSON P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Surrey |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7757-9132 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 47 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Using vision-language models to extract network data from images of system maps
A range of systems mapping approaches are widely used to support the analysis and design of public policy, but can be time and resource intensive to implement. Generative AI tools may be able to streamline the use of systems mapping by helping researchers to quickly synthesise existing data on policy systems, freeing resources to foster greater stakeholder participation and use of maps. To explore and test the potential of these tools to help wit…
From just transition pledges to policy practice: A participatory case study applying the Energy Justice Framework in early-stage transition planning in Vilnius, Lithuania
Although many policy actors have committed to a just transition, climate and energy measures still fall short of energy justice principles. Amidst sharply rising geopolitical tensions, transition policy risks sidelining commitments to justice. Operationalizing conceptual justice frameworks in real-world policy processes to reveal the social risks of energy decisions and inform necessary policy responses is essential for reinforcing just transitio…
Tackling transformational change in climate policy appraisal: Experiences and perceptions of United Kingdom policy analysts
Progress in implementing climate policy in the United Kingdom consistent with the country's target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 has been modest. This is despite the well-established physical risks of climate change, the UK's broadly accepted intention to act decisively, and the international recognition of the need for transformational climate action. Previous research suggests that the practical and theoretical limitations of existing d…
A method to identify positive tipping points to accelerate low-carbon transitions and actions to trigger them
Meeting the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to "well below 2 °C" requires a radical acceleration of action, as the global economy is decarbonising at least five times too slowly. Tipping points, where low-carbon transitions become self-propelling, could be key to achieving the necessary acceleration. We deem these normatively 'positive', because they can limit considerable, inequitable harms from global warming and help achieve sustainabi…
Case-based systems mapping: Advancing a multimethod approach to social complexity
In this work, we introduce case-based systems mapping (CBSM), an integration of exploratory systems mapping and case-based complexity. CBSM explores different groups of cases and their distinct configurations and then generates submaps that display the causal flows for these different groups. Combining these allows users to advance on systems mapping by allowing them to (1) explore how the causal factors within the map may cluster based on groups…
Social learning communities of practice as mechanisms for sustainable tourism: A Process Tracing Evaluation of a Government Intervention
Many governments introduce interventions to help small enterprises adopt more sustainable practices.We used process tracing to evaluate how and why communities of practice and social forms of learning are key mechanisms to facilitate action-oriented sustainability learning.We subjected each piece of evidence to a contribution analysis, in addition to the probabilistic necessity and sufficiency, to affirm causal attribution and its strength.The st…
Modelling induced innovation for the low-carbon energy transition: A menu of options
Induced innovation is a multi-faceted process characterized by interaction between demand-pull forces, path-dependent self-reinforcing change, and the cost reduction of technology that occurs with cumulative deployment. By endogenously including induced innovation in energy models, policy analysts and modellers could enable a mission-oriented approach to policymaking that envisions the opportunities of accelerating the low-carbon energy transitio…
Combining realist evaluation and appreciative inquiry: A participatory, learning-focused methodology for tourism interventions
Useful lessons can be drawn from realist evaluation and appreciative inquiry for the evaluation of tourism interventions in complex contexts. We combine the strengths of these two approaches to design a participatory learning-focused evaluation with an emphasis on co-created intervention improvement. We apply this proposed ‘Realist Appreciative Evaluation’ on a government-led intervention aimed at supporting tourism firms to improve their sustain…
Queer(y)ing Agent-Based Modeling for Use in LGBTQ Studies: An Example from Workplace Inequalities
This article explores the contribution agent-based modeling (ABM) can make to the study of LGBTQ workplace inequalities and, conversely, how ABM can adapt to theoretical traditions integral to LGBTQ studies. It introduces an example LGBTQ workplace model, developed as part of the CILIA-LGBTQI+ project, to illustrate how ABM complements existing methods, can address methodological binarism and bridge macro and micro accounts within LGBTQ studies o…
The Ethics of Agent-Based Social Simulation
The academic study and the applied use of agent-based modelling of social processes has matured considerably over the last thirty years. The time is now right to engage seriously with the ethics and responsible practice of agent-based social simulation. In this paper, we first outline the many reasons why it is appropriate to explore an ethics of agent-based modelling and how ethical issues arise in its practice and organisation. We go on to disc…
Justified Stories with Agent-Based Modelling for Local Covid-19 Planning
This paper presents JuSt-Social, an agent-based model of the COVID-epidemic with a range of potential social policy interventions. It was developed to support local authorities in North East England who are making decisions in a fast moving crisis with limited access to data. The proximate purpose of JuSt-Social is description, as the model represents knowledge about both COVID-transmission and intervention e ects. Its ultimate purpose is to gene…
Combining complexity-framed research methods for social research
Research methods with roots in complexity science are increasingly popular in social research. However, they are not widespread and have potential to deliver value more fully and consistently to social research and methodology. One reason for this is that methods are often used alone, or only with traditional social research methods. We attempt to support and catalyse the use of complexity-framed methods in combination in social research, by syst…
Building a system-based Theory of Change using Participatory Systems Mapping
Theory of Change diagrams are commonly used within evaluation. Due to their popularity and flexibility, Theories of Change can vary greatly, from the nuanced and nested, through to simplified and linear. We present a methodology for building genuinely holistic, complexity-appropriate, system-based Theory of Change diagrams, using Participatory Systems Mapping as a starting point. Participatory System Maps provide a general-purpose resource that c…
Cased-based modelling and scenario simulation for ex-post evaluation
Despite 20 years of increasing acceptance, implementing complexity-appropriate methods for ex-post evaluation remains a challenge: instead of focusing on complex interventions, methods need to help evaluators better explore how policies (no matter how simple) take place in real-world, open, dynamic systems where many intertwined factors about the cases being targeted affect outcomes in numerous ways. To assist in this advance, we developed case-b…
Policy evaluation for a complex world: Practical methods and reflections from the UK Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity across the Nexus
The value of complexity science and related approaches in policy evaluation have been widely discussed over the last 20 years, not least in this journal. We are now at a crossroads; this Special Issue argues that the use of complexity science in evaluation could deepen and broaden rendering evaluations more practical and rigorous. The risk is that the drive to better evaluate policies from a complexity perspective could falter. This special issue…
Participatory systems mapping for complex energy policy evaluation
The use of complexity science in evaluation has received growing attention over the last 20 years. We present the use of a novel complexity-appropriate method – Participatory Systems Mapping – in two real-world evaluation contexts and consider how this method can be applied more widely in evaluation. Participatory Systems Mapping involves the production of a causal map of a system by a diverse set of stakeholders. The map, once refined and valida…
Participatory complexity in tourism policy: Understanding sustainability programmes with participatory systems mapping
Linear logic models are insufficient to understand how interventions work in complex areas such as sustainable tourism. We present Participatory Systems Mapping (PSM), a novel method to develop shared understandings and collective management of complex policy issues among stakeholders. We use PSM with stakeholders in Barcelona to support the design of an upcoming evaluation of an existing sustainability programme. Discussion during workshops, and…
How does the commissioning process hinder the uptake of complexity-appropriate evaluation
This paper investigates the role of evaluation commissioning in hindering the take-up of complexity-appropriate evaluation methods, using findings from interviews with 19 UK evaluation commissioners and contractors. We find, against a backdrop of a need to ‘do more with less’ and frustration with some traditional approaches, the commissioning process is perceived to hinder adoption of complexity-appropriate methods because of its inherent lack of…
How do policy evaluators understand complexity
There is a well-documented interest in how insights from the study of complexity can be applied to policy evaluation. However, important questions remain as to how complexity is understood and used by policy evaluators. We present findings from semi-structured interviews with 30 UK policy evaluators working in food, energy, water and environment policy domains. We explore how they understand, use and approach complexity, and consider the implicat…
Case-based methods and agent-based modelling: Bridging the divide to leverage their combined strengths
Two leading camps for studying social complexity are case-based methods (CBM) and agent-based modelling (ABM). Despite the potential epistemological links between ‘cases’ and ‘agents,’ neither camp has leveraged their combined strengths. A bridge can be built, however, by drawing on Abbott’s insight that ‘agents are cases doing things’, Byrne’s suggestion that ‘cases are complex systems with agency’, and by viewing CBM and ABM within the broader …
Computational Modelling of Public Policy: Reflections on Practice
Computational models are increasingly being used to assist in developing, implementing and evaluating public policy. This paper reports on the experience of the authors in designing and using computational models of public policy ('policy models', for short). The paper considers the role of computational models in policy making, and some of the challenges that need to be overcome if policy models are to make an e ective contribution. It suggests …
Participatory systems mapping for complex energy policy evaluation
The use of complexity science in evaluation has received growing attention over the last 20 years. We present the use of a novel complexity-appropriate method – Participatory Systems Mapping – in two real-world evaluation contexts and consider how this method can be applied more widely in evaluation. Participatory Systems Mapping involves the production of a causal map of a system by a diverse set of stakeholders. The map, once refined and valida…
Policy evaluation for a complex world: Practical methods and reflections from the UK Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity across the Nexus
The value of complexity science and related approaches in policy evaluation have been widely discussed over the last 20 years, not least in this journal. We are now at a crossroads; this Special Issue argues that the use of complexity science in evaluation could deepen and broaden rendering evaluations more practical and rigorous. The risk is that the drive to better evaluate policies from a complexity perspective could falter. This special issue…
Participatory complexity in tourism policy: Understanding sustainability programmes with participatory systems mapping
Linear logic models are insufficient to understand how interventions work in complex areas such as sustainable tourism. We present Participatory Systems Mapping (PSM), a novel method to develop shared understandings and collective management of complex policy issues among stakeholders. We use PSM with stakeholders in Barcelona to support the design of an upcoming evaluation of an existing sustainability programme. Discussion during workshops, and…
How do policy evaluators understand complexity
There is a well-documented interest in how insights from the study of complexity can be applied to policy evaluation. However, important questions remain as to how complexity is understood and used by policy evaluators. We present findings from semi-structured interviews with 30 UK policy evaluators working in food, energy, water and environment policy domains. We explore how they understand, use and approach complexity, and consider the implicat…
Building a system-based Theory of Change using Participatory Systems Mapping
Theory of Change diagrams are commonly used within evaluation. Due to their popularity and flexibility, Theories of Change can vary greatly, from the nuanced and nested, through to simplified and linear. We present a methodology for building genuinely holistic, complexity-appropriate, system-based Theory of Change diagrams, using Participatory Systems Mapping as a starting point. Participatory System Maps provide a general-purpose resource that c…
Queer(y)ing Agent-Based Modeling for Use in LGBTQ Studies: An Example from Workplace Inequalities
This article explores the contribution agent-based modeling (ABM) can make to the study of LGBTQ workplace inequalities and, conversely, how ABM can adapt to theoretical traditions integral to LGBTQ studies. It introduces an example LGBTQ workplace model, developed as part of the CILIA-LGBTQI+ project, to illustrate how ABM complements existing methods, can address methodological binarism and bridge macro and micro accounts within LGBTQ studies o…
Social learning communities of practice as mechanisms for sustainable tourism: A Process Tracing Evaluation of a Government Intervention
Many governments introduce interventions to help small enterprises adopt more sustainable practices.We used process tracing to evaluate how and why communities of practice and social forms of learning are key mechanisms to facilitate action-oriented sustainability learning.We subjected each piece of evidence to a contribution analysis, in addition to the probabilistic necessity and sufficiency, to affirm causal attribution and its strength.The st…
Combining realist evaluation and appreciative inquiry: A participatory, learning-focused methodology for tourism interventions
Useful lessons can be drawn from realist evaluation and appreciative inquiry for the evaluation of tourism interventions in complex contexts. We combine the strengths of these two approaches to design a participatory learning-focused evaluation with an emphasis on co-created intervention improvement. We apply this proposed ‘Realist Appreciative Evaluation’ on a government-led intervention aimed at supporting tourism firms to improve their sustain…
Combining complexity-framed research methods for social research
Research methods with roots in complexity science are increasingly popular in social research. However, they are not widespread and have potential to deliver value more fully and consistently to social research and methodology. One reason for this is that methods are often used alone, or only with traditional social research methods. We attempt to support and catalyse the use of complexity-framed methods in combination in social research, by syst…
Cased-based modelling and scenario simulation for ex-post evaluation
Despite 20 years of increasing acceptance, implementing complexity-appropriate methods for ex-post evaluation remains a challenge: instead of focusing on complex interventions, methods need to help evaluators better explore how policies (no matter how simple) take place in real-world, open, dynamic systems where many intertwined factors about the cases being targeted affect outcomes in numerous ways. To assist in this advance, we developed case-b…
Computational Modelling of Public Policy: Reflections on Practice
Computational models are increasingly being used to assist in developing, implementing and evaluating public policy. This paper reports on the experience of the authors in designing and using computational models of public policy ('policy models', for short). The paper considers the role of computational models in policy making, and some of the challenges that need to be overcome if policy models are to make an e ective contribution. It suggests …
Case-based methods and agent-based modelling: Bridging the divide to leverage their combined strengths
Two leading camps for studying social complexity are case-based methods (CBM) and agent-based modelling (ABM). Despite the potential epistemological links between ‘cases’ and ‘agents,’ neither camp has leveraged their combined strengths. A bridge can be built, however, by drawing on Abbott’s insight that ‘agents are cases doing things’, Byrne’s suggestion that ‘cases are complex systems with agency’, and by viewing CBM and ABM within the broader …
How does the commissioning process hinder the uptake of complexity-appropriate evaluation
This paper investigates the role of evaluation commissioning in hindering the take-up of complexity-appropriate evaluation methods, using findings from interviews with 19 UK evaluation commissioners and contractors. We find, against a backdrop of a need to ‘do more with less’ and frustration with some traditional approaches, the commissioning process is perceived to hinder adoption of complexity-appropriate methods because of its inherent lack of…
How do policy evaluators understand complexity
There is a well-documented interest in how insights from the study of complexity can be applied to policy evaluation. However, important questions remain as to how complexity is understood and used by policy evaluators. We present findings from semi-structured interviews with 30 UK policy evaluators working in food, energy, water and environment policy domains. We explore how they understand, use and approach complexity, and consider the implicat…
Justified Stories with Agent-Based Modelling for Local Covid-19 Planning
This paper presents JuSt-Social, an agent-based model of the COVID-epidemic with a range of potential social policy interventions. It was developed to support local authorities in North East England who are making decisions in a fast moving crisis with limited access to data. The proximate purpose of JuSt-Social is description, as the model represents knowledge about both COVID-transmission and intervention e ects. Its ultimate purpose is to gene…
Combining complexity-framed research methods for social research
Research methods with roots in complexity science are increasingly popular in social research. However, they are not widespread and have potential to deliver value more fully and consistently to social research and methodology. One reason for this is that methods are often used alone, or only with traditional social research methods. We attempt to support and catalyse the use of complexity-framed methods in combination in social research, by syst…
Building a system-based Theory of Change using Participatory Systems Mapping
Theory of Change diagrams are commonly used within evaluation. Due to their popularity and flexibility, Theories of Change can vary greatly, from the nuanced and nested, through to simplified and linear. We present a methodology for building genuinely holistic, complexity-appropriate, system-based Theory of Change diagrams, using Participatory Systems Mapping as a starting point. Participatory System Maps provide a general-purpose resource that c…
Cased-based modelling and scenario simulation for ex-post evaluation
Despite 20 years of increasing acceptance, implementing complexity-appropriate methods for ex-post evaluation remains a challenge: instead of focusing on complex interventions, methods need to help evaluators better explore how policies (no matter how simple) take place in real-world, open, dynamic systems where many intertwined factors about the cases being targeted affect outcomes in numerous ways. To assist in this advance, we developed case-b…
Policy evaluation for a complex world: Practical methods and reflections from the UK Centre for the Evaluation of Complexity across the Nexus
The value of complexity science and related approaches in policy evaluation have been widely discussed over the last 20 years, not least in this journal. We are now at a crossroads; this Special Issue argues that the use of complexity science in evaluation could deepen and broaden rendering evaluations more practical and rigorous. The risk is that the drive to better evaluate policies from a complexity perspective could falter. This special issue…
Participatory systems mapping for complex energy policy evaluation
The use of complexity science in evaluation has received growing attention over the last 20 years. We present the use of a novel complexity-appropriate method – Participatory Systems Mapping – in two real-world evaluation contexts and consider how this method can be applied more widely in evaluation. Participatory Systems Mapping involves the production of a causal map of a system by a diverse set of stakeholders. The map, once refined and valida…
Participatory complexity in tourism policy: Understanding sustainability programmes with participatory systems mapping
Linear logic models are insufficient to understand how interventions work in complex areas such as sustainable tourism. We present Participatory Systems Mapping (PSM), a novel method to develop shared understandings and collective management of complex policy issues among stakeholders. We use PSM with stakeholders in Barcelona to support the design of an upcoming evaluation of an existing sustainability programme. Discussion during workshops, and…
The Ethics of Agent-Based Social Simulation
The academic study and the applied use of agent-based modelling of social processes has matured considerably over the last thirty years. The time is now right to engage seriously with the ethics and responsible practice of agent-based social simulation. In this paper, we first outline the many reasons why it is appropriate to explore an ethics of agent-based modelling and how ethical issues arise in its practice and organisation. We go on to disc…
Modelling induced innovation for the low-carbon energy transition: A menu of options
Induced innovation is a multi-faceted process characterized by interaction between demand-pull forces, path-dependent self-reinforcing change, and the cost reduction of technology that occurs with cumulative deployment. By endogenously including induced innovation in energy models, policy analysts and modellers could enable a mission-oriented approach to policymaking that envisions the opportunities of accelerating the low-carbon energy transitio…
Combining realist evaluation and appreciative inquiry: A participatory, learning-focused methodology for tourism interventions
Useful lessons can be drawn from realist evaluation and appreciative inquiry for the evaluation of tourism interventions in complex contexts. We combine the strengths of these two approaches to design a participatory learning-focused evaluation with an emphasis on co-created intervention improvement. We apply this proposed ‘Realist Appreciative Evaluation’ on a government-led intervention aimed at supporting tourism firms to improve their sustain…
Queer(y)ing Agent-Based Modeling for Use in LGBTQ Studies: An Example from Workplace Inequalities
This article explores the contribution agent-based modeling (ABM) can make to the study of LGBTQ workplace inequalities and, conversely, how ABM can adapt to theoretical traditions integral to LGBTQ studies. It introduces an example LGBTQ workplace model, developed as part of the CILIA-LGBTQI+ project, to illustrate how ABM complements existing methods, can address methodological binarism and bridge macro and micro accounts within LGBTQ studies o…
Tackling transformational change in climate policy appraisal: Experiences and perceptions of United Kingdom policy analysts
Progress in implementing climate policy in the United Kingdom consistent with the country's target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 has been modest. This is despite the well-established physical risks of climate change, the UK's broadly accepted intention to act decisively, and the international recognition of the need for transformational climate action. Previous research suggests that the practical and theoretical limitations of existing d…
A method to identify positive tipping points to accelerate low-carbon transitions and actions to trigger them
Meeting the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to "well below 2 °C" requires a radical acceleration of action, as the global economy is decarbonising at least five times too slowly. Tipping points, where low-carbon transitions become self-propelling, could be key to achieving the necessary acceleration. We deem these normatively 'positive', because they can limit considerable, inequitable harms from global warming and help achieve sustainabi…
Case-based systems mapping: Advancing a multimethod approach to social complexity
In this work, we introduce case-based systems mapping (CBSM), an integration of exploratory systems mapping and case-based complexity. CBSM explores different groups of cases and their distinct configurations and then generates submaps that display the causal flows for these different groups. Combining these allows users to advance on systems mapping by allowing them to (1) explore how the causal factors within the map may cluster based on groups…
Social learning communities of practice as mechanisms for sustainable tourism: A Process Tracing Evaluation of a Government Intervention
Many governments introduce interventions to help small enterprises adopt more sustainable practices.We used process tracing to evaluate how and why communities of practice and social forms of learning are key mechanisms to facilitate action-oriented sustainability learning.We subjected each piece of evidence to a contribution analysis, in addition to the probabilistic necessity and sufficiency, to affirm causal attribution and its strength.The st…
Using vision-language models to extract network data from images of system maps
A range of systems mapping approaches are widely used to support the analysis and design of public policy, but can be time and resource intensive to implement. Generative AI tools may be able to streamline the use of systems mapping by helping researchers to quickly synthesise existing data on policy systems, freeing resources to foster greater stakeholder participation and use of maps. To explore and test the potential of these tools to help wit…
From just transition pledges to policy practice: A participatory case study applying the Energy Justice Framework in early-stage transition planning in Vilnius, Lithuania
Although many policy actors have committed to a just transition, climate and energy measures still fall short of energy justice principles. Amidst sharply rising geopolitical tensions, transition policy risks sidelining commitments to justice. Operationalizing conceptual justice frameworks in real-world policy processes to reveal the social risks of energy decisions and inform necessary policy responses is essential for reinforcing just transitio…
Computer Science (15 works) · Complex Systems and Decision Making (10 works) · Management science (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Engineering (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Economics (7 works) · Evaluation and Performance Assessment (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Business (6 works)