Using Social Simulation to Explore the Dynamics at Stake in Participatory Research

This position paper contributes to the debate on perspectives for simulating the social processes of science through the specific angle of participatory research. This new way of producing science is still in its infancy and needs some step back and analysis, to understand what is taking place on the boundaries between academic, policy and lay worlds. We argue that social simulation of this practice of cooperation can help in understanding further this new way of doing science, building on existing experience in simulation of knowledge flows as well as pragmatic approaches in social sciences.Participatory Research, Institutional Analysis and Design, Knowledge Flow, Agent Based Simulation

Participatory simulations of competing aquacultural and agricultural land uses in bac lieu province, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Rice and black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) are produced in coastal area of the Mekong, Vietnam under different patterns depending on biophysical and social economic conditions. In the north part of Bac Lieu province in the Mekong Delta, competitions for land used among these farming systems have been appeared. Rice and shrimp rotation farming has been gradually encroached by shrimp monoculture due to its higher economic return. Monoculture of shrimp in a large scale however would hardly reach sustainability. This study aims to make explicit the criteria used by local producers in choosing their land use. To collectively discuss about these criteria and to build a common understanding of this complex agro-hydro system, we have been using role-playing games (RPGs). Three RPG sessions have been organized in three selected villages in Bac Lieu coastal province in the Mekong Delta (i) to understand the competition of land used between rice and shrimp production at a village level; (ii) to understand decision making of farmers under complex biophysical and socio-economic conditions. By playing their own role during a RPG session, local farmers are embedded in participatory simulation. Following the companion modeling approach, the next methodological step will consist in implementing an agent-based model to formalize the shared representation that was built during RPG sessions. Local farmers are then expected to be comfortable in following and discussing computer simulations as they will be able to relate the "agent-based simulations" to what they have experienced as participants of "players-based simulations" (the RPG sessions). (Résumé d'auteur

A methodology for building agent-base simulations of common-pool resources management : from a conceptual model designed with UML to its implementation in CORMAS

Since 1995, our team has been developing a simulation platform called CORMAS (common-pool resources and multi-agent systems). It provides facilities to build and analyze agent-based models (ABMs) that represent ecosystems where various human activities compete for the use of natural resources. Few agent-based simulations can be mathematically proven, but they can be analyzed inductively. It is therefore important that simulations be replicated before they are accepted as correct. To tackle this thorny issue of ABM replication, we believe that, during the design process, a careful representation of the conceptual model is paramount. In this paper, we advocate using UML (unified modeling language), which is a formal language to describe systems using the object oriented paradigm. An archetypical agroforestry system is presented here, and serves as an example to design a very simple model dealing with common-pool resources management. Different types of UML diagrams are also introduced to describe the static structure of the model, as well as that of the dynamic processes. Adaptation of these diagrams for implementation using the CORMAS platform is detailed. Then, a simple simulation scenario is presented to illustrate how it is done in CORMAS, and a sensitivity analysis on one parameter of the model is conducted. (Résumé d'auteur

Collaborative multi-agent modelling to improve farmers' adaptive capacity to manage water and igrations dynamics in Northeast Thailand

Northeast Thailand has the largest rainfed lowland rice (RLR) ecosystem in the kingdom and is notoriously known for its high rate of poor smallholders. The unstable rice productivity as a consequence of an unfavourable ecological environment (erratic rainfall and infertile soils) interacting with low price of rice drives these poor people to migrate for more profitable employment leaving often their land and its water underused. During the last 15 years, small water resource improvement programs launched by the Thai government under its poverty alleviation agenda had limited success. Labour migration is an adaptive strategy to cope with the uncertainty of rainfall and its distribution. As a consequence, off-farm employment becomes a more and more important source of income. But the relationship between labour migrations and land and water management on the farms is still poorly documented. Therefore, we used the Companion Modelling (ComMod) approach to improve the understanding of this key interaction and to reinforce stakeholders' adaptive capacity to deal with uncertainty linked to water dynamics and labour management in the Lam Dome Yai watershed of Ubon Ratchathani Province. ComMod facilitates dialogue, shared learning, and collective decision-making to strengthen the adaptive management capacity of local communities through integrative collaborative modelling. The cyclic ComMod process is made of iterative loops comprising field investigations, modelling, and participatory simulations relying on the combinations of Role-Playing Games (RPG) and Agent-Based Models (ABM) used with stakeholders. In this case study, 5 ComMod loops were carried out to better understand the problem being examined, stimulate exchange of points of view and enhance the creativity of the participants while lessening the black box effect of computer models. The key processes embedded in the models are based on stakeholders' decision-making driven by human-environment interactions. We take into account the diversity of farm types with their specific strategies and means of productions. The RPG and the ABM represent this diversity as rule-based agents (local farmers) managing this specific RLR ecosystem. The RPG mainly helped the stakeholders to understand the rules and sequence of ABM simulation while the ABM helped the stakeholders to better understand self-situation and examined causes of actions of other players. The ABM is used to identify the scenarios with local farmers, and simulated for discovery learning towards to desirable scenarios. The communication presents and discusses the various effects of this participatory modeling and simulation process on the different components of farmers' adaptive capacity: learning and understanding the problem, capacity and network building through social learning, and new behaviours and practices such as more cash crops the dry season when additional water is available by very small farming households. The preliminary results of scenarios simulated with farmers are also discussed. In conclusion we explain how the outcomes of such a ComMod process could be used to inform water policies at the regional level

Agent-based modeling on interaction between water and labor availability in rainfed rice ecosystem, northeast Thailand

An Agent-Based Model (ABM) was co-designed with local rice farmers to represent the human-environment interactions between land/water use and labor management. A rainfed area of Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand was the study site. This ABM evolved along a Companion Modeling (ComMod) process to integrate the research team¿s scientific point of view with the local farmers¿ desired development outcomes. The model consists of four interacting components: Climate, Hydrology, Household, and Rice. The "Household" is a rule-based agent that makes daily decisions on the different stages of rice production including water and labor availability. Four main rice decision-making processes are modeled: i) nursery establishment, ii) transplanting, iii) harvesting, and iv) post harvest decisions including labor migration. The toposequence of lower to upper paddies and types of land use (water bodies, human settlement, paddy fields) are defined in model¿s spatial settings. The paper describes the structure of key decision-making algorithms implemented in this ABM. The participatory use of this model to facilitate the discovery and assessment of different water and labor availability scenarios is also explained. The impact of such scenarios on farming practices and labor management is also analyzed and discussed. (Résumé d'auteur

Participatory design and use of a simplified landscape in a simulation model for mitigating land use conflict in Northern Thailand highlands

Landscape modelling integrating spatial information in Geographic Information Systems has been widely used to represent knowledge and support decision-making in the field of natural resource management. However, creating suitable visual representations of the landscape and its dynamics to stimulate the participation of diverse stakeholders in co-management of the land is still needed. This paper focuses on the design and implementation of a virtual landscape based on iconic representation used with herders and foresters, which both of them have contrasted perceptions on forest regeneration, to observe vegetation dynamics and emerging landscape features depending on different cattle and forest management strategies. This spatial interface was used during computerassisted Role-Playing Game sessions as part of a Companion Modelling process aiming at facilitating learning and support decision making among the concerned stakeholders in an upper watershed of northern Thailand. Before designing the spatial interface used in the model, an historical analysis of land use and land cover changes based on remote-sensed data was carried out, as well as a field survey on the impact of cattle grazing on vegetation dynamics. Then, the first set of vegetation states and their dynamics were produced and were validated with herders and foresters later. Thereafter, the simplified landscape representing landscape heterogeneity was constructed and used in two gaming and simulation field workshops. The different patterns of landscape emerged from herders' and foresters' decisions and interactions stimulated them to think about how to manage agro-ecosystems. Both of them agreed to implement a pilot plot of Brachiaria ruziziensis pasture in reality after finish the second workshop. This process proved to be instrumental in facilitating communication among the parties in conflict and increasing their motivation to improve the current situation. However, the use of such virtual landscape in gaming sessions proved to be time consuming and the managed area as well as the number of players was limited. Therefore, to get rid of these constraints, a fully autonomous Agent-Based Model making use of the same kind of simplified virtual landscape will be developed and used with local stakeholders to run possible future scenarios of change in a more time efficient and inclusive way. (Résumé d'auteur

PN25 Companion modeling for resilient water management : Stakeholders' perceptions of water dynamics and collective learning at catchment scale

Water management problems tend to be complex and take place in rapidly changing and uncertain realities. A growing number of stakeholders are involved with own interest and perceptions of the problem at stake. Their points of view are legitimate and need to be incorporated through mediation and negotiation. The approach needs to reconcile ecological and social dynamics, improve collective learning, coordination mechanisms, and stakeholders¿ capacity for adaptive management. (Résumé d'auteur

Combining multi-agent simulations and cost-benefit analysis to evaluate policy options for the management of livestock effluents in Réunion Island

This study uses a multi-agent system to simulate the behaviour of economic players in a context of rapidly evolving environmental policy. The area under study is represented by a sector of a French overseas Department, Réunion Island, with a high concentration of pig farms in the upland region and extensive sugarcane plantations in the coastal zone. We first simulate local pig farmers' reactions to several policy options aimed at reducing the pollution coming from pig rearing. Multi-agent simulations are then coupled with cost-benefit analysis in order to calculate the net present value of different policy options. Advantages and limits of the use of the proposed methods to support decision-making are finally discussed. (Résumé d'auteur

Uses of agent-based modelling in the framework of biodiversity conservation

Ecological models are increasingly used to improve understanding of ecosystems and the dynamics of species that are threatened or exploited by humans. Modelling proves to be very useful for observing complex systems, both in revealing their attributes and in exposing the gaps in knowledge, as well as in helping to define areas of research or to design actions for conservation purposes. In this presentation, we will show that agent-based models (ABM) allow researchers to dig deep into a social-ecological system's complexity, taking into account factors such as spatial effects, changes in scale and individual behaviour. Several examples illustrate how ABMs contribute to biodiversity conservation either by modelling population dynamics in a heterogeneous and dynamic environment, or by modelling human–environment interactions. With computer simulations and/or role-playing games, ABMs can support participatory modelling approaches in which stakeholders involved in biodiversity management projects collectively construct and reflect together on land use and land planning scenarios. Lastly, we show how participatory modelling and role-playing game experiments can give rise to social learning and social change that any integrated conservation project may need. (Texte intégral