Summary
Models facilitate anticipatory governance. A prominent example is the use of climate models to support the Paris Agreement. But models are not neutral - they conceal value-laden choices, such as in how model approaches are selected or model applications are framed. This implies that certain perspectives are favoured by the model. Since decisions based on such value-laden models have real-world consequences, it is essential to understand how these models obtained the legitimacy to serve as policy advisors. The model code itself reveals only the tip of the iceberg, because it does not show the negotiations before the model was established. Therefore, the LEGIT project aims to uncover the factors and processes through which especially water-management models acquire legitimacy to support decisions and to develop theory on establishing legitimacy. To achieve this goal, my team and I scrutinize three case studies and explore the social-political-institutional, the socio-technical, and the simulation perspective through respectively policy document analysis and interviews with decision-makers; model documentation analysis, interviews with modellers and ethnographic observations of modellers; and extensive uncertainty analysis of model applications. This rich collection of data allows to formulate a preliminary theory of legitimacy of water-management models as decision support tools. This theory will be further refined based on a serious game that mimics relevant actors and decision processes. LEGIT starts from a strong empirical stance with the aim to understand modelling in anticipatory governance. LEGIT’s theory will enhance insights on concealed values in such models and allows for in-depth discussion of their policy application. But more importantly, LEGIT explains how a model got authority, despite its concealed values. This paves the way to more transparency in the process of using models as decision support tools, thereby contributing to a stronger democracy.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101161960 |
| Start date: | 01-02-2025 |
| End date: | 31-01-2030 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 1 500 000,00 Euro - 1 500 000,00 Euro |
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Original description
Models facilitate anticipatory governance. A prominent example is the use of climate models to support the Paris Agreement. But models are not neutral - they conceal value-laden choices, such as in how model approaches are selected or model applications are framed. This implies that certain perspectives are favoured by the model. Since decisions based on such value-laden models have real-world consequences, it is essential to understand how these models obtained the legitimacy to serve as policy advisors. The model code itself reveals only the tip of the iceberg, because it does not show the negotiations before the model was established. Therefore, the LEGIT project aims to uncover the factors and processes through which especially water-management models acquire legitimacy to support decisions and to develop theory on establishing legitimacy. To achieve this goal, my team and I scrutinize three case studies and explore the social-political-institutional, the socio-technical, and the simulation perspective through respectively policy document analysis and interviews with decision-makers; model documentation analysis, interviews with modellers and ethnographic observations of modellers; and extensive uncertainty analysis of model applications. This rich collection of data allows to formulate a preliminary theory of legitimacy of water-management models as decision support tools. This theory will be further refined based on a serious game that mimics relevant actors and decision processes. LEGIT starts from a strong empirical stance with the aim to understand modelling in anticipatory governance. LEGIT’s theory will enhance insights on concealed values in such models and allows for in-depth discussion of their policy application. But more importantly, LEGIT explains how a model got authority, despite its concealed values. This paves the way to more transparency in the process of using models as decision support tools, thereby contributing to a stronger democracy.Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2024-STGUpdate Date
24-11-2024
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