WISE as the name suggest is a tool that allows you to explore scenarios. The benefits and processes for exploring scenarios are widely published and available online.
Exploring scenarios and taking a future focused approach to policy and strategy development provides a basis for better community invovlement and engagement in the process and the development of more robust and enduring policies and plans.
Taking a scenario exploration approach can avoid the pit-falls of being to focused on the current 'urgent' issues that are right infront of you and not considereing in enough detail the emerging issues or unintended consequences of some policy options.
WISE has already been applied to a number of case studies withn the Waikato Region.
The opportunities for using WISE are numerous as it allow many parameters in the system to be altered allowing for scenarios from the probable to the possible to be explored.
The WISE model is a regional scale model which allow for region wide schenarios to be explored. However, the model can also be used to assess sub-regional scenarios, such as changes in land use within a catchment, or changes to policies at one or more districts. To provide you with a feel for the range of opportuntities for scenario exploration in WISe that may be of interest to you a list a possible scenarios that could be esplored in WISE at both a regional and local scale are provided.
To fully inform significant regional policy updates (i.e Regional Policy Statement) by exploring a range of scenarios so that a wider community discussion on the plausible and prefered futures can inform the long term policy direction.
Understand the possible implications of changes to baseline (Reference Scenario) population or economic growth assumpitons on land use changes and environmental outcomes (i.e. from increased migration into region, or changes in output from a particular industry sector).
Investigate possible outcomes, both spatial and extent, of any restrictions on one or more landuses (i.e. limiting uses on certain quality/class of soil).
Assessing the implications of sector wide strategies or government policies (i.e. previous government goals of doubling primiary sector export earning by 2050, or possible outcomes from the billion tress goal).
Investigate the cross boundary implications of one or more Terrritorial Authourities (TA's) changing zoning or land use rules on neighbouring (TA's) (i.e. possible implications of coordinated planning outcomes from FutureProof councils)
Explore the possible outcomes and risk associated with signficant growth or development strategies (i.e. outcomes of Hamilton-Auckland Corridor plan)
Assessing the implications of assessing changes in land uses at a catchment scale and potential flow on effects to other parts of Region.
To find out more about how WISE could help in your future planning please Contact Us.