Multi-agent systems for collective management of a northern Thailand watershed : model abstraction and design

Abstract

Scarce farmland and water resources in the highland watersheds of northern Thailand coupled with multiple users and desires have led to conflicts among stakeholders who play important roles in the system dynamics. Integrating the participatory approach and multi-agent systems (MAS) modeling can facilitate adaptive learning processes to result in a collective management strategy that meets the balanced needs of all parties. However, this requires participation and cooperation from all stakeholders involved in the process. This paper elaborates on the concept and processes of MAS model abstraction and design, which is the first study period of a research project. This project aims at developing an integrated participatory MAS model to support collective resource management in a watershed area of northern Thailand. A prototype MAS model was constructed using unified modeling language (UML) diagrams, and it consists of three major components: a biophysical module, a social module, and a political institution module. UML diagrams are used as an interface for discussing and sharing ideas among an interdisciplinary research team. This prototype structure will be used as a guideline for further research steps, including stakeholder analysis, eliciting common representations for further model programming, and development. Finally and hopefully, the verified and validated MAS model could be applied in assessing natural resource management strategies agreed upon among all stakeholders and would result in the implementation of a desired intervention scheme for sustainable resource management in this watershed. (Résumé d'auteur