WP 3 – Participatory Modelling

To elicit the behavior rules guiding water consumption by the tourist sector, including key stakeholders and end-users, WP 3 will use the Participatory Modelling approach, which is iterative in stakeholder engagement and simulation/model co-development, where relevant stakeholders, researchers and technical experts can participate. This process involves three steps: desk study and individual interviews, role-playing games development, and simulation sessions.

Desk study and individual interviews with key stakeholders (step 1) will result in a first overview of the main elements and processes of the water system at hand, and the stakeholders’ perspectives of them. This step will combine various pieces of information about the water system, so that a system’s representation results, which stakeholders recognize and feel identified with. This representation will describe all the available resources, as well as the stakeholders’ interests.

Based on the insights from this process, the research team will develop a first version of a role-playing game. During the role-playing step (step 2), stakeholders will play a game with their current role and taking some other stakeholder’s role going through different game rounds and scenarios. In addition, the game will be further improved based on stakeholders’ feedback.

During the simulation sessions (step 3), the research team will test the information about human agency, heterogeneities, and feedbacks provided by individual interviews, in a dynamic group setting. Simulation sessions enable participants to perform their unique strategies within the system. They are thus a means of understanding and enabling human agency and social learning.