Record Details

Do participatory scenario exercises promote systems thinking and build consensus?

MELSpace

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Do participatory scenario exercises promote systems thinking and build consensus?
 
Creator Schmitt Olabisi, Laura
 
Contributor Adebiyi, Jelili
Traore, Pierre C. Sibiry
Kakwera, Mayamiko Nathaniel
 
Subject participatory scenario exercises
systems thinking
 
Description Participatory scenario processes are associated with positive social learning outcomes, including consensusbuilding
and shifts toward more systemic thinking. However, these claims have not been assessed quantitatively
in diverse cultural and socio-ecological settings. We convened three stakeholder workshops around the future
of agricultural development and rural livelihoods in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Malawi, using a participatory
scenario generation process to examine proposed research and action priorities under conditions of uncertainty.
We administered pre- and post-workshop surveys, and used a paired t-test to assess how stakeholders’ rankings
of research priorities changed after participating in the scenario visioning exercise. Workshop participants
also listed their own priorities for research and implementation on both the pre- and post-survey forms. We
found indications that the workshops promoted consensus-building around the research priorities, including
a reduction in standard deviation of priority rankings post-workshop compared to pre-workshop; and a
higher incidence of identical volunteered responses. We did not find evidence to support shifts in thinking to
more systemic views of agricultural development. However, participants viewed themselves as having learned
throughout the process. We conclude that scenario visioning does have the potential to foster consensusbuilding
(one element of social learning) among diverse stakeholder groups. We urge researchers to continue
to monitor and measure systems thinking outcomes from scenario visioning so that these processes may be
designed to be more effective.
 
Date 2016-07-15
2017-02-08T23:32:07Z
2017-02-08T23:32:07Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/download/hash/VMu84uKl
Laura Schmitt Olabisi, Jelili Adebiyi, Pierre C. Sibiry Traore, Mayamiko Nathaniel Kakwera. (15/7/2016). Do participatory scenario exercises promote systems thinking and build consensus. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 4: 000113, pp. 1-11.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/5617
Open access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher University of California Press (Collabra)
 
Source Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene;4: 000113,(2016) Pagination 1,11