Kulayinjana (1.0.0)

The model aims at supporting the setting-up of a fair and balanced dialogue arena where rural communities and protected area managers at the periphery of Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe) may collaborate to produce effective management plans. Adopting the Companion Modelling approach, we conducted a participatory modelling experiment to co-design a role-playing game simulating the interactions between farming activities, livestock herding and wildlife in a virtual landscape reproducing local socioecological dynamics. After 18 months of intensive ethnographical fieldwork to gain knowledge and legitimacy, we co-designed with a group of volunteer villagers the first version of the game during one year. The game was tested and validated by other members of the rural communities, and subsequently presented to protected areas’ managers. This approach allowed the negotiation of uncertainties and their inclusion in a model that constitutes a shared representation of farmers’ interactions with the protected area.

Release Notes

Associated Publications

Perrotton A., Le Page C., Chuma P., Triomphe B., de Garine Wichatitsky M. 2015. Kulayinjana (« Teaching Each Other »): A Role Playing Game to elicit, model and simulate cattle complex herding strategies. In: Innovations in Collaborative Modeling: Addressing complex social and environmental problems through systems modeling techniques, June 4-5, 2015. Michigan State University.

Perrotton A., Le Page C., de Garine Wichatitsky M. 2016. Tackling issues of coexistence between protected areas and communal lands: Using Role playing games and participatory modeling to understand cattle herding strategies at the edge of a protected area. In: 14th Annual Savanna Science Networking Meeting, South African National Parks, 13-18 March 2016. Skukuza, South Africa. https://www.sanparks.org/conservation/scientific_new/savannah_arid/events/savanna_science_network_meeting.php