Transcript

Part 1 – the framework

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This is the T863 framework for environmental decision making. It’s central to the course in two ways.Firstly, it’s a tool that you can use to support environmental decision making.Secondly the course itself is structured around the framework.This first animation introduces the framework.You’ll see this diagram repeatedly throughout the course, sometimes on its own and sometimes as a part of another diagram, as we emphasise different parts of it and different ways of using it in the various course materials.

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Now let's take a closer look at the diagram. It's made up of a series of blobs, arrows and a central rectangle.Some of the arrows are single headed and some double headed. What's their significance? How are you meant to interpret the elements of this diagram and the connections between them? How is it meant to be used and by whom? And where does it start and end ... if at all? These are the kinds of question that this animation aims to address.

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Let’s look at the elements of the framework, how are they arranged and what do they mean?The blobs in the diagram are arranged in a cycle so it's possible to start at any stage, and indeed, this is the nature of many environmental decision-making processes in practice.It can be difficult to see where or when these processes start and end, and different people may join a process at different stages. Environmental decision making is rarely one process, so several stages may indeed be going on simultaneously. In using this framework it is important to remember that this only a model of what's going on, and is therefore a simplification.

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So that we can consider what's covered by the framework, let's start with the blob on the left 'Explore (or re-explore) the situation' ... an arrow leads from here to another stage ... 'Formulate problems, opportunities and systems of interest'.While most of the terms in these first two blobs will be familiar, you may be wondering what is meant by 'systems of interest'? This will be covered in detail in the course and it's related to T863's overall approach to environmental decision making, which is a systems approach, as mentioned in the course title.

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Still going round the outside cycle of the framework the next blob is 'Identify feasible and desirable changes' and the last in the cycle is 'Take actions'.Taking action in environmental decision making takes many forms. It may apply to an action such as going ahead with a new development, like building a road for instance, but it may also apply to other forms of action. We'll go into this in more detail in the course. But in the framework diagram you'll notice that an arrow from 'take actions' goes back to where we started, and that partly explains why the first blob we considered includes the wording 're-explore' as well as 'explore'.But, the framework isn't intended to be used in a step-by-step and linear manner or simply in complete cycles.

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Look now at the second arrow that leads from the first blob, the double-headed arrow into the central rectangle: 'Use techniques and develop skills and understanding in: systems thinking, modelling, evaluating and negotiating'. It's through this process of using techniques and developing skills and understanding, that iteration occurs in the framework.Imagine that you're using the framework to structure your consideration of an environmental decision-making situation and process.(You'll do this in the course, so there's no need to get into detail about which process here.) You may then use systems thinking to move from exploring a situation to formulating problems, opportunities and systems of interest. Or you may use modelling to iterate between these same two stages or between formulating problems, opportunities and systems of interest and identifying feasible and desirable changes.And not just between adjacent stages in the framework.Using your modelling techniques may also take you back to re-explore a situation, or on to take action.Even at the 'take action' stage of environmental decision making you'll still be developing your understanding and skills.For example you may develop your understanding of negotiating and in doing so loop back to a different way of identifying feasible and desirable changes.Or you may use techniques in evaluating and through this process go on to re-explore a situation ... or use what you've learnt to explore a new situation.

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So to recap – the features of the T863 framework are:One: a series of linked stages that can be used to consider environmental decision-making situations and processes, represented by the four blobs and arrows in the outer cycle Two: interconnected processes of using techniques and developing skills and understanding, represented by the central rectangle and the double- headed arrowsThree: it's intended to be used iteratively and flexibly, not just in full cycles but by iterating back and forth between the stages Four: it's a model of an environmental decision-making process or processes, and as such it's a simplification of what may be going on, not the whole picture.How you, as a student will use the framework in T863 will be explained in more detail in the next two animations, in the Course Guide and the rest of the course.