Context
As part of its work, the STEEP team (INRIA Grenoble Alpes) intends to contribute to the design, evaluation and debate on socio-technical alternatives for the future (e.g. 2050). Biophysical accounting methods (materials, energy, land use, etc.) provide an analytical grid that gives indications of the sustainability of alternatives (according to sound sustainability and ecological economy frameworks) [4,8,9]. These tools are relevant for highlighting the systemic effects on resources and the major pressures to be taken into account for territorial transformations (and in particular dependencies, competition in the use of resources and environmental footprints) [2,6].
However, these models are not enough. First of all, they are still expert models. But if alternatives are to emerge in a democratic way, we need to think in terms of participation to enable them to be appropriated. In addition, they focus on biophysical organisation, without taking into account the network of players and the governance associated with the flows.
To meet this need, we want to explicitly integrate biophysical organisation and flow modelling, as well as the associated social control, into a tool widely used in participatory processes aimed at transforming territories: the game [1,3,5,7]. The aim of this game (with a digital and board version) is to teach people how to handle flows and transform resources, in a context of flow governance with:
- a biophysical organisation,
- a network of players and governance of this organisation,
- associated social choices.
Following several successive internships, the game now exists in two versions, digital and board.
Tasks of the internship
The overall aim of this placement is to finalise the digital and board games, as well as their evaluation with regard to the understanding and discussion of biophysical accounting. The aim will therefore be to finalise the design of the tool as well as to formalise a critical and evaluative assessment of it.
More concretely, the tasks will be broken down as follows:
- Finalising the game design
- on the basis of the initial tests and by organising further tests, refinement of the rules of the game (in particular the game objectives and constraints) and its balancing,
- setting up time for debriefing the game, which is essential for this tool, as it enables the players to become aware of what they have learned and discovered, and to relate it to the real world.
- proposing ‘standardised’ games (digital and board games), thinking about the player’s experience in relation to the objectives of understanding biophysical accounting at the heart of this project.
- Game testing and evaluation: this part will provide the trainee with an opportunity to grasp the issues involved in biophysical accounting and to put them into practice in order to build a relevant observation and evaluation grid for the tool.
- Formalisation of the hypotheses surrounding the tool, construction of an evaluation grid and associated test protocol.
- Deployment of the game by organising, running and observing a series of games.
- Analysis and evaluation
Finally, the game is a model that focuses on certain issues in order to understand them better, by means of hypotheses. As well as the game itself, this course will also be an opportunity for the trainee to develop a critical eye for the scientific model and its role in the decision-making process.
Supervision, application, start of internship
This work will be mainly supervised by Mathilde Boissier (STEEP team, INRIA Grenoble). To apply, send an email to mathilde.boissier@inria.fr, with your CV and a covering letter.
The internship will start at the beginning of March and last 4 to 6 months.
The subject is largely interdisciplinary and goes beyond the areas of expertise acquired during your studies. This is normal and we know it. So don’t hesitate to apply!
Bibliography
Bibliography of the team related to the subject
- Abrami G., Ferrand N., Ducrot R., et al.: Paper and pebbles simulations and modelling for the governance of socio-environmental systems: a review of 8 years of experimenting with the Wat-AGame toolkit. Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, pp. 851 (2016).
- Boissier M., Mangeot M., Jost V., Viénot L.: Designing Serious Games to understand the challenges of the Anthropocene, ICED 2023 24th International Conference on Engineering Design, Bordeaux (2023). hal-03975671
- Boissier M., Ferrand N., Krieger E., et al.: Playing with flows in transition territories, Simulation and Gaming for Social and Environmental Transitions.: Proceedings of the 54th Conference of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (2023). hal-04014398
- Courtonne J.Y., Alapetite J., Longaretti P.Y., et al.: Downscaling material flow analysis: The case of the cereal supply chain in France, Ecological Economics 118, 67–80 (2015).
- Ferrand N., Farolfi S., Abrami G., Du Toit D.: WAT-A-GAME: sharing water and policies in your own basin. 40th Annual Conference, Int. Simulation And Gaming Association, pp. 17 (2009). hal-01355501
- Viénot L.: Démonstrateurs pour l’analyse d’alternatives socio-techniques, Mémoire M2, École Polytechnique (2022) https://inria.hal.science/hal-03867864
External bibliography: works directly related to the subject
- Becu N.: Les courants d’influence et la pratique de la simulation participative: contours, design et contributions aux changements sociétaux et organisationnels dans les territoires, HDR, La Rochelle Université (2020).
- Binder C.R.: From material flow analysis to material flow management Part I: social sciences modeling approaches coupled to MFA. Journal of Cleaner Production 15(17), 1596–1604 (2007).
- Gabriel A.W., Madelrieux S., Lescoat P.: A review of socio-economic metabolism representations and their links to action: Cases in agri-food studies. Ecological Economics 178, 106765 (2020).
