资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Increased requirements for public involvement in water resourcesmanagement (WRM) over the past century have stimulated the development ofmore collaborative decision-makingmethods. Participatory modeling (PM) uses computermodels to inform and engage stakeholders in the planning process in order to influence collaborative decisions in WRM. Past evaluations of participatory models focused on process and final outcomes, yet, were hindered by diversity of purpose and inconsistent documentation. This paper presents a two-stage framework for evaluating PM based onmechanisms for improvingmodel effectiveness as participatory tools. The five dimensions characterize the "who, when, how, andwhy'' of each participatory effort (stage 1). Models are evaluated as "boundary objects,'' a concept used to describe tools that bridge understanding and translate different bodies of knowledge to improve credibility, salience, and legitimacy (stage 2). This evaluation framework is applied to five existing case studies from the literature. Though the goals of participation can be diverse, the novel contribution of the two-stage proposed framework is the flexibility it has to evaluate awide range of cases that differ in scope, modeling approach, and participatory context. Also, the evaluation criteria provide a structured vocabulary based on clearmechanisms that extend beyond previous process-based and outcome-based evaluations. Effective models are those that take advantage of mechanisms that facilitate dialogue and resolution and improve the accessibility and applicability of technical knowledge. Furthermore, the framework can help build more complete records and systematic documentation of evidence to help standardize the field of PM.