Participatory Modeling

 

Our modeling framework encourages participation of stakeholders in all the stages of the process, and creates an essential two-way flow of information between the researchers and stakeholders. Stakeholders offer local knowledge, values and concerns, provide critical data and help determine management goals.  Researchers in exchange help stakeholders understand the interconnections and tradeoffs between alternative watershed uses and values and become more familiar with stakeholder concerns and drivers. This ongoing process of collaborative learning is at least as important as the development of the models themselves.

 We start by tapping into an existing or establishing a new network of stakeholders, and involving them in the assessment of problems by means of focused workshop, survey and group deliberation techniques.  By involving stakeholders in the modeling process, we increase their awareness, and hope to contribute to consensus building on economic development, resource management, and strategic planning issues.  At the same time, we will assess the policy context including regulatory regimes and planning efforts at national, state, and local levels in attempt to connect the towns – and local perspectives and approaches – within the State’s basin planning framework. In Vermont every town does planning and zoning differently, and much of the real authority is at the town level. The modeling approach is an effective way to actively involve the public in decision-making, rather than the typical “passive” approach of public meetings.  This assessment of the policy context will provide insight into opportunities for changes in policy that may be pursued through watershed planning.

 The model will be used to compare different patterns of land use and different management practices in terms of their effect on ecosystem functions and services, such as water quality in the stream network. Human alterations in the landscape will be clearly expressed and valued in terms of impaired ecosystem services. Reciprocally, stakeholders offer valuable information about system dynamics and processes that are most relevant to the policy issues at stake.  They help prioritize model development and link it to planning efforts.