New theory on old environmental platforms
The fact of the matter is that biomass such as forests, rivers and lakes etc do not acknowledge regional borders and territorial sovereignty. However, environmental practices in one nation may conflict or undermine the environmental efforts of another. Solving such conflicts becomes a multi-faceted problem, arising from such sources as technological, social, industrial and economic inequalities. Many multi-stakeholder platforms (MSP) have fallen short simply because they've been implemented in areas of such inequalities. The NEGOWAT project looked into developing a multi-stakeholder platform with agent based modelling role game playing. The study found that perceptions based on power asymmetries could hinder rather than promote effective cooperation. Other platforms such as strategic actions offer viable alternatives, as they tend to consider principles that MSPs do not such as historical determination and differences of interest. Conducting studies on how best to blend MSPs and strategic actions based on power asymmetry might provide the necessary steps towards a collective understanding. The NEGOWAT project developed a course on their findings, one recognized by and taught at San Simon University based on the methodology and experience of the researchers.
