Global systems Rapid Assessment tools through Constraint FUnctional Languages (GRACeFUL)
Research Project, 2015 – 2018

The making of policies coping with Global Systems is a process that necessarily involves stakeholders from diverse disciplines, each with their own interests, constraints and objectives. People play a central role in such collective decision making and the quest for solutions to a problem generally intertwines its very specification. Simulators can assist in this process provided they employ adequate high-level modelling to separate the political question from the underlying scientific details. Domain-specific Languages (DSL) embedded in Functional Programming (FP) languages offer a promising way to implement scalable and verifiable simulators. But the use of simulators is essentially a trial-and-error process too tedious for execution in a group session. A paradigm shift is needed towards active problem solving where stakeholders’ objectives can be taken along from the very beginning. Constraint Programming (CP) has demonstrated to enable such a shift for e.g. managed physical systems like water and power networks. This project lays the base for a DSL aimed at building scalable Rapid Assessment Tools for collective policy making in global systems. This can be achieved through foundational scientific work at different levels: from the high-level, political modelling, adapting the social discipline of Group Model Building (as used in business organizations), through visual forms of CP as well as gamification aspects, down to the needs for a host language, combining CP and FP. Special emphasis is put on domain-specific constraints, constraint composition, and composable solvers and heuristics. Results are applied and validated for the problem case of Climate-Resilient Urban Design, but the ambition is a general framework applicable to many other systems. The case study is assessed by an external multi-disciplinary Advisory Board of Stakeholders that guides the specification process and evaluates needs and usability of the tools.

Participants

Patrik Jansson (contact)

Software Technology (Chalmers)

Maximilian Algehed

Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Functional Programming

Sólrún Einarsdóttir

Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Functional Programming

Alex Gerdes

Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Functional Programming

Irene Lobo Valbuena

Software Technology (Chalmers)

Collaborations

Association Pour La Recherche Et Le Developpement Des Methodes Et Processus Industriels - Armines

Paris, France

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur

Munchen, Germany

KU Leuven

Leuven, Belgium

Polytechnic University of Catalonia

Barcelona, Spain

Stichting Deltares

Tilburg, Netherlands

Stichting Katholieke Universiteit

Nijmegen, Netherlands

Funding

European Commission (EC)

Project ID: EC/H2020/640954
Funding Chalmers participation during 2015–2018

Related Areas of Advance and Infrastructure

Information and Communication Technology

Areas of Advance

Sustainable development

Driving Forces

Building Futures (2010-2018)

Areas of Advance

Publications

More information

Latest update

2020-09-02