Keywords
participatory simulation, coastal flooding, social learning, risk management
Location
Session D8: Innovative, Participatory and Integrated Modelling for Climate Change Assessments and Management
Start Date
11-7-2016 3:10 PM
End Date
11-7-2016 3:30 PM
Abstract
Due to the increase in coastal flooding risk associated with climate change, there is a strong need to develop efficient and long term management strategies. In 2010, the storm Xynthia highlighted the limits of coastal flooding risk management in France. Besides a deficient alert system, it revealed a lack of risk culture. This problem was especially prevalent among local decision-makers who fail to take into account alternative prevention measures and adaptive strategies. In partnership with the local administration of Oléron Island – a sector strongly affected by storm Xynthia - we developed a participatory simulation model to foster social learning about coastal risk prevention measures with local authorities and managers. This simulation integrates a coastal flooding simulation model and a spatially explicit agent-based model that simulates the development of the area and the management of prevention measures. The participatory set-up was made to create an immersive environment so that participants would remember the coastal flooding simulation displayed. A role game mechanism was added in order to simulate the coordination issues between the different decision bodies and levels involved in coastal risk management. Participants’ interfaces were designed to reflect on the opposition between a short term strategy (building more dikes) and a long-term strategy (land-use and housing adaptation). A first participatory simulation session was conducted with local decision-makers in 2015. It proved to be very immersive thanks to the combination of displaying coastal flooding simulations on a very large screen and of using distributed user-control interfaces. Participants learned about the water expansion dynamics during flood events and the effects of building, raising and restoring dikes. Yet, the model still needs improvements to help decision-makers change their mindset on long-term alternative risk prevention measures.
Included in
Civil Engineering Commons, Data Storage Systems Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Other Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons
Participatory simulation of coastal flooding: building social learning on prevention measures with decision-makers
Session D8: Innovative, Participatory and Integrated Modelling for Climate Change Assessments and Management
Due to the increase in coastal flooding risk associated with climate change, there is a strong need to develop efficient and long term management strategies. In 2010, the storm Xynthia highlighted the limits of coastal flooding risk management in France. Besides a deficient alert system, it revealed a lack of risk culture. This problem was especially prevalent among local decision-makers who fail to take into account alternative prevention measures and adaptive strategies. In partnership with the local administration of Oléron Island – a sector strongly affected by storm Xynthia - we developed a participatory simulation model to foster social learning about coastal risk prevention measures with local authorities and managers. This simulation integrates a coastal flooding simulation model and a spatially explicit agent-based model that simulates the development of the area and the management of prevention measures. The participatory set-up was made to create an immersive environment so that participants would remember the coastal flooding simulation displayed. A role game mechanism was added in order to simulate the coordination issues between the different decision bodies and levels involved in coastal risk management. Participants’ interfaces were designed to reflect on the opposition between a short term strategy (building more dikes) and a long-term strategy (land-use and housing adaptation). A first participatory simulation session was conducted with local decision-makers in 2015. It proved to be very immersive thanks to the combination of displaying coastal flooding simulations on a very large screen and of using distributed user-control interfaces. Participants learned about the water expansion dynamics during flood events and the effects of building, raising and restoring dikes. Yet, the model still needs improvements to help decision-makers change their mindset on long-term alternative risk prevention measures.
