Atlas NW - Background
Interactive tools for sustainable development
Model methods
This is a much simplified version of the phase 1 model (available on CD by request to CURE). This enables a complete range of scenarios to be pre-calculated, and selected scenarios are then called up from the server by the unique combination of user choices.
At the heart of the Eco-Quest NW is an urban development model: this estimates the movement of population around, in and out of the region in response to user inputs. It works by assessing what will cause people to want to move from where they live at the moment (push factors) and where they would most like to be living in the future (pull factors).
The environmental implications of these choices are then calculated in a simplified version of the REAP - ISCAM worksheets, for the scenario range.
The 'eco-investment' chart is based on the One Planet Economy Network research from the Ecological Budget UK. The key theme for the economic transformation is eco-taxation and eco-investment in clean technology, sustainable infrastructure etc. However the implication is that there is not necessarily a 'free lunch' - while the economic win-win case can be argued about, there are knock on effects on social change, on disruption of organizations, and vulnerability to outside threats or internal tensions.
