Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - 2:50 PM

COS 46-5: LINDISSIMA: An educational simulation tool for negotiating sustainable natural resource management strategies among stakeholders with conflicting interests

Luis Garcia-Barrios Sr., Erika N. Speelman, and Max Pimm. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur

LINDISSIMA is a simulation game aimed at helping people understand the dynamic nature of sustainability attributes and to better address the issues, tradeoffs and conflicts associated with sustainable management of natural resources. This graphic, interactive simulation tool allows stakeholders to explore scenarios and negotiate collective  management decisions. Our free-ware tool -in both spanish and english- (www.ecosur.mx/sustentabilidad) is an interactive drama in three acts. In act 1, users play the role of slash-and-burn farmers compelled by the government to leave a biodiversity reserve zone and to intensify maize production in a smaller area using nitrogen fertilizer.In act 2, other users play the role of rural families who depend on ecotourism in a clear lake downhill and who anticipate that their livelihood could be threatened by lake eutrophication caused by nitrogen runoff. In act 3, stakeholders design and negotiate possible monocrop and agroforestry solutions, combining computer use and group dramatization. Technical decisions change output variables that are monitored through a graphical multi-criteria analysis of environmental and social sustainability attributes. Results form 8 international workshops show that participants usually come up with creative solutions that meet the biodiversity conservation and rural livelihood interests of all stakeholders involved. Users better grasp the meaning of productivity, stability, resistance, resilience, reliability, adaptability and equity. They also understand concepts such as bi-stability, thresholds, risk, catastrophic shift, hysteresis and restoration. Ultimately, they get an opportunity to become familiar with more creative and open-minded attitudes when defending interests and making collective decisions in a multi-stakeholder environment.

See more of COS 46 - Ecology education: Extended audiences
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See more of The ESA/SER Joint Meeting (August 5 -- August 10, 2007)