ANNOUNCE UK Applications Prize Call for Submissions (SD6660)

[SDMAIL Swanson, John]

Posted by  "Swanson, John" <John.Swanson at sdgworld.net>

This message is probably of most interest to people living and working or 
studying in the UK, but others might also be interested in the idea.

There was a long discussion on this mailing list earlier in the year about 
the extent to which SD has been used to influence public policy.  If such 
work exists - and it does - then it seemed to us here at Steer Davies Gleave 
to be a good idea to try to publicise it.

So, in conjunction with the UK Chapter of the Society, we are offering a 
prize for the best piece of work in which SD has been used to address a 
topic of broad public interest, here in the UK. The rules and so on are 
below.

The Steer Davies Gleave System Dynamics Prize

The aim of this prize is to promote the use of System Dynamics to address real 
and significant problems of public interest, and to raise awareness of System 
Dynamics by publicising examples of such good work.

The prize is for the best piece of work that applies System Dynamics to a 
problem of wide public interest in the UK.  The work should demonstrably improve 
understanding of the problem by, for example, clarifying the definition of what is 
at issue and allowing candidate solutions to be formulated and tested.

The work and any resulting model should, so far as is reasonably possible, be 
grounded in empirical data and evidence.

It should also be substantially new work, not the result of applying an existing 
model, and have been carried out during 2006 or 2007.  

The prize open to anyone living or working in the UK.

Candidates should submit a short report describing the problem, the nature of the 
current debate, how the issue was formulated using SD, the conclusions that could 
be drawn from the work, and how the use of System Dynamics advances or changes the 
debate.  

Wherever possible a working simulation model should also be submitted, in one of 
the standard simulation languages (Vensim, Powersim, Ithink).

Each piece of work submitted will be judged on its own merits, but evidence that 
the work has influenced the public debate is especially welcome.   This might range 
from letters or articles in the press through to real-world decisions and actions.  

The prize for the winning entry is £500.

Entries should be submitted to SDcomp at sdgworld.net by email. The closing date is 
January 8th 2008.  The winner will be chosen by the Policy Committee of the UK 
System Dynamics Society and announced at the next annual meeting of the society on 
7-8th February 2008.

At the discretion of the Policy Committee, press notices may be issued describing 
the winning submissions.

For further information, contact John Swanson at: John.Swanson at sdgworld.net.  


John Swanson
Associate
Steer Davies Gleave
28-32 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD
Posted by  "Swanson, John" <John.Swanson at sdgworld.net>
posting date  Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:23:45 +0100