Scientific Evening: “Simulating the Future: Models for Better Decisions”

Can we test a city’s future before we build it? This question will be at the center of the scientific evening “Simulating the Future: Models for Better Decisions”, taking place on 3rd November 2026 at 18:00 (EET, UTC+2) Online and at the University of Latvia, House of Nature, room 223 DM (Jelgavas iela 1, Riga, Latvia).

The guest lecture “We Have a Transport Simulation - Now What?” will be given by Prof. Dr. Kai Nagel (Technical University of Berlin, Germany), one of the developers of the MATSim simulation software. Using MATSim as an example, he will show how agent-based models can be used to assess different transport policies and explore their impacts before they are implemented in the real world, with applications ranging from demand-responsive transport and automated mobility to decarbonization strategies. The same modelling idea also reaches beyond transport: agent-based simulations have, for example, been used in epidemiology to study the spread of infectious diseases and the effects of interventions.

Prof. Dr. Mihails Savrasovs, Rector of the Transport and Telecommunication Institute, will present “Simulation Modelling: From Theory to Practical Decision-Making”, tracing the path from defining a problem to building a model and interpreting its results through practical case studies.

Aldis Ērglis, Adviser to the Rector of the University of Latvia on Digital Development, will present “MyFairShare - The Individual Mobility Budget as an Urban Planning Tool”. Drawing on urban living labs, including Jelgava, he will show how abstract climate targets can be translated into personal mobility budgets and whether this changes people’s commuting habits.

Finally, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arnis Lektauers, senior researcher at the Institute of Information Technology at Riga Technical University, Latvia, will present “From Transport Microsimulation to Digital Twins: Towards Explainable and Adaptive Simulation”. Drawing on the university’s experience in public-transport planning in Latvia, he will show how digital twins combine simulation models with real-world data to support decisions as conditions change, and how explanations of model behavior can help inform those decisions.

Language: English
Free participation with prior registration 

Further information can be found on the Baltic-German University Liaison Office’s homepage.