From participatory engagement to co-production: modelling climate-sensitive processes in the Arctic

Participation is increasingly being used in the modelling of climate-sensitive systems to improve usability. Bottom-up, place-based approaches to modelling can challenge the dominantly positivist approaches used until recently. We examined how participation is reported within modelling research that uses participatory approaches, focusing on the Arctic. Our systematic scoping review identified 26 articles that used participatory approaches in modelling research to explore a climate-sensitive process in an Arctic setting and analysed the degree of participation at each stage of the process for each article. A diversity of topics, modelling approaches, and participant groups were identified. Most studies (71%) occurred in Arctic North America, and all studies engaged with non-Western knowledge types to some degree. Participation was most commonly reported at the model generation and participant identification stages, and least commonly reported in the choice of modelling type. Participatory scores — based on the number and degree of participatory stages of a study — were higher where authors gave instrumental or transformative rationales for the use of participation, and among studies that described prioritising non-Western knowledge types. Detailed reporting of participatory processes was frequently absent, suggesting a need for clearer discussions of these issues in the descriptions of the process.