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This paper presents the specification of an agentbased framework for conflict resolution into Open Multi-agent Systems by means of grievance protocols. In this framework, any grievance process primarily involves negotiation (with or without mediation) and arbitration or a combination of both. In this way, the result of a conflict resolution can be an agreement among the conflicting parties by which they voluntary settle the conflict, or a decision from the arbitrator (a neutral third party) which is final, and binding on both conflicting parties. The framework is designed in such a way that multiple agreement mechanisms may be available at any given time, to be activated and adjusted on demand (on-line) by participating agents. The framework is also generic enough so that new protocols may be easily added. The objective is to have a generic electronic institution that may be tailored to specific needs and grafted into other electronic institutions.

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Multi-AgentSystems require coordination mechanisms in order to assemble the behaviour of autonomous and heterogeneous agents and achieve the desired performance of the whole system. Norms are deontic statements employed by these coordination mechanisms which define constraints to the potential excesses of agents’ autonomous behaviour. However, norms are only effective if agents are capable of understanding and managing them pragmatically. In this paper, we propose an extension of the BDI proposal in order to allow agents to take pragmatic autonomous decisions considering the existence of norms. In particular, coherence and consistency theory will be employed as a criterion for determining norm compliance.

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Nowadays Multi-Agent Systems require more and more regulation and normative mechanisms in order to assure the correct and secure execution of the interactions and transactions in the open virtual organization they are implementing. The Electronic Institution approach for developing Multi-Agent Systems implements some enforce- ability mechanisms in order to control norms execution and observance. In this paper we study a complex situation in a regulated environment in which the enforceability mechanisms provided by the current Electronic Institutions implementation cannot deal appropriately with norm observance. The analyzed situation is exemplified with a specific scenario of the mWater regulated environment, an electronic market for water-rights transfer. After this example is presented, we extrapolate it to a more generic domain while also addressing the main issues for its application in general scenarios.

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In countries like Spain, and particularly in its Mediterranean coast, there is a high degree of public awareness of the main consequences of the scarcity of water and the need of fostering efficient use of water resources. Two new mechanisms for water management already under way are: a heated debate on the need and feasibility of transferring water from one basin to another, and, directly related to this proposal, the regulation of water banks1. This paper is about mWater, an agent-based electronic market of water rights. Our focus is on demand and, in particular, on the type of regulatory and market mechanisms that foster an efficient use of water while preventing conflicts. In this work we present the regulated environment which is implemented as an Electronic Institution for simulating water-right markets in order to evaluate the impacts of different regulations on the market behavior

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The management of natural resources is an intricate and consequential task. In particular, water management is at the forefront of public policy priorities in many countries because of its growing scarcity and its considerable economic and social implications. At the core of water policy is the need to foster a more rational use of the resource, and one way of fostering efficiency might be the creation of an agile market of water rights. However, the design and operation of such a market is not an easy endeavor because it needs to coexist in a complex social and legal framework that has evolved to address the different and often conflicting objectives of the many stakeholders involved.

We are approaching this problem by building an open multi-agent system, mWater, that is designed as a regulated environment where autonomous agents trade rights for the use of water in a closed basin. mWater is intended as a sophisticated simulator of the demand component of a basin for the design and testing of water management policies, as a test case for a potential actual market and as a sandbox for the development of agreement technologies. This paper outlines the aims of the mWater system, describes its core institutional components and indicates its potential use for the development and testing of technologies involved in the processes of reaching and fulfilling agreements.

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In this paper coherence-based models are proposed as an alternative to logic-based BDI and argumentation models for the reasoning of normative agents. A model is provided for how two coherence-based agents can deliberate on how to regulate a domain of interest. First a deductive coherence model presented, in which the coherence values are derived from the deduction relation of an underlying logic; this makes it possible to identify the reasons for why a proposition is accepted or rejected. Then it is shown how coherence-driven agents can generate candidate norms for deliberation, after which a dialogue protocol for such deliberations is proposed.  The resulting model is compared to current logic-based argumentation systems for deliberation over action.

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