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Abstract

Participatory Integrated Assessement (IA) methods complement analytical methods like IA-modeling in their explicit inclusion of stakeholders and decision-makers in the assessment. Integrated Assessment is perceived as a process of social learning involving scientists, stakeholders, policymakers and the society at large. We introduce a new approach to provide expert knowledge for participatory integrated assessments of regional climate change: `Interactive Citizen's Information Tools' (ICITs). ICITs provide citizens with expert knowledge about causes of climate change, potential impacts, and policy options to address anthropogenic climate change. In this paper we discuss the development and application of IMPACTS in IA-focus groups in Switzerland. IMPACTS is based on user-friendly hypermedia technologies and allows citizens to get informed on a broad range of potential climate change impacts – with an emphasison prevailing uncertainties. IA-focus groups are deliberative group discussions that make use of computer tools to support the discussion and assessment. The goal of IA-focus groups is to elicit how informed citizens judge the risks of anthropogenic climate change. Experiences with IMPACTS showed that the combination of focus groups with ICITs is a feasible and promising approach for a participatory IA of regional climate change, in particular, and of complex environmental issues, in general.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Überlandstrasse 133, 8606, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Christoph Schlumpf & Claudia Pahl-Wostl

  2. Armadillo Webworks, Bruchstrasse 69, CH-6003, Luzern, Switzerland

    Andreas Schönborn

  3. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Carlo C. Jaeger

  4. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Voltastrasse 65 – VOD, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Dieter Imboden

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  1. Christoph Schlumpf
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  2. Claudia Pahl-Wostl
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  3. Andreas Schönborn
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  4. Carlo C. Jaeger
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  5. Dieter Imboden
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Schlumpf, C., Pahl-Wostl, C., Schönborn, A. et al. Impacts. Climatic Change 51, 199–241 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012228218492

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