also be used when groups are more heterogeneous and topics are more sensitive,
although the consistency of the results will depend on the composition of the groups
involved. Provided that the moderator is competent and experienced, the Ror Tor
Sor program is able to enhance mutual understanding among heterogeneous groups,
and through fostered dialogue a compromise weighting can be achieved. In such
cases, there is less emphasis on AHP as a weighting and selecting tool, but rather as
a communication tool aimed at reaching compromise among diverse interests.
9.3.2 Stakeholder Participation in Modeling Land Use
Changes and Resource Competition
Participatory modeling has been defined as “the process of incorporating
stakeholders, often including the public, and decision-makers into an otherwise
purely analytic modeling process to support decisions involving complex environmental questions” (Voinov and Brown Gaddis 2008: 197–198). Stakeholder
involvement in agent-based modeling and simulation can take various forms:
(1) role plays can provide crucial information on behavioral parameters that feed
into the model (Barreteau 2003), (2) stakeholders can validate the assumptions or
simulation outcomes of the model and help improve it by giving feedback on how
realistic the assumptions or outcomes are based on their experience, such as of soft
systems validation (e.g., Schreinemachers et al. 2010), (3) stakeholders can be
involved as players in a more interactive version of the model in which they set
their own rules and can change parameters (e.g., Castella et al. 2005), (4) models
can be used as a decision-support tool for stakeholders by exploring alternative
scenarios (e.g., Becu et al. 2008, cf. Sect. 9.3.2.2) and quantifying possible
consequences of alternative scenarios (e.g., Becu et al. 2003), and (5) models can
be employed in a more extractive form in data-scarce environments, as exemplified
in the following case study from north-western Vietnam.
9.3.2.1 Building on Qualitative Datasets to Simulate Land Use Change
in North-Western Vietnam
This study drew on an integrated approach, using participatory assessment tools and a
land use change model, as part of an iterative process to explore the linkage between
soil fertility degradation and land use change, covering a case study area in Chieng
Khoi Commune, north-west Vietnam (Lippe et al. 2011). The study was conducted
under the premise that the epistemic uncertainty inherent in environmental
assessments calls for participatory approaches to modeling and science-based
research, in order to enhance the opportunity to jointly identify solutions to environmental problems such as soil degradation. It followed the hypothesis that qualitative
information derived from a participative environmental assessment approach can
9 Participatory Approaches to Research and Development in the Southeast. . .
335
although the consistency of the results will depend on the composition of the groups
involved. Provided that the moderator is competent and experienced, the Ror Tor
Sor program is able to enhance mutual understanding among heterogeneous groups,
and through fostered dialogue a compromise weighting can be achieved. In such
cases, there is less emphasis on AHP as a weighting and selecting tool, but rather as
a communication tool aimed at reaching compromise among diverse interests.
9.3.2 Stakeholder Participation in Modeling Land Use
Changes and Resource Competition
Participatory modeling has been defined as “the process of incorporating
stakeholders, often including the public, and decision-makers into an otherwise
purely analytic modeling process to support decisions involving complex environmental questions” (Voinov and Brown Gaddis 2008: 197–198). Stakeholder
involvement in agent-based modeling and simulation can take various forms:
(1) role plays can provide crucial information on behavioral parameters that feed
into the model (Barreteau 2003), (2) stakeholders can validate the assumptions or
simulation outcomes of the model and help improve it by giving feedback on how
realistic the assumptions or outcomes are based on their experience, such as of soft
systems validation (e.g., Schreinemachers et al. 2010), (3) stakeholders can be
involved as players in a more interactive version of the model in which they set
their own rules and can change parameters (e.g., Castella et al. 2005), (4) models
can be used as a decision-support tool for stakeholders by exploring alternative
scenarios (e.g., Becu et al. 2008, cf. Sect. 9.3.2.2) and quantifying possible
consequences of alternative scenarios (e.g., Becu et al. 2003), and (5) models can
be employed in a more extractive form in data-scarce environments, as exemplified
in the following case study from north-western Vietnam.
9.3.2.1 Building on Qualitative Datasets to Simulate Land Use Change
in North-Western Vietnam
This study drew on an integrated approach, using participatory assessment tools and a
land use change model, as part of an iterative process to explore the linkage between
soil fertility degradation and land use change, covering a case study area in Chieng
Khoi Commune, north-west Vietnam (Lippe et al. 2011). The study was conducted
under the premise that the epistemic uncertainty inherent in environmental
assessments calls for participatory approaches to modeling and science-based
research, in order to enhance the opportunity to jointly identify solutions to environmental problems such as soil degradation. It followed the hypothesis that qualitative
information derived from a participative environmental assessment approach can
9 Participatory Approaches to Research and Development in the Southeast. . .
335