Maryland Coast Role Play Simulation

ABSTRACT

By Evan Paul, MIT-DUSP & MIT-USGS Science Impacts Collaborative

The central challenge that holds back action on climate adaptation is the inability for people to see the effects of adaptation actions they might take, when these effects will play out over decades. People need four things in order to overcome this – a vision of what they want their, their children’s, and/or their community’s lives to look like in the future; a clear understanding of the relationship between changes in the climate system and their vision; a clear understanding of their and other’s habits of thought and action that will need to change in order to realize their vision given climate change; and the capacity to implement such change.

From our experience in engaging in climate adaptation efforts with the State of Maryland, we have found Role Play Simulations (RPS) to be an effective tool in meeting several of these needs. On April 27, 2009, we engaged over 170 Maryland leaders—including mayors, county commissions, environmentalists, business leaders, and state officials – in an RPS of a comprehensive climate adaptation planning meeting for a coastal community. Based upon participant feedback, as well as subsequent interviews with state agency personnel, we found that through the role-play simulation participants gained a better understanding of both the different mental models at play in these issues and a method to bring those different perspectives together to creatively address the risks associated with climate change. The simulation provided a fun and safe space for participants to think about their interrelatedness with the climate system and the social system simultaneously. It also helped to strengthen relationships between the actors who will need to work together on these issues (e.g. elected officials, planners, NGOs, and business). In addition to developing their own capacity to use these kinds of collaborative approaches in the future, strong statements of support at the beginning of the event by political leaders, as well as a state grant program for adaptation efforts launched at the event, helped to legitimize the need to begin these kinds of discussions.

Upon reflection, we believe we could compliment this comprehensive, multi-issue, climate adaptation simulation with additional resources to greatly strengthen the effort. These include:

1. A visioning component for the particular community of interest. Participants need a coherent value proposition for undertaking this work and it is through envisioning a positive future that they hope for their children and community that the relevance for taking adaptation efforts now can be more fully realized. This visioning component should cover

2. An educational effort to provide a clearer understanding of the changing nature of the systems they have relied upon (e.g. ecosystem services, beaches / sea level, etc.) and future scenarios for how those systems may behave in the future due to climate change. Tools to help support such understanding include scenario-casting, as well as 2-D and 3-D visualization. Where stakeholders are already using these tools, climate change impacts need to be incorporated into their models.

3. Creating information and RPSs focused on particular sectors. For example, developers need help in understanding how sea-level rise and increasing storm intensity could affect insurance rates, and in-turn home values, in low-lying coastal communities. Wildlife managers need help in understanding how changes in seasons and hydrological cycles could affect species habitat and migration patterns.

4. Funding and other resources to provide the capacity to implement adaptation measures. These include:

   1. Tools to conduct similar visualizing, scenario-planning, and public engagement related to climate adaptation.

   2. Regular updates to climate change impact scenarios as the science improves.

   3. Training for staff that are developing adaptation plans and overseeing implementation.

   4. Connection to networks of support for climate adaptation implementation. These include professional associations that are identifying best practices for various sectors (e.g. American Planning Association, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, etc.)

Through these efforts, we hope that we can enable communities to more effectively manage the risks associated with climate change and create more resilient communities and ecosystems in the process.

Download Complete Role Play Simulation Instructions Without Score Card pdf (148kB)

Download Complete Role Play Simulation Instructions With Score Card pdf (148kB)