[PhD student] François Vendel: The Great Green Wall and its local autonomisation in Ferlo : Commons approach and companion modeling

The Great Green Wall and its local autonomisation in Ferlo : Commons approach and companion modeling

I am a PhD student at CIRAD's UMR SENS, hosted in Senegal by the Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole - Centre National de Recherche Forestière (ISRA-CNRF). As part of my thesis, I am supported by the Dundi Ferlo project (supported by the NGOs WeForest, Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF), CIRAD and ISRA-CNRF) and the FairCarboN-FerloSine project, respectively devoted to sustainable reforestation initiatives and carbon neutrality trajectories.
A geographer by training, specializing in the analysis of territorial systems and nature-society interactions, I did most of my training at the Institut de Géographie Alpine in Grenoble. My research activities have focused on mountain territories, with experiences in the Brazilian equatorial forest and mangrove ecosystems in Senegal.
Currently, my thesis work aims to implement a companion modeling approach (ComMod) based on a computer model to support a commons-based approach.  Doing a thesis in this context gives me the opportunity to hone my skills in participatory approaches, and to develop my skills in agent-based modeling for natural resource management, a subject that appeals to me because of its relevance to current global concerns and the intellectual stimulation it provides. 

My central hypothesis is that the emergence of forms of collective governance of the commons is built from (1) the debating of individual decision-making and (2) the co-construction of collective action through shared learning, implemented in a companion modeling approach. The second hypothesis is that these forms of collective governance of the commons enable local and sustainable ownership of actions to restore degraded land.
Choosing this topic was an opportunity to extend my Master 2 research into a new territory, by continuing the analysis of a socio-ecosystem through participatory simulation and the exploration of scenarios co-constructed with stakeholders.
This research work will help stakeholders to reflect locally on how to manage territorial resources (natural, but also technological, infrastructure and management structures), but also provide the Great Green Wall gas pedal with new perspectives for restoring degraded land, based on the interest, initiative and participation of local communities.

The implementation of a companion modeling approach using a highly collaborative digital tool also opens up new prospects for collaboration between computer sciences, environmental sciences and social sciences, with the aim of strengthening interdisciplinarity and putting science back at the service of civil society through greater involvement of the latter in all modeling processes.

• Starting date : 20 octobre 2022
• University : Université Paul Valéry Montpellier III
• PhD school : GAIA
• Scientific topic : Modelling - geography
• Thesis management : Pierre Bommel, UMR Sens, Cirad
• Thesis supervisors  : Etienne Delay, UMR Sens, Cirad - Jean-Daniel Cesaro, UMR Selmet, Cirad
• Funding: Dundi Ferlo / FairCarboN
• #DigitAg : Labeled PhD – Axe 6 : Modélisation et simulation (systèmes de production agricole), Axe 4 : Système d’information, stockage et transfert de données, Axe 5 : Fouille de données, analyse de données, extraction de connaissances, Challenge 0: Sujet transversal, Challenge 5 : Les services de conseil agricole

Abstract: Dundi Ferlo, supported by the NGOs WeForest and Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF), the Centre International de Recherche Agronomique et Développement (CIRAD), the Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agronomique - Centre National de Recherche Forestière (ISRA-CNRF) and the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD), and the FairCarboN - Ferlo-Sine project. The Dundi Ferlo project promotes new approaches for restoring degraded land, in particular by involving local communities in decision-making processes, with the aim of fostering community autonomy in reforestation initiatives.
The aim of this doctoral work is to understand the dynamics associated with these operations to restore degraded land in the Great Green Wall intervention zone in Senegal, and to help local stakeholders to co-construct and debate viable territorial development scenarios. By including stakeholders in the definition of objectives and the design of restoration options, this thesis aims to provide the Great Green Wall accelerator with new approaches to ecosystem restoration, with indicators adapted to local situations, based on community interest, participation and initiative.This thesis is part of a process of post-normal science in which the researcher's problematics are developed according to local concerns. It stands at the intersection of the fields of ecology, human and social sciences and computer modelling. Through the intermediary of the commons approach and companion modelling, it aims to co-construct a locally shared representation of the territorial system for collective management of the commons. The implementation of a companion modelling approach will make it possible to strengthen local ownership and responsibility for initiatives to restore degraded land as part of the Great Green Wall, and to work towards the socio-economic and socio-ecological viability of restoration processes with a view to scaling them up.

Contact : francois.vendel [AT] cirad.fr

Social networks : LinkedIn - ResearchGate

Communications: 

• Emmanuel Salim, Enora Bruley, Jonathan Cognard, Cécile Duvillier, Jean-Baptiste Grison, Julia Grosinger, Pierre-Alexandre Métral, Carine Pachoud, Anne-Sophie Crepeau, Camille Savre, François Vendel, Yannick Vialette 2022. Mountain Tourism, Conflict and Resilience in the Anthropocene: What Role for Community Engagement through Transdisciplinary approach? https://hal.science/hal-03930541/document – Open access
   
• Enora Bruley, Bruno Locatelli, François Vendel, Agnès Bergeret, Nicolas Elleaume, Julia Grosinger, Sandra Lavorel 2021. Historical reconfigurations of a socialecological system adapting to economic, policy and climate changes in the French Alps   Regional Environmental Change , 21, http://hal.cirad.fr/cirad-03920167/document – Open Access
   
• Karine Aubry, Julien Beaumet, Lucas Berard, Michela Bevione, Anais Bernard-Brunet, Claire Blanchet, Enora Bruley, Nicolas Elleaume, Julia Grosinger, Marc Higgin, Raphaël Lachello, Mélanie Marcuzzi, Martin Ménégoz, Maïssane Moumene, Anastasia Panenko, Florian Raymond, François Vendel, Taline Zgheib 2019. An interdisciplinary approach to showcase changes of a socio-ecological system in the French Alps – Open access
   
• Oleksandr Zaitsev, François Vendel, Etienne Delay. Cormas: The Software for Participatory Modelling and its Application for Managing Natural Resources in Senegal. The 2nd workshop on Resource AWareness of Systems and Society (RAW 2023), Aug 2023, Limassol, Cyprus. ⟨hal-04243082⟩ - Open access