Christophe Le Page

• PhD, HDR
• French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development

Socio-Ecological System modelling projects are becoming increasingly complicated, with multiple actors and aspects being the norm. Such projects can cause problems for the modellers when this involves different elements, goals, philosophies, etc., all pulling in different directions-we call this "Chimaera Modelling." Although such situations are co...

Agricultural research is expected to foster agro-ecological transitions. For that purpose, methodologies of participative integrated assessment of new farming and cropping systems are requested. However, the territory level and the stakeholders’ participation are often not sufficiently embraced. Based on the companion modeling approach, a group of...

Urgent calls to transform societies toward more sustainability make the practice of anticipation more and more necessary. The progressive development of computational technologies has opened room for a growing use of quantitative methods to explore the future of social-ecological systems, in addition to qualitative methods. This warrants investigat...

New models of collective agriculture have been developing in France over the past 10 years that could encourage the emergence of more diversified and sustainable systems. However, as such production systems are relatively more complex to manage, the involvement of more people may be required. This raises renewed questions concerning the collective...

1 Calling on the concept of environmental justice in its distributive, procedural and recognition dimensions, we implemented a coelaborative scenario building approach to explore sustainable livelihoods pathways in four sites belonging to two Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in southern Africa. 2 Grounded on participation and transdisciplin...

Africa has managed to conserve an exceptional mammal diversity but is also facing an increasing demand for agricultural land to address a booming human population. Conserving natural resources while producing food in natural landscapes is a challenge that requires ecosystem health and social-ecological systems thinking. A logo of the company Pro Su...

Dans l’objectif général d’un ouvrage proposant un autre récit fondateur de la coopération territoriale, cette introduction ancre ce dernier dans l’histoire de chercheurs passionnés «passeurs de frontières ». Qui sommes-nous? Un collectif de chercheurs d’un institut de recherche français, investi dans la coopération internationale avec les pays d...

Ce chapitre vise à ouvrir notre réflexion sur l’opportunité que constitue la redéfinition de notre rapport au vivant, aux autres et à nos territoires pour changer nos pratiques et «infiltrer » les politiques publiques. Quel positionnement vis-à-vis de la diversité du vivant en matière de coopération territoriale? Plutôt que de préserver la diversi...

Ce chapitre vise à illustrer la manière dont nous utilisons les jeux de rôles, et en particulier le jeu de rôles ReHab, pour faciliter l'engagement d'une pluralité d'usagers dans la cogestion adaptative des ressources renouvelables. Pourquoi la cogestion adaptative constitue-t-elle un enjeu du « faire commun » ? Les différents usagers de la terre...

Theoretical trends in agent-based modeling (ABM) draw sharp lines that usually limit the expressiveness of models to fit their methodological box: KISS puts emphasis on parsimonious and tractable model for systematic simulation analysis, KIDS focuses on the use of data for model specification and simulation validation, while KILT highlights the inv...

The Companion Modeling approach aims to stimulate learning and sharing of perceptions among several actors through the co-construction and use of a model, while the Integrated Assessment of Agricultural Systems aims to assess a large set of performances of current and alternative systems. Our research question was: to what extent does the joint use...

Over the last ten years in France, new forms of collective farming have emerged and seem to promote a life project associated with being a farmer. These forms of collective farming, which are still poorly documented, could promote more diversified systems, more complex, related to the diversity of actors involved in the farm. To understand the inte...

This research assessed how ecosystem services (ES) are taken into account in the decision-making process of stakeholders involved in the management of agroecosystems, in particular agroforestry systems, and how an Role-Playing Game (RPG) can serve as a tool to allow them to discuss the issues concerned. The study was conducted in two municipalities...

Agent-based models are popular in common-pool resource management to represent complex systems and stimulate collective action and management, where they are used to evaluate scenarios of stakeholders' choice in participatory simulations. We developed the "CoComForest" (COllaborative COMmunity FOREST management) model to support community forest ma...

Agent-based models are popular in common-pool resource management to represent complex systems and stimulate collective action and management, where they are used to evaluate scenarios of stakeholders' choice in participatory simulations. We developed the "CoComForest" (COllaborative COMmunity FOREST management) model to support community forest ma...

In West Africa, new management practices such as conservation agriculture with crop residue mulching can improve crop yields for individual farmers. However, in a context of complex social interactions between farmers, the introduction of such practices can also lead to conflicts between private interests and communal use of resources, for example...

Biodiversity-based agriculture is the main form of agriculture practiced by smallholder farmers, who produce half the world’s food, especially in the Global South. This form of agriculture relies on planned biodiversity intentionally managed by farmers and on the associated biodiversity that spontaneously colonizes the agroecosystem. In recent deca...

This paper investigates the perceptions of a diversity of stakeholders supporting smallholders in the eastern Brazilian Amazon about ecosystem services and agricultural practices. Our results come from 30 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in two contrasting municipalities in this region (Paragominas and Irituia). We identified 17 dif...

Um exercício de prospectiva territorial foi desenvolvido com a agricultura familiar no município de Paragominas, PA, conhecido como o primeiro “município verde”, para permiti-la melhor inserir-se no jogo político local. A prospectiva é definida como um método para explorar coletivamente o futuro por meio de cenários, que visa antecipar as evoluções...

https://africa.iasc-commons.org/video_presentation/waterscape-and-land-commons-changes-in-semi-arid-area-creating-multiple-crises-for-pastoral-communities-and-natural-resources-management-amboseli-kenya-en/

To confront complex policy dilemmas characterizing common-pool resources management requires developing learning networks of stakeholders to create a cooperative decision-making environment in which trust, understanding, and mutual reliance develop over time. Involved in such social learning processes, local actors are strengthened, their empowerme...

Deforestation and biodiversity loss in agroecosystems are generally the result of rational choices, not of a lack of awareness or knowledge. Despite both scientific evidence and traditional knowledge that supports the value of diverse production systems for ecosystem services and resilience, a trend of agroecosystem intensification is apparent acro...

How one builds, checks, validates and interprets a model depends on its 'purpose'. This is true even if the same model code is used for diierent purposes. This means that a model built for one purpose but then used for another needs to be re-justified for the new purpose and this will probably mean it also has to be rechecked , re-validated and may...

Agent-based modelling (ABM) simulates Social-Ecological-Systems (SESs) based on the decision-making and actions of individual actors or actor groups, their interactions with each other, and with ecosystems. Many ABM studies have focused at the scale of villages, rural landscapes, towns or cities. When considering a geographical, spatially-explicit...

The last few years have seen the emergence of different initiatives designed to promote the biodiversification of agroecosystems as a counterpoint to the global expansion of homogenized industrial agriculture. In Brazil, two food procurement programs demonstrate the potential to promote discussions related to this agroecological transition: the Nat...

Deforestation and biodiversity loss in agroecosystems are generally the result of rational choices, not of a lack of awareness or knowledge. Despite both scientific evidence and traditional knowledge that supports the value of diverse production systems for ecosystem services and resilience, a trend of agroecosystem intensification is apparent acro...

Various tools and methods are used in participatory modelling, at different stages of the process and for different purposes. The diversity of tools and methods can create challenges for stakeholders and modelers when selecting the ones most appropriate for their projects. We offer a systematic overview, assessment, and categorization of methods to...

This paper is a reflexive analysis of a three-year participatory water research project conducted in the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, whose explicit objective was to initiate a multi-level dialogue to support the national Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) policy framework. The transdisciplinary team adopted the Companion Modeling ap...

A new approach is introduced under the slogan « Keep It a Learning Tool » (KILT) to emphasize the crucial need to make the purpose of the modelling process explicit when choosing the degree of complicatedness of an agent-based simulation model. We suggest that a co-design approach driven by early-stage and interactive simulation of empirical agent-...

Territorial development reshapes public action by involving citizens in the choice, management and monitoring of public services, and by promoting the representation of populations that are usually excluded (Tonneau et al., 2011). The corollary is an engagement by citizens that goes beyond the traditional reliance on political or administrative rep...

The purpose of this chapter is to summarize how agent-based modelling and simulation (ABMS) is being used in the area of environmental management. With the science of complex systems now being widely recognized as an appropriate one to tackle the main issues of ecological management, ABMS is emerging as one of the most promising approaches. To avoi...

A new approach is introduced under the slogan «Keep It a Learning Tool» (KILT) to emphasize the crucial need to make the purpose of the modelling process explicit when choosing the degree of complicatedness of an agent-based simulation model. We suggest that a co-design approach driven by early-stage and interactive simulation of empirical agent-ba...

Efforts to rehabilitate the forest cover in upper watersheds of northern Thailand have led to frequent land use conflicts between government agencies and smallholders belonging to ethnic minorities. Hmong herders exploiting grasslands and fallows with an extensive cattle rearing systems are increasingly constrained by the regular expansion of tree...

Les travaux que j’ai menés sont engagés : ils ont pour but de renforcer les capacités des acteurs les moins favorisés des socio-écosystèmes à prendre part à des ateliers de concertation multi-acteurs. Ils reposent sur le postulat qu’une concertation effective demande un partage équilibré des différents points de vue des protagonistes. Pour partager...

Protected areas are often burdened with conflicts between environmental managers and neighboring rural communities.Unsuccessful top-down approaches for conservation may be replaced by alternative forms of systemic management involving local actors in the design and implementation of conservation management. Although theoretically sound and appealin...

Description du jeu de rôles Water Distribution Game” (WaDiGa) pour la simulaiton des effets de différentes modalités de gestion collective de l’eau sur la transition horticole marchande dans un petit sous-bassin versant d’Asie du Sud-Est montagnarde.

Biosphere reserves are an example of social-ecological systems that combine biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic development with knowledge generation and dissemination (both scientific and local). We review lessons learned from case studies biosphere reserves in western African and France, highlighting the importance of early stakeholder en...

Ce document présente les nouvelles fonctionnalités de Cormas, une plate-forme de modélisation multi-agent dédiée à la gestion des ressources renouvelables. Logiciel libre, Cormas vise à concevoir facilement un SMA et analyser des scénarios. Aujourd'hui, Cormas a pris une direction novatrice orientée vers la conception collective de modèles et la si...

Background and Aim. It is often assumed in natural resources management that communication helps with solving the ‘tragedy of the commons’ by way of shared knowledge and better coordination. ReHab is a role-playing game, both cooperative and competitive, exploring the role of knowledge production and communication for the conservation and managemen...

In this presentation, we describe an ongoing work conducted in Zimbabwe. We show how co-designed Role playing games can be used to include local actors as partners of research, and gather data on local practices.

The coexistence of protected areas and neighbouring communal areas in Southern Africa is jeopardised by negative interactions between wildlife and villagers and their livestock. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) has often been blamed for a significant proportion of the “human-wildlife conflicts”, mainly through the transmission of pathogens to...

Alternative agricultural systems, such as organic farming (OF), are promising options to sustain both agriculture productivity and environmental health. However, the adoption of OF by farmers is occurring more slowly than is advocated. A key factor limiting farmers is an inability to predict socio-economic consequences of converting to OF. To overc...

Presentation of the Companion Modelling aprroach and case studies in SE Asia

This chapter presents the new functionalities of Cormas, a generic agent-based modeling (ABM) platform dedicated to common-pool resource management. As free software, Cormas is used by an international community of researchers willing to understand the relationships between societies and their environment. It is intended to facilitate the design of...

This paper aims at presenting the new functionalities of Cormas, a generic Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) platform dedicated to common-pool resources management. As free software, Cormas is used by an international community of researchers willing to understand the relationships between societies and their environment. It is intended to facilitate the...

Poster presented at the conference , Michigan State University, June 2015. As a sullary of the talk given during the Conference, this poster provides an overview of the Companion Modeling process conducted in Zimbabwe in order to design a role playing game about cattle herding strategies.

Introduction: Farming systems design with stakeholders is context specific and requests participatory methods to reconcile the field, farm and watershed levels while integrating different knowledge systems. Rapid ecological and socioeconomic changes in northern Thailand highlands have created land use conflicts between extensive cattle rearing syst...

The Water distribution Game (WaDiGa) simulates an agricultural transition from self-subsistence food crops (maize and upland rice) to commercial plantation crops (litchee and green tea) in a highland catchment of peninsular southeast Asia. Three categories of farmers having different sets of productive resources cultivate the catchment and have to...

An agent-based model (ABM) representing snare trapping of blue duikers (Cephalophus monticola) was co-designed and used with local populations to raise their awareness about the sustainability of bushmeat hunting activities in the region of the Korup National Park (South-West Cameroon). Village meetings based on interactive simulations with a styli...

An agent-based model (ABM) was co-designed with a group of rainfedlowland rice farmers from a village in Northeast Thailand to investigate the interactions between wateravailability and labour migration in rice production. A preliminary agrarian system analysis of the study site (LamDome Yai watershed in Southern Ubon Ratchathani Province) suggeste...

Is the regional conversion to Organic Farming (OF) possible? What could be the consequences at different scales in terms of social and economic development as well as nature conservation? Taking the heterogeneity of farms and farming systems in the region into account, are there farmers more prone to conversion and others that face greater obstacle...

The Lam Dome Yai watershed is a drought-prone area dominated by the rainfed lowland rice (RLR) ecosystem. It is also a homeland of the poor and the only recourse for better livelihood is to migrate to cities. Poverty and labour migration are a result of the interaction between agro-ecological constraints such as erratic rainfall distribution, lack...

To understand the recent shift of paradigms prevailing in both environmental modelling and renewable resources management that led to the emerging rise in the application of ABMS. Also, to learn about a practical way to characterize applications of ABMS to environmental management and to see this framework applied to review a selection of recent ap...

Provocateur, visionnaire, pédagogue : tels sont les principaux traits de la personnalité de Jacques Weber qui se dégagent de cet ouvrage à travers une douzaine d’articles de l’auteur et leur relecture par des confrères et disciples, d’horizons fort divers, enrichis de témoignages sur la contribution de ce passeur de frontières. Depuis ses travaux s...

This paper describes how the Cormas platform has been used for 12 years as an artefact to foster learning about agent-based simulation for renewable resource management. Among the existing generic agent-based simulation platforms, Cormas occupies a tiny, yet lively, place. Thanks to regular training sessions and an electronic forum, a community of...

This paper describes how the farming system modelling - software 'Olympe' (developed in collaboration by INRA/CIRAD/IAMM) can be coupled with the agent-based simulation platform 'Cormas' to better characterize and analyse farming systems identified as major centres of decision in agriculture. Cirmas (developed by CIRAD) enables representation of co...

The objective of this paper is to question the increasingly common choice to build and use spatially explicit models, especially in the case of participatory agent-based modelling processes. The paper draws on a combination of lessons from literature and the case of a companion modelling process conducted in the context of a conflict about land and...