The Georgetown Climate Adaptation Project created custom role playing simulations to address coastal flooding issues in Georgetown, South Carolina. The simulation includes climate change concerns and stakeholder dynamics that are common throughout the southeast coast. Community members assume a stakeholder identity (mayor, small business owner, county official, etc.) and work together to prioritize management options. Participants have to balance competing needs for economic development, land preservation, addressing inequities, and other issues that reflect the trade-offs in real life cities and towns. They are provided with local climate projections to consider in decision making. Simulation facilitators end with a rigorous debrief to help participants translate what they learned in the simulation to their own civic lives and communities.
Simulation Tools:
More About this Project:
To learn more about how this tool has been used, read the GCAP Briefing Document which summarizes the project approach, partnerships, survey results, outputs and outcomes, as well as recommendations for next steps, and visit the project website: Georgetown Climate Adaptation Project
The role play simulation materials were prepared by Carri Hulet of the Consensus Building Institute in partnership with Dr. Pamela Martin from Coastal Carolina University; Dr. Jennifer Plunket, and Maeve Snyder from North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; and Kirstin Dow and Greg Carbone from the University of South Carolina.