Assisting Forests and Trees Planning with a Decision Tree

Abstract

Handling uncertainty is tricky, especially when important decisions need to be made. In recent years, forests and forestry have faced increasing pressure from the effects of climate change. Events such as widespread bark beetle infestations have raised new and urgent questions: How should damaged areas be reforested? Which tree species will be resilient in the face of future disturbances and a changing climate? Uncertainty and lack of knowledge can paralyse decision-making, thereby hindering the reforestation process. To explore this issue, an ethnographic study was conducted, combining qualitative interviews, participation in excursions, and observation of the everyday work of forest professionals and forest owners. The goal was twofold: gathering knowledge on the adaptation of forests to climate change and seeing how the design of artefacts could address the issue. Ultimately, a digital tool, called the decision tree, was developed to support the decision-making process. A participatory design process reveled both the potential and the limits of digital tools: While digital tools are capable of supporting and structuring consultation processes, they are far from keeping up with the complexity of specific contexts, such as maintaining landscapes. These findings provide valuable insights into knowledge management and expertise sharing in the fields of Human-computer interaction (HCI) and Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW).