rstanding of place as a central principle for multifaceted natural resource-related decisions. We have also learned that “the natural model of development” requires that we embrace the complexities of nature in order to create new value and wealth. Also, just as a hammer doesn’t build a house all at once, these tools won’t give users all of the answers to their questions immediately. Rather, they piece together segments of information one-by-one in service of a larger design, helping construct a natural model of development.
Most of all, we’ve learned that when communities are empowered to find innovative solutions to their unique challenges, they are more likely to build a new economy that is resilient and inclusive: Of the many arguments against the top-down, industrial model of development, one of the strongest is that it eschews broad input from communities that bear the most direct and serious impacts, resulting in communities with little say in the management of resources they rely on. Even with the advances in technology and access to larger pools of data, there is still work to be done to democratize online tools and data gathering for more nuanced understanding of communities in our region.