Title: Categorising and clustering knowledge in fuzzy cognitive maps

Authors: Alexander E. Metzger; Steven Gray; Ellen Douglas; Paul Kirshen; Nardia Haigh

Addresses: University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 William T. Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA ' Michigan State University, Natural Resources Building, 480 Wilson Road Room 131, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA ' University of Massachusetts Boston, Integrated Sciences Complex 3150, 100 William T. Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA ' University of Massachusetts Boston, Integrated Sciences Complex 2100, 100 William T. Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA ' University of Massachusetts Boston, McCormack Hall 5-403, 100 William T. Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, USA

Abstract: The literature on managing environmental hazards in complex human-natural systems increasingly acknowledges the importance of integrating diverse stakeholder mental models into decision-making. Participatory Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) provides an effective tool in this process, as it allows representation of mental models as complex causal networks that aid in the study of knowledge and understandings. While most participatory FCM research has studied mental model variation using graph theory and other structural metrics, our goal is to demonstrate a generalisable approach for analysing perspectives and content. We use a novel method of knowledge categorisation to identify variation among stakeholder mental models and explore its implications for social learning and collaboration. In our case study of flood managers in Boston, Massachusetts, our findings include identification of knowledge gaps, differing priorities among individuals and across jurisdictional scales and opportunities for learning and collaboration.

Keywords: soft systems; fuzzy cognitive mapping; FCM; social-ecological systems; mental models; participatory modelling; environmental hazards; flooding; adaptive management; social learning; collaboration; knowledge clustering; knowledge categorisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSE.2019.102830

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 2019 Vol.9 No.3, pp.235 - 256

Received: 01 Feb 2018
Accepted: 10 Aug 2018
Published online: 08 Oct 2019 *

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