Further Development of the Ebbsfleet Water Management System Dynamics Model: Adjusting Representation of Processes and System Boundaries, Incentivising Stakeholder Re-Engagement, and Exploring Potential for University Teaching

Abstract

Sustainable urban water management must address interconnected social, technical and environmental issues. Modelling helps us understand these interconnections and provides a tool to analyse interactions between the urban water system and alternative management strategies. Models may be used to simulate not only the effects of climate, social and economic changes, but also the impacts of technological innovations, and different policy interventions. This paper reports an update of the Ebbsfleet Water Management System Dynamics Model (SDM) that explores sustainable urban water management. The model is open-source compiled using Vensim software, which is free for non-commercial use. This paper demonstrates that the current SDM and the modelling approach are open to adjustment, which is illustrated by introducing a link between water tariffs and environmental awareness. The increase in water tariffs leads not only to the obvious increase in water bills, but also to an increase in Environmental Awareness, and consequently, to increases in the use of water efficiency devices, grey water acceptability, and grey water reuse. A range of further modifications is suggested, including expanding representation of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to consider resultant improvements in stormwater quality as well as quantity. This would recognise the indirect benefits of improved stormwater quality on biodiversity in the River Ebbsfleet, which is the receiving watercourse. This study intends to encourage knowledge transfer, by facilitating and incentivising the use and further development of the SDM by stakeholders and a wider community of end-users, including practitioners, academics and the public. While SDM is particularly suited to analysis of indirect relations, benefits and trade-offs among system constituents, other approaches provide viable alternatives and we discuss the potential for re-implementing our findings in other interactive modelling software packages and programming languages. We also explore the scope for linking the adapted SDM to other models. Finally, we consider the utility of the Ebbsfleet SDM in teaching, learning and knowledge transfer. We conclude that students, practitioners and other stakeholders could not only enhance their understanding of urban water management complexity, but also gain valuable system modelling skills based on using the SDM to support kinaesthetic learning. Ultimately, society benefits when the level of knowledge and analytical thinking skills of its members are enhanced.

Teaching Systems Thinking and System Dynamics in Engineering, Ecology and Environmental Sciences: A Concise Course Based on the Water Management and Population Dynamics Models

“…It is useful to mix different sources of information and datasets, combining vernacular and scientific data. Sessions 1 and 2 of the course described here focus on quantitative modelling using a model of water management in Ebbsfleet Garden City developed previously [17] and its subsequent modifications [18].…”

“…The course presented here contains a session on 'Systems Thinking', and two hands-on sessions aiming to provide basic (Session 1, covering a simple population model) and more advanced (Session 2, covering Ebbsfleet Garden City water management model [17]) modelling skills. Central to the latter are the examples of structural modifications for the Ebbsfleet model previously described in detail in the conference paper published in WIT transactions [18]. The model represents complex processes associated with a multitude of interconnected social, technical and environmental issues related to water management.…”

“…The recommended preliminary reading for this session are Refs. [17] and [18], as they are extensively referred to during the tutorial. An important prerequisite for this session is completion of Session 1 (or previous experience with 'stock & flow' models and the Vensim-type software).…”

Mitigating Polluted Runoff from Industrial Estates by SUDS Retrofits: Case Studies of Problems and Solutions Co-Designed with a Participatory Approach

“…The importance of participatory processes and accounting for the local conditions is generally accepted both in relation to urban water management, particularly the mitigation of the potential consequences of flooding, and surface water pollution [9,[38][39][40][41]. Involvement of stakeholder practitioners in the design processes is crucial, as without it, the prospective retrofits are unlikely to succeed.…”

“…Further studies should examine the contribution of these ponds to the local biodiversity value, which is expected to be significant based on studies of BGI ponds elsewhere [11][12][13]46]. Further research should also address the possibilities of increasing GWR through economic and policy instruments using participatory system dynamics modelling [38,39], and should examine potential tradeoffs between specific retrofits [45]. Approaches such as comparative theoretical ecosystem analysis [47] and tools comparing multiple benefits based on changes in natural capital [48,49] will be particularly relevant in that respect.…”