Keywords

Qualitative modelling; participatory approach; socio-ecosystem; sustainability; shellfish aquaculture

Start Date

27-6-2018 9:00 AM

End Date

27-6-2018 10:20 AM

Abstract

In data-poor situations, qualitative modelling (Puccia and Levins’ “loop analysis”) combined with participatory involvement of stakeholders is well suited to holistically represent the complexity of socio-ecosystems and to assess system stability and its responses to long-term perturbations. This paper presents the results of a qualitative modelling project that involved an interdisciplinary team across natural sciences, social sciences, and modelling. The project focused on analysing the sustainability of a socio-ecosystem with an intense activity of shellfish aquaculture in the Normand-Breton gulf, France. Our primary objective was to involve stakeholders into the participatory development of qualitative models describing the structure and functioning of this regional aquaculture system. Six area-specific workshops were held independently with different focus groups, namely shellfish producers, managers and other stakeholders, to elicit key components, interactions and pressures viewed as significant to socio-ecological dynamics. First, we identified differences and commonalities in system perceptions across areas and stakeholder groups. Despite discrepancies between focus groups, we successfully derived a synthetic representation that reconciles alternative views of the system. Second, we predicted system responses to various perturbation scenarios. Overall, the participatory qualitative modelling exercise identified key drivers of the system that have not received much attention from past research and management. In particular, the lack of social acceptability appears as a major constraint limiting the potential for shellfish aquaculture to expand in the region.

Stream and Session

Stream C: Integrated Social, Economic, Ecological, and Infrastructural Modeling

C1: Participatory Modelling, Ambiguity and the Challenges of Being Inclusive

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Jun 27th, 9:00 AM Jun 27th, 10:20 AM

Eliciting Stakeholder Representations of a Marine Socio-Ecosystem: Participatory Modelling of Shellfish Aquaculture in the Normand-Breton Gulf, France

In data-poor situations, qualitative modelling (Puccia and Levins’ “loop analysis”) combined with participatory involvement of stakeholders is well suited to holistically represent the complexity of socio-ecosystems and to assess system stability and its responses to long-term perturbations. This paper presents the results of a qualitative modelling project that involved an interdisciplinary team across natural sciences, social sciences, and modelling. The project focused on analysing the sustainability of a socio-ecosystem with an intense activity of shellfish aquaculture in the Normand-Breton gulf, France. Our primary objective was to involve stakeholders into the participatory development of qualitative models describing the structure and functioning of this regional aquaculture system. Six area-specific workshops were held independently with different focus groups, namely shellfish producers, managers and other stakeholders, to elicit key components, interactions and pressures viewed as significant to socio-ecological dynamics. First, we identified differences and commonalities in system perceptions across areas and stakeholder groups. Despite discrepancies between focus groups, we successfully derived a synthetic representation that reconciles alternative views of the system. Second, we predicted system responses to various perturbation scenarios. Overall, the participatory qualitative modelling exercise identified key drivers of the system that have not received much attention from past research and management. In particular, the lack of social acceptability appears as a major constraint limiting the potential for shellfish aquaculture to expand in the region.