Co-Modeling Process, Negotiations, and Power Relationships: Some Outputs From a MAB Project on the Island of Ouessant

Abstract

For many conservation scientists, interdisciplinarity and participation can be efficient in the management of biodiversity. For both methods, new tools and new participative processes such as the so-called “co-modeling process” are required. The key questions addressed in this article are how group dynamics shape the model and why certain perspectives dominate in a process designed to be democratic. It is necessary, therefore, in order to appreciate the design and the legitimacy of the model that has been co-constructed, to address the questions of both the stakeholders' interests and their status in the process. Our case study is a co-modeling program based in a French biosphere reserve. It enabled us to highlight the key role of the mediator who had to govern social relationships and translate disciplinary jargon into a common technical language through a list of co-modeling rules.

Keywords:

• co-adaptive management
• co-modeling
• multi-agent system
• participation
• power relationships

We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their detailed and useful comments on previous drafts of this article. The authors research case studies have been funded by the Institut Français de la Biodiversité.

Notes

Note. From Boulanger and Bréchet (2005, 343).