An integrative framework dynamically linking socioeconomic values with environmental concerns

Session: Poster session

Cindy Yang, University of Toronto, [email protected]
George Arhonditsis, University of Toronto Scarborough, [email protected]

Abstract

Integration is an important element of modeling to inform sustainable natural resource management in the Great Lakes. Incorporating socioeconomic concerns into the decision-making process is critical when considering the trade-offs of alternative management interventions. The realization of the benefits of this approach is however hindered by various challenges, including the lack of inter-discipline exchange, and coordination and consistency across these efforts. The development of integrated models in isolation limits our ability to produce robust and transferable tools and methods. We reviewed existing integrated models that considered both socioeconomic impacts and ecological responses to alternative management practices in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We then propose an integrated decision-making framework that exploits existing knowledge by linking existing complementary models, and explore the potential of economic valuation to increase the efficacy by which science can be transformed into policy. This approach will provide critical information for decision-makers based on a transparent framework that rigorously integrates environmental concerns with socioeconomic values, while explicitly accounting for uncertainty. We conclude by critically discussing the recent practices followed in Lake Erie. 

1. Keyword
Great Lakes basin

2. Keyword
management

3. Keyword
economic evaluation