Afordable Futures makes the case that MIMES is a break out stage of model development for coupled human and natural systems (CHANS). That is not to say that it is a mature stage of development. Using the metaphor of photography we would say that MIMES is to CHANS (Coupled Human And Natural Systems)what the silent movies were to photography, a qualitative leap in capacity for communication. The silent movies were followed by the talkies, color, 3-D, IMAX and digital video. MIMES will further evolve and Afordable Futures is eager to work with other developers interested in crossing a threshold with MIMES. The Multi-scale Integrated Models of Eco-system Services (MIMES) have the capacity to produce pictures of futures states of nested systems. A series of these pictures unfolding over selected temporal and spacial scales can give insight into the progressive impact of practice and policy for which humans have responsibility. The two directional arrows in the diagram below represent the dynamic interplay between human and natural systems and between different scales within those systems. MIMES models include dynamic feedback loops reflecting change over time.  The color coded diagram illustrates the fundamental structure of MIMES models in relationship to space. Five spheres of activity operate at any given location and exchanges between locations are quantified. The modeling structure will accommodate both fine and course resolutions of time and space. The color coding is a consistent convention in MIMES models and the shading reflects the existence of nested sub-models within the overall structure. |