1. A transdisciplinary approach to
understanding complex social
problems in coastal ecosystems
...and of course thanks also to the
Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation
(ESPA) programme, funded by DfID, the
ESRC, and NERC

2. The purpose (reminder & update)
...partners in the UK, Kenya and in Bangladesh developing a conceptual
framework to link ecosystem and livelihood domains to coastal resource
use and management, and their implications for human well-being and
poverty alleviation:
• How to represent social-ecological interactions across multiple scales
producing feedbacks that pose challenges to sustainability of both the
ecosystem services and the livelihoods that depend on these services.
• How to learn from other uses of ABMs (e.g. In ecology... and also how
to use ABMs to explore critical aspects of the social-ecological system).
• How to use novel ideas (e.g. “structured subjectivity”) to allow actor
data to inform models.
• To investigate building ecosystem models that reflect actors’ “real”
social data not just at static externalities but as dynamic and integral
factors?

3. An integrative conceptual framework: “first cut”
Ecosystem Services Actors’ choices
feedback on each impact on ecosystem
other services
Ecosystem Actors’
Services Choices
Ecosystem services
feedback on actors’ Actors
choices feedback
on each
other

4. What’s currently being modelled:
Model of coastal
ecosystems and their
inter-relationships
alongside their
interactions with
human actors and
feedbacks.
Model of decision-
make by human actors
focusing on their
attributes and inter-
relationships alongside
their interactions with
the ecosystems.

5. What we did: a twin approach to modelling
KISS
KIDS

6. A twin approach to modelling: #1 ABMs
• co-created & explored with local stakeholders:

7. The Actors within the ABM – ReAL-D...
Resources, Actor Linkages, Decisions
• What are the main resources* in the area that actors manage or use
directly or indirectly (i.e. main resources for human well-being in the
area)?
• What are the ecological dynamics (i.e. trends or changes observed over
time, both quantitative and qualitative)?
• What are the current conditions of these
resources?
• How do human actions contribute or have
led to the observed resource trends?
* Social, Economic, Information, and
Natural Resources (SEIN)

8. ...the Actors within the ABM – ReAL-D
Resources, Actor Linkages, Decisions
What actors play a role (or should play a role) in the management of coastal
and marine ecosystems to improve human well-being and alleviate poverty?
How influent are the actors on
the decision-making related to
the management and use of
marine and coastal resources
for social and ecological
benefits?
Can explore network density
and architecture, clusters,
bridges, key actors and
influence.

9. The Whole Ecosystem : practical problems
Can we describe ‘input’, ‘output’, and feedbacks of the system within the
context of:
 global and national policies, markets, climate change, and changing
demographics
 human activity and its impact upon ecosystem services
 The emerging state of the ecosystem itself:
 a continuum of
o degrading,
o maintaining,
o improving conditions.
Leading to our twin approach to modelling
to provide an integrative framework...

10. A twin approach to modelling: #2 UML

11. A twin approach to modelling #2:
Achieving the goal of ecosystem maintenance

12. A twin approach to modelling #2:
achieving the
goal of
understanding
poverty
alleviation
drivers
Person State

13. Understanding ES & PA together
• Validation is important: but can involve different things
• Transdisciplinary understanding of modelling is inescapable
• Models are both simulation tools and exploratory tools
• Multiple models (within a single framework) are necessary
• you cannot look at the coastal zone in isolation
• models need to be modular

14. Attributes: access to
18/10/11