Karlstad University researcher in transboundary project

Researchers in different disciplines have for a long time used models to describe and analyze various ecological, human and societal systems and how those interact. As a specially invited researcher Beatrice Hedelin at the Centre for Climate and Safety, Karlstad University participated at a start-up meeting in the rapidly growing field of research labelled Participatory Modeling.

- Models enable us to analyse how a system would react to alterative scenarios, examples could be how a river is regulated, effects of increased precipitation, consequences of constructed flood defences or living areas close to the river, Beatrice Hedelin explains.
Research with a focus on society
The startup meeting for the project in Annapolis, Maryland gathered researchers and societal actors from USA, India, Holland and France for cross-disciplinary discussions and knowledge exchange. Beatrice Hedelin was invited as a result of her research framework Sustainable Procedure Framework (SPF), a tool to develop and evaluate collaboration and participation in planning and decisionmaking.
- The project and its settings - to gather researchers from different disciplinary areas to jointly synthesize a cross-disciplinary issue is exciting and fits very well in my own research agenda, Beatrice Hedlin explains. My role is to contribute with my perspectives on planning, other participants contributes with other perspectives and together we build a cross-disciplinary understanding of how the knowledge field can be used and developed.
The project runs initially over two years and aims to provide a picture of the research area and make the research available in a societal context. The project groups current focus lies in the setting up of a framework for participatory modeling to be able to review the knowledge field and formulate a research programme. In the longer perspective a webpage aimed at practitians and students will communicate good examples and freely available modeling tools.
The project is funded by the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), a research initiative by the US National Science Foundation.

Read more about the project:
http://www.sesync.org/project/enhancing-socio-environmental-research-education/participatory-modeling

Read more about the Socio-environmental synthesis center (SESYNC):
http://www.sesync.org/about