Integrating environmental, social and economic systems: a dynamic model of tourism in Dominica

This article describes an integrated dynamic model of The Commonwealth of Dominica, a small Caribbean island state. The modeling approach emphasizes whole-systems assessment and trans-disciplinary analysis, providing a framework to conceptualize the impacts of different tourism development strategies, accounting for interactions between ecology, economy and society. Our use of dynamic modeling differs from established techniques such as simulation, predictive, or mediated modeling; we use the modeling environment primarily as an accounting tool to track the interaction of a large set of heterogeneous data and assumptions. We believe that a model such as ours can provide a valuable tool for the synthesis of data and theories about development alternatives. New data can be added as it becomes available, structural elements can be included as deemed important within a given milieu, and the largely explicit assumptions of the model can be changed to examine alternative views.