Puzzled by Policy: Providing New Hope for E-Participation at the EU Level

Abstract

In helping local authorities in Ireland to adapt to climate change we have developed a prototype socio-ecological systems simulator which we believe can be applied as a governance tool in many domains. We outline the consultation process which was developed in order to engage members of local communities in the production of adaptation plans. We explain the reasons for adopting an ICT driven approach to further this engagement and how the prototype web-based tool was implemented. We describe how this tool is currently being adapted in order to help implement the Irish government's national climate adaptation framework. We discuss how the tool may be enhanced in the future by the addition of more sophisticated modeling tools based on artificial intelligence.