Abstract
Besides the simpler ability to interact, open multi agent systems must include mechanisms for their agents toreach agreements by takingintoaccounttheirsocialcontext.Argumentationprovidesmulti-
agent systemswithaframeworkthatassuresarationalcommunication,whichallowsagentstoreach
agreements whenconflicts ofopinionarise.Inthispaper,wepresentthedialogueprotocolthatagentsof
a case-basedargumentationframeworkcanusetointeractwhentheyengageinargumentation
dialogues. Thesyntaxandsemanticsoftheargumentationprotocolareformalisedanddiscussed.To
illustrateourproposal,wehaveappliedtheprotocolinthecontextofawatermarket.Byusingour dialogue protocol, agents represent water users that are able to explore different water allocations and justify their views about what is the best water distribution in a certain environment.
