Some values affected by expected social and environmental impacts of decisions are considered important and are taken into account, others not. These latter, known as ‘decision externalities’, are of two types: unforeseen effects and foreseen impacts beyond the group decision-makers care about. One way to internalize externalities is by altering the financial consequences of impacts expected on those beyond the inner circle of decision-making (the ‘in-group’). Externalities can also be internalized by setting rules (while compensating for opportunities skipped), by co-investment in environmental stewardship, or by accepting moral/ethical accountability as relational rationality, widening the ‘inner circle’ itself. Following up on the hypothesis that instrumental and relational modes of decision-making interface with value types and shape opportunities for internalizing environmental externalities, we reviewed five ways to internalize externalities that coexist across scales, using examples from Indonesia and the Netherlands.
Tag: Decision-making
Triangulating agent-based models, role-playing games, and a stakeholder-centric approach to change scenarios
Assertion of the validity of the way agents’ decision-making remains one of the central epistemological problems in empirical agent-based model (ABM) simulations. Reliable and robust models of individual and group-level decision-making are needed if scenarios are to be relevant for policies with implications in natural resource management. Serious games (in the form of role-playing games) have emerged as stakeholder-centric ways of parameterizing human behavior and decision-making and validating ABM results. Iterations between games and ABMs may offer attractive options for quality control in salient, credible, and legitimate ABM use. However, a revisit to a validated case study after six years suggested that models and games generate ‘prospects’ rather than ‘predictions’ as events not foreseen in model development added to recognized parameter uncertainty.
Summary for policymakers of the methodological assessment of the diverse values and valuation of nature of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising over 130 member Governments. Established by Governments in 2012, IPBES provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as options and actions to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets. The IPBES Methodological Assessment of the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature was initiated following a decision from the IPBES Plenary at its sixth session (IPBES 6, Medellin, 2018), and considered by the IPBES Plenary at its ninth session (IPBES-9, Bonn, 2022). It is composed of a summary for policymakers which was approved at IPBES-9, and six chapters, which were accepted at IPBES 9.
Controlled burns in conifer forests: Decision analysis with the decision Support package
The decisionSupport package (Eike Luedeling and Göhring 2017) implements this as a Monte Carlo simulation, which generates a large number of plausible system outcomes, based on random numbers for each input variable that are drawn from user-specified probability distributions. It also conducts a sensitivity analysis (based on Projection-to-Latent-Structures regression) to highlight uncertain variables that have large impacts on model outputs (Eike Luedeling and Gassner 2012; Wold, Sjostrom, and Eriksson 2001). This approach is useful for determining whether a clearly preferable course of action can be delineated based on the present state of knowledge without the need for further information. If the distribution of predicted system outcomes doesn’t imply a clearly preferable decision option, variables identified as carrying decision-relevant uncertainty can then be targeted by decision-supporting research (Eike Luedeling et al. 2015). This approach is explained in more detail below.
Strategy games to improve environmental policymaking
While the scientific community documents environmental degradation and develops scenarios to identify the operational margins of system Earth, less attention is given to how decisions are made that steer the system in one direction or the other. We propose to use strategy games for this purpose, increasing the representation of human agency in scenario development and creating spaces for deliberation between different worldviews. Played by the right people, strategy games could help break free from established norms and support more transparent democratic dialogues, responding to the human and social limitations of current decision-making. The question is, who gets to play?
State and outlook of agroforestry in ASEAN – Status, trends and outlook 2030 and beyond
This report encapsulates the status of and outlook for agroforestry in the ASEAN countries and endeavours to help achieve the SDGs through more sustainable and productive agri-food systems. The status, trends and outlook in this report will support policy makers and practitioners to make appropriate decisions and advance local innovations with agroforestry, especially in the context of the United Nations Decades on Ecosystem Restoration and Family Farming. It will help address the much needed governance, institutional, finance and capacity constraints, especially for promoting smallholder-oriented agroforestry systems in rural areas. Also, the outlook will help enhance the agro-ecological dimensions in land use while yielding more sustainable and productive results combined with ecological and climate-smart outcomes, including those related to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Eventually, it will contribute to improving the food and nutritional security, livelihoods and wellbeing of marginalized people through sustainable delivery of various ecosystem services.
Enhancing policy and strategy planning: How to tailor data visualisation and evidence sharing for improved stakeholder uptake and application
The CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets is seeking to provide empirical action research to support decision makers to better use evidence to support policy making and implementation, particularly timeliness and relevance with respect to policy challenges facing countries, organizations and other groups. A systemic, yet widely misunderstood and under-researched issue, is that researchers and evidence generators often do not understand how to tailor the evidence they produce to reach and influence decision makers (Winterfeldt, 2013), ensuring it is relevant and readily accessible in terms of visualization and ease of interpretation while using different approaches to increase uptake and impact through target stakeholders.
Adapting transformation and transforming adaptation to climate change using a pathways approach
Human actions have driven earth systems close to irreversible and profound change. The need to shift towards intentional transformative adaptation (ITA) is clear. Using case studies from the Transformative Adaptation Research Alliance (TARA), we explore ITA as a way of thinking and acting that is transformative in concept and objectives, but achieved through a mix of incremental and transformative co-production processes that ultimately lead to the social-ecological system being transformed. Central to ITA are social and political issues of how individuals and collectives address environmental and social change and deal with power imbalances. ITA approaches are claimed to help overcome adaptation challenges, including: 1) re-framing human-nature relationships; 2) dealing with uncertainty; 3) engendering empowerment and agency and 4) addressing conflicting values and interests. However, it is unclear if these approaches work in practice. We examined six adaptation case studies in which participants used processes of: 1) co-producing visions of the future; 2) re-framing values, rules and knowledge to shift decision contexts for adaptation and 3) implementing actions using theories of change and adaptation pathways. We assessed the extent to which participants could use these processes to address their adaptation challenges. We found evidence of many positive achievements towards the implementation of ITA, but also examples where processes were not working, such as communities having difficulties in finding ways to work co-operatively. Different processes will be needed to address these issues, such as promoting pluralism, knowledge contestation, and deliberative re-politicisation of the adaptation agenda to shift power imbalances and enable change.
Onto the Farm, into the Home: How Intrahousehold Gender Dynamics Shape Land Restoration in Eastern Kenya
While attention has been paid largely to forest restoration, meeting global land restoration pledges will require scaling-up restoration of ecosystem services on agricultural land. This paper contributes to the literature on restoration practice and agricultural technology adoption, by shifting the focus onto the farm and considering the role of intrahousehold dynamics in the uptake of farmland restoration practices. We examine the intrahousehold decisions and gender relations surrounding the trial of two on-farm restoration practices: tree planting and planting basins; with over 2,500 farmers in the eastern drylands of Kenya. Combining results from household surveys, interviews and focus group discussions, our findings reveal that decisions over the uptake of restoration practices, although usually initiated by women who attend agricultural workshops, are often discussed between husband and wife and that multiple social dimensions intersect to shape men’s and women’s interest in, contribution to, and benefit from different practices. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that these intrahousehold relations are, in turn, shaped by women’s participation in innovation processes and broader societal changes, particularly the outmigration of rural men. Based on these insights, we offer recommendations for improving the dissemination and uptake of on-farm restoration practices in eastern Kenya and achieving more inclusive and gender-equitable outcomes.
Strengthening decision-making on sustainable agricultural intensification through multi-stakeholder social learning in sub-Saharan Africa
Increasing and competing demands on agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa mean that policy and investment decisions become more complex. Despite growing consensus on the need for sustainable agricultural intensification, there is limited agreement on how to achieve this in practice. Governments and societies face uncertainty and complex choices. This paper explores the potential of Multi-Stakeholder, Social Learning (MSL) approaches, facilitated by National Learning Alliances (NLAs), to improve policy and investment decisions. Comparative evidence from a donor-supported research and learning programme in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia is used in a theory-based evaluation approach to assess the contribution of the NLAs to capacity and practice change amongst individuals, networks and senior decision-makers. Ten outcome cases are explored, including their contribution to systemic changes in the governance of evidence. Key lessons included: the value to decision-makers of engaging with informal networks; importance of combining dialogue, deliberation and experiential learning; the need to create safe spaces in national level MSL processes; the demanding combination of facilitation skills and commitment; and appropriately flexible support. This suggests a need not only for the production of quality research, but crucially support for MSL as a means of contributing to the good governance of evidence and sustainable change.