Combining ecosystem modeling with serious gaming in support of transboundary maritime spatial planning

Abstract

The Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) Challenge simulation platform helps planners and stakeholders understand and manage the complexity of MSP. In the interactive simulation, different data layers covering an entire sea region can be viewed to make an assessment of the current status. Users can create scenarios for future uses of the marine space over a period of several decades. Changes in energy infrastructure, shipping, and the marine environment are then simulated, and the effects are visualized using indicators and heat maps. The platform is built with advanced game technology and uses aspects of role-play to create interactive sessions; it can thus be referred to as serious gaming. To calculate and visualize the effects of planning decisions on the marine ecology, we integrated the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) food web modeling approach into the platform. We demonstrate how EwE was connected to MSP, considering the range of constraints imposed by running scientific software in interactive serious gaming sessions while still providing cascading ecological feedback in response to planning actions. We explored the connection by adapting two published ecological models for use in MSP sessions. We conclude with lessons learned and identify future developments of the simulation platform.

Opportunities to improve ecosystem‐based fisheries management by recognizing and overcoming path dependency and cognitive bias

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The Importance of Values in Predicting and Encouraging Environmental Behavior: Reflections From a Costa Rican Small-Scale Fishery

“…Educational interventions are recommended that allow people to perceive themselves as capable of implementing actions or changing their behavior, which, for example, strengthen comanagement schemes (García Lozano and Heinen, 2016;Herrón et al, 2020) that already exist in the Gulf of Nicoya and combine them with deliberation strategies (Partelow et al, 2017). Integrating the EwE food web modeling approach into participatory processes can help people envision possible scenarios for the future and thus reduce some of the uncertainties associated with complex environmental problems (Steenbeek et al, 2020) characteristic of small-scale fisheries. This last aspect may be related to the greater perceived behavioral control by the fishers after deliberating with EwE.…”

Environmental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from a (marine) ecological perspective

“…Communication of scientific achievements, failures and unknowns is key to involve society in future transformations, and as such, this activity should become a priority for marine scientists and their institutions (e.g. Steenbeek et al 2020). Communicating positive outcomes of successful use of the oceans and promoting ocean literacy can popularise the realisation that a healthy and sustainable ocean is desirable, possible and feasible, with wide benefits to societies that can willingly push for a much needed collective behavioural change (Bearzi 2020).…”