SMARTLAGOON modeling workshop in Oslo

In March 2024, the modeling work packages convened for a two-day session in Oslo hosted by NIVA to explore the integration of socio-economic and environmental models—this effort aimed to enhance understanding of the connections between human activities and natural systems. The meeting brought together the socio-economic system dynamics (SD) model with the catchment model (SWAT) and the lagoon model (GOTM) to brainstorm strategies for integration. While socio-economic models delve into human behaviors, decision-making processes, and economic activities, environmental models simulate climate dynamics, land use changes, and ecosystem functions. Despite the challenge of creating a computational coupling, we devised alternative ways by providing boundary conditions from the environmental models into the system dynamics model. By merging these models, the project seeks to unravel how human activities impact environmental systems and vice versa, fostering a comprehensive understanding of socio-environmental dynamics. Moreover, we explored policy interventions and management strategies to address sustainability challenges, which we can test across all the models. Collaboration and communication among the modeling teams are ongoing during this phase to ensure the successful integration and the development of holistic frameworks for analyzing socio-environmental systems.