Participatory Modelling for Resilient Futures, Volume 30: Action for Managing Our Environment from the Bottom-Up (Developments in Environmental Modelling)

Participatory Modelling for Resilient Futures: Action for Managing Our Environment from the Bottom-Up, Volume One provides an important contribution to environmental management by introducing an integrative framework for participatory research for better land use and natural resource planning, organized around compelling recent case studies. It is a valuable guide for the increasing number of students looking for solutions in sustainability science and also practitioners who are on the ground working with local communities to improve specific places.

The book was developed in response to the need to provide a clear and synthetic account, in accessible and non-technical language, of the way in which innovative integrative research can help solve real world human-environment interaction problems at a range of levels and scales, e.g., participatory modelling to secure a sustainable future for a natural protected area, working with stakeholders to break the deadlock on renewable energy implementation in Europe or tackling social exclusion and reducing food carbon footprint through local agroecology schemes.

• Makes modeling approaches accessible so environmental and natural resource managers can make more precise decisions, accounting for a positive and negative impacts of ecosystem changes
• Provides recent real cases to demonstrate implementation of the concepts, allowing the reader to see how to bridge scientific research and societal needs in order to effectively translate knowledge into action
• Provides an integrated perspective incorporating science, politics and society, as well as a toolbox of methodologies to enhance participation and engagement of key stakeholders

Richard J. Hewitt. PhD (2014), University of Alcala, Spain, Geographical Information Technologies, integration of participatory processes in land use models). Master (2006), University of Newcastle, United Kingdom (Geographical Information Systems), BSc Archaeology (1997), University College London. Member of the technical team of the Observatory for a Culture of Territory (OCT), Madrid, Spain, Researcher in spatial land planning in James Hutton Institute, Scotland, UK. Principal current research themes include geographical modelling, participatory land planning, and renewable energy.

Verónica Hernández-Jiménez. PhD in Participatory Planning (2007), Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, United Kingdom. Agricultural Engineer (2001), Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain. Founding member of the Observatory for a Culture of Territory (OCT), Madrid, Spain. Researcher and practitioner in rural planning and landscape, food systems and agroecology, transition initiatives and resilient communities applying participatory action research from local to global scales.

Ana Zazo Moratalla. PhD in Peripheries, Sustainability and Urban Vitality (2015), Máster Urban Studies (2010), Architect (2006) Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain. Academic at the University of Bío Bío (Concepción, Chile). Collaborator member of the Observatory for a Culture of Territory (OCT), Madrid, Spain. Principal current research themes include urban food systems, participatory land planning, and rural-urban linkages

Blanca Ocón. Master in Planning and Rural Development (2005), Polytechnic University of Madrid. Agricultural Engineer: Rural engineering (2001), Polytechnic University of Madrid. Founding member of the Observatory for a Culture of Territory (OCT), Cantabria, Spain. Lecturer at a Technological Institute of agriculture and livestock, Cantabria, Spain.

Lara Román. PhD in Agroecology, Social Sciences and Rural Development (2016), University of Andalusia and Institute of Sociology and Peasant Studies, Spain. Agronomist (2001) Polytechnic University of Madrid. Researcher and trainer of rural development and agroecology, specialised in participatory action research. Founding Member of the Observatory for a Culture of the Territory (OCT), Madrid, Spain.