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Translating stakeholder narratives for participatory modeling in landscape ecology

Published Article

Global

Publication date: July 7, 2023

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This research synthesizes lessons from seven North American projects on translating stakeholder narratives into participatory models. It highlights how narrative‑driven insights improve landscape ecology, strengthen social‑ecological understanding, and support sustainability planning through more inclusive, stakeholder‑engaged modeling approaches.

Subject Tags

  • Social Sciences

Abstract

Context

Engaging stakeholders in research is needed for many of the sustainability challenges that landscape ecologists address. Involving stakeholders’ perspectives through narratives in participatory modeling fosters better understanding of the problem and evaluation of the acceptability of tradeoffs and creates buy-in for management actions. However, stakeholder-driven inputs often take the form of complex qualitative descriptions, rather than model-ready numerical or categorical inputs.

Objectives

Translating narratives into models, model parameters, or scenarios is essential for leveraging stakeholder knowledge and engagement. Drawing from varied experiences to identify lessons learned and pitfalls, we address the practice of translating narratives into models and using those narratives to interpret and communicate results.

Methods

We drew from seven participatory landscape ecology projects across North America to synthesize lessons for the inclusion of stakeholder narratives in modeling studies.

Results

We offer 8 lessons as practical guidance for other landscape ecologists to move the science beyond a unilateral focus on ecological systems and to maximize the benefits of landscape sustainability science.

Conclusions

These lessons are starting points, as real projects are complex, nuanced, and sometimes contradictory. Translating narratives into models is important for addressing complex sustainability challenges; we hope that these starting points are helpful to those foraying into this type of research.

Citation

Vukomanovic, J., Smart, L.S., Koch, J. et al. Translating stakeholder narratives for participatory modeling in landscape ecology. Landsc Ecol 38, 2453–2474 (2023).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-023-01724-9

TNC Authors