Biological and other natural processes have always been a source of inspiration for computer science and information technology. Many emerging problem solving techniques integrate advanced evolution and cooperation strategies, encompassing a range of spatio-temporal scales for visionary conceptualization of evolutionary computation. This book is a collection of research works presented in the VI International Workshop on Nature Inspired Cooperative Strategies for Optimization (NICSO) held in Canterbury, UK. Previous editions of NICSO were held in Granada, Spain (2006 & 2010), Acireale, Italy (2007), Tenerife, Spain (2008), and Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2011). NICSO 2013 and this book provides a place where state-of-the-art research, latest ideas and emerging areas of nature inspired cooperative strategies for problem solving are vigorously discussed and exchanged among the scientific community. The breadth and variety of articles in this book report on nature inspired methods and applications such as Swarm Intelligence, Hyper-heuristics, Evolutionary Algorithms, Cellular Automata, Artificial Bee Colony, Dynamic Optimization, Support Vector Machines, Multi-Agent Systems, Ant Clustering, Evolutionary Design Optimisation, Game Theory and other several Cooperation Models.

Biological and other natural processes have always been a source of inspiration for computer science and information technology. Many emerging problem solving techniques integrate advanced evolution and cooperation strategies, encompassing a range of spatio-temporal scales for visionary conceptualization of evolutionary computation. This book is a collection of research works presented in the VI International Workshop on Nature Inspired Cooperative Strategies for Optimization (NICSO) held in Canterbury, UK. Previous editions of NICSO were held in Granada, Spain (2006 & 2010), Acireale, Italy (2007), Tenerife, Spain (2008), and Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2011). NICSO 2013 and this book provides a place where state-of-the-art research, latest ideas and emerging areas of nature inspired cooperative strategies for problem solving are vigorously discussed and exchanged among the scientific community. The breadth and variety of articles in this book report on nature inspired methods and applications such as Swarm Intelligence, Hyper-heuristics, Evolutionary Algorithms, Cellular Automata, Artificial Bee Colony, Dynamic Optimization, Support Vector Machines, Multi-Agent Systems, Ant Clustering, Evolutionary Design Optimisation, Game Theory and other several Cooperation Models.

Many aspects of Nature, Biology or even from Society have become part of the techniques and algorithms used in computer science or they have been used to enhance or hybridize several techniques through the inclusion of advanced evolution, cooperation or biologically based additions. The previous NICSO workshops were held in Granada, Spain, 2006, Acireale, Italy, 2007, and in Tenerife, Spain, 2008. As in the previous editions, NICSO 2010, held in Granada, Spain, was conceived as a forum for the latest ideas and the state of the art research related to nature inspired cooperative strategies. The contributions collected in this book cover topics including nature-inspired techniques like Genetic Algorithms, Evolutionary Algorithms, Ant and Bee Colonies, Swarm Intelligence approaches, Neural Networks, several Cooperation Models, Structures and Strategies, Agents Models, Social Interactions, as well as new algorithms based on the behaviour of fireflies or bats.

Many aspects of Nature, Biology or even from Society have become part of the techniques and algorithms used in computer science or they have been used to enhance or hybridize several techniques through the inclusion of advanced evolution, cooperation or biologically based additions. The previous NICSO workshops were held in Granada, Spain, 2006, Acireale, Italy, 2007, and in Tenerife, Spain, 2008. As in the previous editions, NICSO 2010, held in Granada, Spain, was conceived as a forum for the latest ideas and the state of the art research related to nature inspired cooperative strategies. The contributions collected in this book cover topics including nature-inspired techniques like Genetic Algorithms, Evolutionary Algorithms, Ant and Bee Colonies, Swarm Intelligence approaches, Neural Networks, several Cooperation Models, Structures and Strategies, Agents Models, Social Interactions, as well as new algorithms based on the behaviour of fireflies or bats.