Open AccessFarming the floodplain: overcoming tradeoffs to achieve good river governance in New England
Author(s) -
Benjamin P. Warner,
Rachel E. Schattman
Publication year - 2017
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.32747/2017.6949553.ch
Subject(s) - stewardship (theology) , corporate governance , negotiation , floodplain , environmental stewardship , agriculture , flood myth , context (archaeology) , plan (archaeology) , environmental planning , environmental resource management , resilience (materials science) , stakeholder , business , psychological resilience , political science , geography , public relations , politics , environmental science , psychology , cartography , archaeology , finance , law , physics , psychotherapist , thermodynamics
The goal of this case is for students to learn through the development of a sustainable river governance plan for Massachusetts focused on balancing needs and perspectives on local agriculture, flood resilience, and healthy ecosystems in the context of climate change. This will be challenging. Ideally, a river governance plan developed by the students would support local agriculture, increase flood resilience, and promote environmental stewardship. A role-playing exercise is included in this case that involves representatives of several stakeholders groups (personas assumed by a subset of students); these include a farmer, a fisher/recreationalist, a state river manager, an environmentalist, and a resident. The students will learn about the goals of a stakeholder to discuss with the others, negotiate with them, find ways to resolve conflicts and finally to create a governance plan.