Exploring the Role of Relational Practices in Water Governance Using a Game-Based Approach

Water

Jan Sendzimir¹  Victoria Chraibi²  Karolina Królikowska³  Anna Koch³  Denise Marie Weide³  Michal Pająk³  Anil Giri⁴  Danielle Haak⁵  Maggi Sliwinski⁶  Nathan Rossman⁷  Ilonka Zlatar⁸  Piotr Magnuszewski⁹  Craig Allen^1,10  Michelle Hellman^1,11  Tharsi Taillieu^1,11  Donald Pan^1,11  Noelle Hart^1,11  Joanna Stefańska^1,12 

[1] Technology, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan;Wildlife Research Unit, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA;Centre for Systems Solutions, Wroclaw 50-305, Poland;Department of Biological Sciences, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX 76049, USA;Department of Biology and Agriculture, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093, USA;Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA;;Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science &Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium;International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria;;School of Natural Resources, Nebraska Cooperative Fish &School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA;University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna 1180, Austria;

关键词: serious games;    social simulation;    social learning;    relational practices;    river basin management;    water governance;    multi-party collaboration;    stakeholders;    experimental social research;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w10030346

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The growing complexity and interdependence of water management processes requires the involvement of multiple stakeholders in water governance. Multi-party collaboration is increasingly vital at both the strategy development and implementation levels. Multi-party collaboration involves a process of joint decision-making among key stakeholders in a problem domain directed towards the future of that domain. However, the common goal is not present from the beginning; rather, the common goal emerges during the process of collaboration. Unfortunately, when the conflicting interests of different actors are at stake, the large majority of environmental multi-party efforts often do not reliably deliver sustainable improvements to policy and/or practice. One of the reasons for this, which has been long established by many case studies, is that social learning with a focus on relational practices is missing. The purpose of this paper is to present the design and initial results of a pilot study that utilized a game-based approach to explore the effects of relational practices on the effectiveness of water governance. This paper verifies the methods used by addressing the following question: are game mechanisms, protocols for facilitation and observation, the recording of decisions and results, and participant surveys adequate to reliably test hypotheses about behavioral decisions related to water governance? We used the “Lords of the Valley” (LOV) game, which focuses on the local-level management of a hypothetical river valley involving many stakeholders. We used an observation protocol to collect data on the quality of relational practices and compared this data with the quantitative outcomes achieved by participants in the game. In this pilot study, we ran the game three times with different groups of participants, and here we provide the outcomes within the context of verifying and improving the methods.

【 授权许可】

Unknown