information and decision making systems for the effective.pdf

Information and Decision Making Systems for the Effective Management of Cross-Scale Environmental Problems: A Theoretical Concept Paper by David W. Cash Susanne C. Moser Prepared for the workshop Local Response to Global Change: Strategies of Information Transfer and Decision Making for Cross-Scale Environmental Risks Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs John F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University January 29-30, 1998 Draft: August 17, 1998 This study is based on research supported by the Global Environmental Assessment Project at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and the International Affairs and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. The GEA Project is supported by grants from the Department of Energy’s National Institute for Global Environmental Change through the Great Plains Regional Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Award No. LWT 62-123-06518), the National Science Foundation (Award No. SRB-9521910), the Department of Energy (Award No. DE-FG02-955ER62122), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change at Carnegie Mellon University. Financial support does not constitute an endorsement by any of the funding agencies of the views expressed in this paper. Information and Decision Making Systems for the Effective Management of Cross-Scale Environmental Problems Abstract This paper provides the beginnings of a theoretica