Cranston Workshop

October 23, 2013

On October 23rd in Cranston, a diverse group of thirty-five people participated in the NECAP simulation. As residents of the fictional town of Milton, everyone engaged in an hour-long role-playing discussion, talking about the threats posed to “a town a lot like Cranston” due to climate change, as well as debating various possible solutions. I joined this project last month as an undergraduate intern, and have since been to two such workshops in Cranston. Both times, I was able to sit on the sidelines and watch as the discussion unfolded. Walking around the room and listening to everyone share their thoughts and opinions drew me to a very interesting conclusion: regardless of who participates in the workshop, they are all equally as likely to gain something from the experience.

I have witnessed dozens of people participating in these workshops, ranging from local college students to retired city planners to lifelong residents of Cranston. All of these people, regardless of their personal beliefs about climate change, have engaged thoroughly in the discussions following the role-play exercise and generally seem to walk away seeing the value of consensus building activities. I have seen firsthand how simulations like these can help participants develop a better idea of what it takes to implement climate change adaptation policies at the local level. After their time with the NECAP project, participants generally seem better equipped to speak to the different stakeholders involved and the different constituencies that need to be considered when trying to manage local level climate change risks. Whether they came in with years of experience or are brand new to the climate change adaptation debate, participants all appear to benefit from this experiential exposure to the complicated decision-making process.

For me, this confirms my belief that these experiential exercises can – and arguably should – be run with all types of people: young, old, city planners, government workers, private sector employees, students, residents, and parents. Based on what I’ve seen, I think everyone has something to gain from role-play simulations like the NECAP workshops. We’ll see whether this is proven throughout the rest of Cranston workshops this year!

- Paula Gonzalez, UROP