One way to address drought’s complexity and planning challenges is through the use of scenarios. A scenario is a plausible event or sequence of events that provide the backdrop for exercises such as training activities or planning discussions. Scenarios allow participants to react and plan for a plausible event so you will be better prepared to deal with what actually happens. Scenarios can be written as a story or enhanced with timelines and maps. Whether it’s used for training or planning purposes, a scenario should be plausible and challenging.
Scenario-based exercises can help your community’s drought preparedness activities by encouraging planners, decision-makers, agency staff, and citizens to think about how a drought may unfold and what actions they could take before it happens in order to lessen its impacts or cope with its effects.
No matter where you are in the drought planning process, scenario-based exercises can make a contribution. They can be used to kick off your community’s drought planning efforts or to help revise an existing plan.
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