
© ZuWaKo
The researchers of the Ladenburg Kollleg “Future Water Conflicts in Germany” met for the sixth time, this time at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The face-to-face meetings are an important addition to the operational working meetings, in which the members of the group exchange information online on a weekly basis. The meeting in Jülich marked the start of the final spurt of the research group, which will come to an end in 2025. The doctoral students presented their respective qualitative system models on conflicting objectives in catchment areas, on irrigation conflicts in climate adaptation and on water conflicts in the transformation of post-mining landscapes. They developed these models together with stakeholders through so-called “participatory modeling”.

Figure: Basic logic of the ZuWaKo simulation models
The models form the basis for simulation games for designing combinations of measures (policy mixes) under uncertainty. During the meeting, concepts for the simulation game workshops with experts (including from business, water management, administration, nature conservation and agriculture), planned for the spring, were discussed and refined. In addition, possible improvements to the “Futurescapes Navigator” web application developed for the simulation games were discussed and overarching analyses and the joint publication of a special issue were advanced. Another key point was the initial preliminary planning of the final event at which the project results will be officially presented.