Sponsor
This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) under funding received from the National Science Foundation DBI-1052875. The material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grants No. EF-1427091, 1427453, and 1444184.
Published In
Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2019
Subjects
Participatory monitoring and evaluation (Project management), Environmental protection -- Planning, Environmental management
Abstract
Participatory Modeling (PM) is becoming increasingly common in environmental planning and conservation, due in part to advances in cyberinfrastructure as well as to greater recognition of the importance of engaging a diverse array of stakeholders in decision making. We provide lessons learned, based on over 200 years of the authors’ cumulative and diverse experience, about PM processes. These include successful and, perhaps more importantly, not-so-successful trials. Our collective interdisciplinary background has supported the development, testing, and evaluation of a rich range of collaborative modeling approaches. We share here what we have learned as a community of participatory modelers, within three categories of reflection: a) lessons learned about participatory modelers; b) lessons learned about the context of collaboration; and c) lessons learned about the PM process. First, successful PM teams encompass a variety of skills beyond modeling expertise. Skills include: effective relationship-building, openness to learn from local experts, awareness of personal motivations and biases, and ability to translate discussions into models and to assess success. Second, the context for collaboration necessitates a culturally appropriate process for knowledge generation and use, for involvement of community co-leads, and for understanding group power dynamics that might influence how people from different backgrounds interact. Finally, knowing when to use PM and when not to, managing expectations, and effectively and equitably addressing conflicts is essential. Managing the participation process in PM is as important as managing the model building process. We recommend that PM teams consider what skills are present within a team, while ensuring inclusive creative space for collaborative exploration and learning supported by simple yet relevant models. With a realistic view of what it entails, PM can be a powerful approach that builds collective knowledge and social capital, thus helping communities to take charge of their future and address complex social and environmental problems.
DOI
10.1525/elementa.347
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/28345
Citation Details
Sterling, EJ, Zellner, M, Jenni, KE, Leong, K, Glynn, PD, BenDor, TK, Bommel, P, Hubacek, K, Jetter, AJ, Jordan, R, Olabisi, LS, Paolisso, M and Gray, S. 2019. Try, try again: Lessons learned from success and failure in participatory modeling. Elem Sci Anth, 7: 9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.347
Description
© 2019 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.