Abstract for: Opportunities and Barriers to Building Trust Among Resource Users Through System Dynamics Modeling

Collaborative natural resource management requires trust, and trust is enhanced through communication and shared worldview. Previous studies have explored how participatory modeling can surface assumptions, and facilitate communication and social learning, but not explicitly for the purpose of building trust or surfacing barriers to trust. The contribution of this paper is therefore combining insights from participatory system dynamics modeling with the trust literature. We explored the potential for participatory modeling to contribute to communication and building shared worldview outcomes in the context of a project designed to inform the creation of Water User Committees (WUCs) in Michigan. We collected two types of preliminary data, a survey of large quantity water users in Michigan, and a focus group discussion with a stakeholder advisory board for the project. Both water users and state regulatory actors agree that there is currently a lack of trust between them. However, they do not agree on what drives that lack of trust; regulators see it as an issue of communication and information sharing, while water users do not believe the state values their interests. The two groups have very different perceptions of the abundance of water in Michigan. We conclude that modeling tools like CLDs can surface differences in worldview between groups and highlight how those differences might impact trust. Trust among people with diverse interests and perspectives must be built by addressing each group’s genuine concerns, starting with shared perceptions, then moving towards social learning around differences.