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System Sketch: A Visualization Tool to Improve Community Decision Making
Citation:
Furey, R., J. Twichell, M. ten Brink, T. Stockton, B. Dyson, AND I. Heilke. System Sketch: A Visualization Tool to Improve Community Decision Making. Coastal Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) 24th Biennial Conference, Providence, RI, November 05 - 09, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
System Sketch is a web-based scoping tool designed to assist resource managers in characterizing their systems, exploring the pathways between the environment and socio-economic benefits, and identifying specific management actions to address their unique goals and objectives. The tool’s interface is intuitive to navigate and intended for anyone who is aiming to accomplish community sustainability goals or broaden their understanding of human-environmental systems.
Description:
Making decisions in coastal and estuarine management requires a comprehensive understanding of the linkages between environmental, social, and economic systems. SystemSketch is a web-based scoping tool designed to assist resource managers in characterizing their systems, exploring the pathways between the environment and socioeconomic benefits, and identifying targeted management actions to address their unique goals and objectives. Final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) provide a conceptual foundation for SystemSketch by elucidating the critical relationship between human systems and environmental systems. FEGS quantify ecosystem services concepts into measurable indicators that can be used to both guide the selection of specific management actions as well as monitor their success. Using a dynamic, graphic visualization tool, stakeholders can evaluate their decision landscape within a multi-objective and multi-stakeholder framework and define a path forward using a structured decision making process. SystemSketch is a robust and intuitive tool that supports an integrated systems approach by providing resource managers with the means to navigate across ecological and socioeconomic boundaries to optimize coastal and estuarine management decisions.