| project
summary |
| Aims
| Objectives | Themes
| Applications
The FIRMA project will improve water resource
planning by developing and applying agent-based
modelling to integrate physical, hydrological,
social and economic aspects of water resource
management.
It
will yield insights into the social processes
of water management, leading to the consideration
of a wider range of aspects of the environment
in decision making. It will also result in improved
water management techniques including better management
of water catchments.
The
models will improve on existing integrated assessments
by explicitly representing customers, suppliers,
and government and their interaction at various
levels of aggregation. This has not been attempted
before and will provide new tools for policy makers
concerned with issues such as waste water, water
scarcity and integrated catchment planning. The
project will adopt a participatory approach to
ensure that its outputs are of value to stakeholders.
A generic model will be developed and applied
in five contrasting regions in Europe. The outputs
will include the prototype models in the form
of tools usable by managers, a methodology for
developing and applying agent-based models, and
educational materials for water resource managers
and modellers. |
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Specific
objectives are: |
- To
further cooperation between water resource
decision makers and experts in water resource
management and in agent-based social simulation.
- To
analyse hydrosocial issues of waste water
treatment, water scarcity and integrated
catchment planning in selected regions
and assemble the data required for agent-based
modelling.
- To
develop agent-based models for application
to issues of water treatment, scarcity
and planning.
- To
carry out participatory integrated assessments
in five selected regions, involving stakeholders,
scientists and agent-based modelling exerts.
- Based
on the experience gained, to compare the
management of water and to develop a methodology
for the agent-based simulation of water
resource issues in Europe.
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The
project is structured around three main themes:
|
- Methodological
development of agent models that scale
from individual, cognitive decision makers
to institutions representing more aggregate
behaviour. Generic methodological knowledge
will be encapsulated in a set of 'core'
models that will be applied throughout
the project.
- The
agent-based models will be demonstrated
in five regions of Europe, linking the
modelling and application teams in addressing
real water problems.
- Transfer
of knowledge, experience and techniques,
between experts on agent-based modelling
and experts on water resource management
and involving an interaction between the
project and the wider community of policy
makers.
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| Stakeholder
participation is an essential feature, starting
with the formulation of questions and the
design of the models. The major activity
regarding participation is assessments of
the regional problems and evaluation of
risks and options, using the models in participatory
settings.
The
agent-based models will be demonstrated
in five regions of Europe, linking the modelling
and application teams in addressing real
water problems. The case studies are:
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of the European Community nor is the European community responsible for
any use that might be made of the data appearing herein. |
