Learning integrative negotiation to manage complex environmental issues: example of a gaming approach in the peri-urban catchment of São Paulo, Brazil

International audienceParticipatory approaches are assumed to have a positive influence on decision-making for natural resource management. However, there are only a few detailed studies that examine their impact on participants. This paper analyses the contribution of a participatory modelling and simulation approach to the development of learning and relational capacity. It analyses two experiments that deal with pollution and sanitation issues in the expanding peri-urban settlements of São Paulo. The impact of the approach was assessed through interviews immediately after the simulation and 8 months later. The assessment identified the existence of social learning and the acquisition of skills related to integrative negotiation of complex environmental issues. Despite substantive and relational/normative learning, the acquisition of knowledge and negotiation skills, and a more integrative perspective, participants were unable to apply their new negotiation skills for a sustainable length of time within the prevalent socio-political and institutional context. A long-term iterative approach, involving relevant stakeholders in the process and process assessments, is needed to establish more conducive institutional structures

Multidisciplinary elaboration of and participation in role-playing games: an experiment in companion modeling about catchment management in the metropolitan region of São Paulo

O desenvolvimento de ferramentas de simulação, como os jogos de papéis, pressupõe a integração das várias representações e conhecimentos, o que garante a sua legitimidade e a possibilidade de os utilizar como plataforma de mediação na discussão dos conflitos socioambientais. Este artigo discute a utilização da abordagem de modelagem de acompanhamento no desenvolvimento de dois jogos de papéis sobre a gestão da água e do solo em mananciais periurbanos da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP).The development of simulation tools like role-playing games require the integration of some knowledge and several representations which guarantee its legitimacy and the possibility to be used as a mediation platform in collective discussions about environmental conflicts. The paper presents and discusses the use of the companion modeling approach in the development of two role-playing games dealing with water and land management in the periurban catchment of the metropolitan region of São Paulo.FAPESPUK's Department for International Development (DFID