Offshore Wind Farm Role Play Simulation

ABSTRACT

Wind energy is a viable source of clean, renewable energy. Large areas of America’s continental shelf along the eastern seaboard (from Maine to Virginia) are suitable sites for offshore wind farms. The first such site has been formally proposed. It is located in Nantucket Sound (Massachusetts) in federal waters. The Cape Wind Project, as it is called, is embroiled in controversy. In all likelihood, similar proposals in other locations will be controversial as well. Students in the MIT graduate seminar on "The Use of Joint Fact Finding in Science-Intensive Policy Disputes," supervised by Professor Larry Susskind and Dr. Herman Karl, have developed a role-play simulation that examines the scientific and political conflicts surrounding offshore wind energy development. The objectives of the simulation are to:

1. help participants learn more about the underlying technical issues (especially the potential environmental impacts) surrounding the siting of an offshore wind farm
2. help participants discover the value of collaborative processes when working with diverse groups of stakeholders in scientific controversies like these, and
3. introduce the techniques of joint fact finding as a tool for resolving science-intensive policy disputes.

Participants who play the two-hour game learn:

1. how to create “value” even in the face of substantial differences of opinion,
2. how to produce a shared information base even when parties believe radically different things, and
3. how to deal with uncertainty by using the techniques of adaptive environmental management.

The game can be downloaded (at no charge) and is accompanied by teaching instructions as well as power point slides that can be used to debrief the results. Up to 100 people can play the game at the same time in the context of a public meeting.

Download Complete Role Play Simulation Instructions pdf (96kB)