Urbana Campus Research Calendar (OVCRI)

Speaker: Emma Zajdela (Princeton University)

Title: Information consensus and cooperation for global environmental challenges: A game-theoretic approach

Abstract: Many global challenges, from climate change to food security and biodiversity loss, are wicked problems characterized by complexity, nonlinearity, barriers to cooperation, and the lack of a clearly defined solution. In order to solve these challenges, solutions require cooperation across scales. In this context, scientists assemble into institutions of varying structural complexity to produce information, which policymakers consider when making decisions. In particular, institutions at the science–policy interface, including global environmental assessments—formal efforts to assemble knowledge to support decision making—play an important role. In this talk, I will describe ongoing work aiming to understand the role of scientific assessments in enabling cooperation for global environmental challenges. To do so, we use a game-theoretical approach to examine the role of aggregating knowledge through assessments in fostering cooperation. Results indicate that sharing information through assessments and reaching consensus expand the conditions for coordination and promote more equitable mobilization of resources.