A SYSTEM DESIGN OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN AN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY

• Published in: Proceedings of the Design Society Vol. 1; pp. 273 - 282
• Main Authors: Barlow, Thomas, Biddanda, Mandappa, Mendke, Samarth, Miyingo, Emmanuel, Sicko, Anabel, Papalambros, Panos Y., Chien, Cheng-Chun, O'Neal, William
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.08.2021
• Subjects: Community; Conservation; Design optimization
• ISSN: 2732-527X; 2732-527X
• DOI: 10.1017/pds.2021.28

Abstract Integrated Natural Resource Conservation and Development (INRCD) Projects are efforts at worldwide locations to promote economic development of local communities consistent with conservation of natural resources. This umbrella term includes Integration Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) introduced by the World Wide Fund to combine social development and conservation s through the use of socio-economic investments, and the Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) research and development efforts that have employed a systems approach for quantitative modeling and optimization. In the spirit of the INRCD framework, we describe the development of a system-level agriculture and energy model comprising engineering and economic models for crop, irrigation, and energy subsystem designs for a community in Central Uganda. The model architecture is modular allowing modifications for different system configurations and project locations. We include some initial results and discuss next steps for system optimization, refining model assumptions, and modeling community social benefits as drivers of such projects.