Systems thinking and ecosystem management: A pedagogical approach

Background/Question/Methods

Within the broader field of ecology, ecosystem management generally is considered an approach that integrates ecological, socioeconomic, and institutional factors into management analysis and action in order to sustain the quality of ecosystem to meet current and future generations’ needs.  Due to its multi-faceted nature, to effectively design and instruct an ecosystem management course can be challenging.  Given the holistic nature and practical orientation of ecosystem management, active engagement of students in the learning process is a must.  Students of ecosystem management should be given opportunities to experience the challenges of framing the situation, dealing with uncertainty and vagueness, making decision with incomplete information and conflicting values, and more importantly grappling with the reality of finding better, not correct, answers to the situation.  Therefore, to bring together complex system approaches and place-based teaching, students in my ecosystem management class were given a real-life scenario to tackle – “Asian Carp and Great Lakes Ecosystem” Scenario.  This particular scenario requires students to conduct research on the biology of Asian Carp, their presence in the Mississippi River basin and associated problems, the ecological/economic/political considerations and consequences of a potential invasion of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes ecosystem, as well as the effectiveness and potential effects of existing and proposed mitigation measures in preventing or stopping carp invasion into the Great Lakes.  Based on their research, students also participate in role plays, representing different stakeholders in advisory group meetings (hypothetically) called by the Amy Corps of Engineers, regarding what to do with the connection between the Chicago Area Waterway System and Lake Michigan.  Finally, working as a group students have to develop an assessment for the scenario chosen, with an aim for how to effectively involve stakeholders for a solution or solutions.

Results/Conclusions

The class is ongoing and will conclude in early May.  At this point, students have been conducting research and participated in the advisory group meetings that involve multiple real-life stakeholders in their role plays.  The debriefing of the advisory meetings by the students already suggests that they have a better understanding and appreciation of the complex nature of environmental decision making, in particular the situation of Asia Carp.  In this talk, I will detail the elements of the “Asian Carp and Great Lakes Ecosystem” Scenario exercise and share assessment outcomes of students’ comprehension and applications of complex systems approaches in ecosystem management.