SRS RN: People-Centric Integrated Assessment Model for Regional Sustainability (PIAMRS): Focusing on the Central Appalachian Region

这项规划补助金将准备跨学科团队开发和提交一个高质量的轨道1提案，以创建一个研究网络（RN）。RN的目标是通过涉及多个机构和学科的聚合研究，与阿巴拉契亚中部地区的利益相关者共同制定以人为本的区域可持续发展综合评估模型（PIAMRS）。阿巴拉契亚中部地区对美国的环境、社会和经济可持续性至关重要。PIAMRS的应用将有助于将该地区从传统的资源型经济转变为现代可持续系统，并对多种结果和新的变革理论之间的共同利益和权衡产生新的理解。该RN将为该地区的利益相关者和公众提供证据，证明阿巴拉契亚中部包容性文化的重要性。计划中的研究、教育、外联和参与活动将改善该区域的包容性文化，并在利益攸关方会议上就如何衡量和改善这些活动进行辩论。在规划补助金期间，该团队将围绕招聘，保留和支持第一代学生制定教育计划，帮助他们了解中央阿巴拉契亚的问题和机会，激励他们追求STEM职业，并鼓励他们帮助该地区的增长和可持续性。拟议的以人为本的区域可持续性综合评估模式将抓住沿着生活在一个区域的人民及其自然资源和生态系统的主要关切，并创造一个前瞻性工具，通过许多相互联系的子系统了解不同政策和干预措施的后果。这项研究有望回答以下问题。1)阿巴拉契亚中部地区与当地相关的可持续发展指标是什么？2)经济发展、健康、教育、基础设施和环境之间的关系是什么？3)人们的行为如何被模仿？4)该模型如何将区域内的所有子系统耦合起来，并将它们与其他区域整合起来？5)模型如何平衡复杂性、局部相关性、可操作性和可伸缩性？模型如何平衡对长期趋势和潜在短期冲击的反应？拟议的PIAMRS将通过其社会系统模块明确模拟多样性和包容性文化对该区域可持续发展的影响，并评估改善包容性的政策和行动的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This planning grant will prepare the interdisciplinary team to develop and submit a quality Track-1 proposal to create a research network (RN). The goal of the RN is to co-produce a People-Centric Integrated Assessment Model for Regional Sustainability (PIAMRS) with stakeholders for the Central Appalachian region through convergent research involving multiple institutes and disciplines. The central Appalachian region is critical to the U.S. environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Applications of PIAMRS will help transform the region from a traditional resource-based economy into a modern sustainable system and generate a new understanding of the co-benefits and trade-offs among multiple outcomes and new theories of change. This RN will provide stakeholders and the general public in the region evidence of the importance of an inclusive culture in Central Appalachia. The planned research, education, and outreach and engagement activities will improve the region’s inclusive culture with debates on how to measure and improve them at stakeholder meetings. During the planning grant period, the team will develop an educational plan around recruiting, retaining, and supporting first-generation students, help them understand the issues and opportunities in Central Appalachia, motivate them to pursue STEM careers, and encourage them to help the growth and sustainability of the region. The proposed people-centric integrated assessment model for regional sustainability (PIAMRS) will capture the major concerns of people living in a region along with its natural resources and ecosystems and create a forward-looking tool to understand the consequences of different policies and interventions through the many linked subsystems. The research is expected to answer the following questions. 1) What are locally-relevant sustainability indicators for people in the Central Appalachian region? 2) What are the relationships among economic development, health, education, infrastructure, and environment? 3) How can people’s behaviors be modeled? 4) How can the model couple all subsystems within the region and integrate them with other regions? 5) How can the model balance complexity, local relevance, actionability, and scalability? and 6) How can the model balance the responses to long-term trends and potential short-term shocks? The proposed PIAMRS will explicitly model the impacts of diversity and inclusive culture on the region’s sustainable development through its social system module and evaluate the effectiveness of policies and actions to improve inclusion. The new understanding and theories will be scalable to other regions undergoing similar transformations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.