Does deepening understanding of social-ecological systems make sense? A partial success story from the Slufter, Texel.

Does deepening understanding of social-ecological systems make sense? A partial success story from the Slufter, Texel.

D' Hont, F.M.

Slinger, J.H. (mentor)
Correlje, A.F. (mentor)
Thissen, W.A.H. (mentor)
Goessen, P. (mentor)

Technology, Policy and Management

Multi Actor Systems

Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management

2014-11-07

The Slufter is an estuary located in Texel’s North Sea dunes and protects the hinterland from flooding from the North Sea. As the multi actor environment and the diversity of values and functions associated with the Slufter are recognized, this research focuses on developing an approach for the district water board to broaden the knowledge base and include stakeholder perspectives. The deepened system understanding is used in a knowledge intervention aimed at enhancing the long-term decision making on the inherently dynamic, coastal nature reserve. Although the knowledge intervention was possibly not as effective as it could have been, there are indications that synthesized system understanding can be useful in stakeholder settings. In particular, the information derived both from the model and the interviews with stakeholders provides an indication that a shared understanding of the ecological and social functions of the Slufter estuary can be enhanced by integrating a stakeholder approach and problem modeling. Also, practical implications for monitoring the inherently dynamic nature reserve. Further research should be aimed at development and verification the approach in order to have practical value for other projects within and beyond the district water board.

Slufter
coastal management
multi actor system
system dynamics
flood defence
social-ecological system
ecology
estuary
hydrodynamics
environmental management
stakeholder

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f79420ff-9c9a-42b5-a7d4-65bb5db10ac3

53.139105, 4.800084

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2014 D' Hont, F.M.