Special Issue
Seeds of Learning: Uncertainty and Technology Adoption in an Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Game
Babtunde Abidoye(a), Sahan T.M. Dissanayake(b), and Sarah A. Jacobson(c)
London School of Economics and University of Pretoria(a), Portland State University(b), Williams College(c)
JEL Codes: A20, D80, Q16, Q54, Q56, Q58
Keywords: Classroom game, climate change adaptation, ecosystem-based adaptation, payments for ecosystem services, technology adoption, uncertainty
Publish Date: May 22, 2021
volume 3, Issue 3
View Full Article (PDF) | Request Teaching Notes/Supplemental Materials
Abstract
We introduce an interactive game exploring ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) to climate change, with a focus on technology adoption and uncertainty. The game is useful in academic classes and training sessions for policy makers and stakeholders. Participants play the role of small-scale farmers in a developing country where their farming practices cause erosion that pollutes waterways, while at the same time climate change is making farmers more vulnerable to natural threats like flooding. The game gives participants a series of opportunities to adopt EBA practices: for example, a riparian buffer strip, low-till farming, and agroforestry. The practices differ in the uncertainty surrounding their effects on yields. The game deploys three policies to encourage adoption: a flat payment, a conservation auction, and a flat payment with a pilot bonus for early adoption. Players observe each other’s choices and outcomes, which allows for social learning. Participants get a hands-on understanding of climate change’s impacts, adaptation, ecosystem services, payment for ecosystem service programs, choice under uncertainty, social learning, adoption of new technology, learning spillovers, cost-effective conservation, and conservation auctions. We provide all materials necessary to run the game, a list of suggested readings, and ideas for discussions and assignments.
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Articles in this issue
Teaching by the Case Method to Enhance Graduate Students’ Understanding and Assessment of Wicked-Type Problems: An Application Involving the Bears Ears National Monument
Amanda J. Harker Steele and John C. Bergstrom
Seeds of Learning: Uncertainty and Technology Adoption in an Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Game
Babatunde Abidoye, Sahan T.M. Dissanayake, and Sarah A. Jacobson
Managing a Multiuse Resource with Payments for Ecosystem Services: A Classroom Game
Lauriane S. Yehouenou, Stephen N. Morgan, and Kelly A. Grogan
Making Learning about Climate Change Fun and Interactive
Misti D. Sharp and Jada M. Thompson
What does the pandemic mean for experiential learning? Lessons from Latin America
Grace Melo, Dérgica Sanhueza, Sarahi Morales, and Luis Peña-Lévano
Learning about Consumer Demand from Student Surveys
Scott M. Swinton