PIANO is based on the following assumptions:

• there is much known about the biological and physical systems of the Central Sands
• technology now exists to create computer models that can reveal the interactions among the biological/physical environment and the regional economy
• scientists and citizens must collaborate as equal partners in creating these computer models in order for the models to be useful and accepted
• both the model and the public learning that will occur during its development will result in the tools and informed citizens needed for creating good public policy.

Our long-term goals are to:

• work with small groups of stakeholders to collaboratively develop a shared understanding of the linkages among agriculture, environment, and the economy in the Central Sands, and
• create a computer model that captures this understanding, such that citizens can interactively explore various views of the next 20 years that emerge from the interactions of all of the parts of the system.
• have the citizen collaborators feel sufficiently comfortable with the model that they will act as guides for others who wish to use the model to understand the consequences of policy and behavior alternatives on possible futures.

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