The models and methods used by scientists for environmental assessments and scenarios often face practical hurdles of application. Due to institutional barriers, including limited capacity, institutional silos, and inaccessibility of high-tech quantitative modelling tools, advanced scenario planning methods may remain as academic exercises with little or no guidance for municipal planning agencies. In this chapter the authors offer a framework for integrating assessments and scenarios into the municipal workflow to deal with grand environmental challenges. Their approach, the Scenario Collaboratory, works by engaging with a wide range of decision-makers and using academic knowledge to advance city planning outcomes. In this study, the Scenario Collaboratory framework was used to design and implement interagency scenario planning workshops in the City of Portland, which focused on resilience to and recovery from two major natural disasters: a magnitude 8.5 earthquake, and a 500-year (recurrence interval) flooding event. Through this in-depth case study, the authors draw out several principles about collaborative management and implementation that can support practical applications of scenario planning outcomes.
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your Elgar Online account