Systems-based visualization tools for integrated watershed management

Drs. Newell, Hodson, King, and White were awarded a SSHRC Insight Development grant to develop and test an experimental visualization watershed management tool.

This research project develops and tests an experimental visualization tool for supporting participatory approaches to integrated watershed management planning. Using the Millstream Watershed (Capital Research District, BC) as a case study, the tool is developed as an interactive virtual environment that allows users to navigate and explore different strategies, or ‘scenarios’, for integrated watershed management. The project employs a community-based participatory research approach, and it engages local government, nongovernmental organizations, and community members in the design, development, use, and assessment of the visualization tool and watershed management scenarios.

The project aims to advance research and scholarship on visualizations as planning tools by pursuing two objectives. The first objective is to determine how interactive visualization planning tools for can be enhanced through the use of systems-based scenario analysis features. Visualizations can be effective tools for supporting environmental planning and management; however, they are not substitutes for other planning tools, such as systems maps and scenario models. Accordingly, the visualization application in this project includes systems-based modelling function that allows for the examination of different watershed management strategies and approaches based on complex system interactions and dynamics. The second research objective is to explore the use of narrative and storytelling features in a visualization tool. These features include a series of embedded audio recordings of interviews with watershed experts and local stakeholders, which serve to ‘make sense’ of the complex scenario modelling outcomes through the use of illustrative examples and narratives.

The project consists of three phases. The first phase collaborates with local government and stakeholders in designing the visualization and scenario analysis tool. This phase uses workshop methods that involve participatory modelling and mapping techniques to create systems and spatial maps for scenario development and analysis. The second phase centres on developing a prototype of the visualization and scenario analysis tool. This phase involves conducting a series of interviews to collect data for a semiquantitative scenario modelling exercise and to record videos for the storytelling/narrative aspect of the tool. The development of the visualization platform uses the Unity3D game engine, and the scenario model and audio recordings are incorporated into the tool. The third phase tests the visualization prototype through a final stakeholder workshop and an open house event.

Through its community-engaged approach, the research is not only valuable in that it creates and studies a novel visualization tool, but also in that it investigates ways of including the ‘research participants’ (i.e., the intend tool users) in the development and application of visual, systems-based, and narrative approaches for exploring and examining different options for managing and improving the health of watersheds. In addition to scholarly knowledge and outputs (i.e., academic papers, conferences), the project develops a practical tool that can be used for integrated planning and management in the Millstream Watershed. The tool is publicly available from the project website: www.triaslab.ca/watershed