How the CoLab works

From a user's point of view #

The activities of the Climate CoLab community occur in the following areas:

* Proposals
Development, assessment, and selection of proposals that address climate change.
* Debates
Participation in debates about key issues relevant to climate change.
* Models
Expanding the set of computer models of climate-related systems (see Add new models).

The underlying technology #

The CoLab combines three key technologies.

* Open modeling
Simulation models can project the likely impacts of actions that are proposed to address climate change. The system will make use of some of the many existing models of the physical and human systems that affect climate. The CoLab will also pioneer a new approach for extending and developing these models, radically open modeling.
* Large scale argumentation
Large scale argumentation allows groups to summarize the structure and key positions held on contested topics. It works by structuring arguments into four types of entities: issues (or questions), positions, argument for (or pros), and arguments against (or cons).
* Group decision making
The CoLab will use voting and rating to allow the community select the most convincing positions in the debate and the best sets of actions to pursue.