Abstract for: Simulation-Based Learning Environments to Teach Complexity: The Missing Link in Teaching Sustainable Public Management

While public-sector management problems are steeped in positivistic and socially constructed complexity, public management education in the management of complexity lags behind that of business schools, particularly in the application of simulation and simulation-based learning. This paper describes our development of a Simulation Based Learning Environment that includes a coupled case study and SD simulation surrounding flood protection, a domain where stewardship decisions regarding public infrastructure and investment have direct and indirect effects on businesses and the public. The Pointe Claire case and CoastalProtectSIM simulation provide a platform for policy experimentation under conditions of exogenous uncertainty (weather and climate change) as well as endogenous effects generated by structure. We discuss the model in some detail, and present teaching materials developed to date to support the use of our work in public administration curricula. While learning and outcome evaluations are not complete, we believe that he effectiveness of this approach will be demonstrated.