Learning Content for Teaching Simulation

Social-Ecological Systems Analysis

Getting started

Access MentalModeler here.

  • Username: mentalmodeler
  • Password: mentalmodeler

For the easy option in our MentalModeler activity, access pre-loaded environmental problem .mmp MentalModeler files here.

  • Download human-wildlife conflict, native plains minnow conservation, or campus food waste .mmp
  • Open the MentalModeler interface, and select "Load" in the top menu bar; select your .mmp file to load.

Tasks to complete in this activity

1. State your systems purpose.

Optional: use the provided matrix to list elements and causal relationships.

2. Complete a systems map in MentalModeler, following 1 of the 3 paths (easy, medium, hard) specified on the presentation slide.

Supplementary learning resources for mental models

Gray S et al. 2012. Modeling the integration of stakeholder knowledge in social-ecological system decision-making: Benefits and limitations to knowledge diversity. Ecological Modeling

Gray S et al. 2015. Using fuzzy cognitive mapping as a participatory approach to analyze change, preferred states, and perceived resilience of social-ecological systems. Ecology & Society

Hamilton M, Salerno J, Fischer AP. 2019. Cognition of complexity and trade-offs in a wildfire-prone social-ecological system. Environmental Research Letters

Supplementary learning resources for systems thinking

Meadows D. 2008. Thinking in Systems. Chelsea Green

Kimmerer. 2015. Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed

Mahajan S et al. 2019. Systems thinking for planning and evaluating conservation interventions. Conservation Science & Practice

Holling. 1973. Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Ann Revs.

Ostrom. 2007. A diagnostic approach for going beyond panaceas. PNAS.

Scheffer et al. 2001. Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature.

The Resilience Alliance