The Asset Drivers, Well-being Interaction Matrix (ADWIM): A participatory tool for estimating future impacts on ecosystem services and livelihoods

Abstract

Building an effective response for communities to climate change requires decision-support tools that deliver information which stakeholders find relevant for exploring potential short and long-term impacts on livelihoods. Established principles suggest that to successfully communicate scientific information, such tools must be transparent, replicable, relevant, credible, flexible, affordable and unbiased. In data-poor contexts typical of developing countries, they should also be able to integrate stakeholders’ knowledge and values, empowering them in the process. We present a participatory tool, the Asset Drivers Well-being Interaction Matrix (ADWIM), which estimates future impacts on ecosystem goods and services (EGS) and communities’ well-being through the cumulative effects of system stressors. ADWIM consists of two modelling steps: an expert-informed, cumulative impact assessment for EGS; which is then integrated with a stakeholder-informed EGS valuation process carried out during adaptation planning workshops. We demonstrate the ADWIM process using examples from Nusa Tenggara Barat Province (NTB) in eastern Indonesia. The semi-quantitative results provide an assessment of the relative impacts on EGS and human well-being under the ‘Business as Usual’ scenario of climate change and human population growth at different scales in NTB, information that is subsequently used for designing adaptation strategies. Based on these experiences, we discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of ADWIM relative to principles of effective science communication and ecosystem services modelling. ADWIM’s apparent attributes as an analysis, decision support and communication tool promote its utility for participatory adaptation planning. We also highlight its relevance as a ‘boundary object’ to provide learning and reflection about the current and likely future importance of EGS to livelihoods in NTB.