¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

The VENTURA projectÌý is schedule to run from October 2021 to April 2024) and was funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of a programme entitled, 'Digital Economy: Sustainable Digital Society'.

The project team for this collaborative project include academics fromÌýICL, ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº and the BGS and the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Ventura team is led by , ,ÌýÌý²¹²Ô»å . The broader aim of Ventura is to support water neutrality decisions through digital tools.

The ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº team led the participatory systems thinking activities in case studies in Greater Manchester and Enfield, London. TheyÌýengaged with a range of stakeholders including the trilateral group, namely Greater Manchester Combined Authority, United Utilities, and the Environment Agency. TheyÌýalso engaged with local boroughs, the Greater London Authority, and broader environmental stakeholders. The aim of the project'sÌýstakeholder engagement activities is to understand stakeholders’ experience and perspectives of the water neutrality governance challenges and complexities, supporting the exploration of the interconnections between hydrological and institutional dynamics towards sustainable growth.

The team employed comprehensive participatory approaches: identifying challenges with stakeholders and mapping the complex core problem. TheyÌýdeveloped connection circles and causal loop diagrams (CLDs) representing the system's complexity. The team drewÌýfrom systems thinking, behavioural operational research, and organisational management studies (institutions, attention and emotions) to inform their reflections on the CLDs. TheyÌýalso analysed the decision-making process and compared stakeholders’ perceived boundaries of the system, specifically on how different groups of stakeholders perceive the system differently, and their reflections to achieve integrated decision-making.

Figure: Manchester workshop, causal loop diagrams developed by stakeholder groups

Ìý

In their collaborated with Imperial College London and the British Geological Survey integrating systems modelling and CLDs in a digital tool, the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº team called a virtual decision room (VDR) for the Manchester case study. TheyÌýused this combination of systems thinking with GIS-based modelling in a virtual decision room to enhance practical decision-making by offering an easily accessible interface. This integration facilitates a holistic understanding of specific policy issues and broader governance challenges.

The VENTURA project operated in an highly interdisciplinary setting, and it followed principles of transdisciplinary, and theyÌýalso used it as a basis to reflect on the process of collaborating across disciplines and working with stakeholders—with the aim to better understand the development of digital tools in participatory, inter- and transdisciplinary contexts.

For more information about the project, please visit following resources. If there are specific questions about the project, you are welcome to contact the team directly.

Figure: the VENTURA virtual decision room

Ìý

Publications and conference papers:

• VENTURA - virtual decision rooms for water neutral planningÌý

• Comparisons of Emotional Boundaries: A case study of water neutrality and sustainable urban development in London:

Other documents:

• Ventura VDR and the CLD:Ìý

• Ventura project summary and more details about the development of CLD:Ìý

• Ventura Github:Ìý

Researchers (with profile links):

• Ìý

Ìý

Image credit: