's darÉ, raPhaèle ducrot, natalie Jones, JÉrôMe queste, guy trÉBuil and anneMarie van Paassen Justifications and assumptionsWhy is an assessment of ComMod needed?The assessment of the effects of companion modelling is currently still a theoretical and methodological field under investigation. However, neighbouring fields of research provide relevant elements of reflection. For example, research on integrated assessments aims to provide public policy decision-makers with relevant information for decisionmaking. This information generally arises out of an interdisciplinary process for consolidating, interpreting and communicating knowledge from various sources (Hisschemöller et al., 2001). In this context, Siebenhüner and Barth (2005) tried to determine under what circumstances the use of a model would be consistent with the objectives of a participatory approach. It should be stressed, however, that there is a marked difference between an integrated assessment using certain forms of modelling and the ComMod approach itself. Hisschemöller et al. (2001) considered that the aim of integrated assessment is to inform the parties involved without seeking to promote convergence of opinion. As discussed in Chapter 1 and in more detail in Chapter 5, the ComMod approach, by contrast, seeks to support the sharing of views, the consensual exploration of scenarios and, where appropriate, group decision-making. From an approach assessment standpoint, it thus seems necessary to go beyond analysing knowledge creation and learning processes and also focus on interaction and mobilization processes, or even legitimacy and accountability principles to provide an understanding of 'what happens' during a ComMod approach and what are its consequences. E x e m p l a i r e a u t e u r Companion modelling 142Trying to establish an assessment protocol, which is both scaled to the implementation contexts of the ComMod approach and sufficiently robust to cover all the aforementioned analytical dimensions, is quite a challenge. Expecting to create a perfect protocol at the first attempt is just wishful thinking. The protocol created for, and used during, the ADD-ComMod project corresponds to a first draft of a more advanced assessment methodology, the initial stages of which are presented at the end of this chapter. Within this project, the objective of the assessment process is initially twofold: -to estimate the impact of the approach in terms of mobilization and involvement of local stakeholders in group learning and decision-making -to improve the ComMod approach's underlying methodology and theory.The second goal probably influenced the structure and content of the assessment protocol presented later in this chapter. As each structure has its own constraints, it is likely that the proposed format limited the assessors' ability to answer the questions raised by the first goal as much as they would have liked. However, the comparative nature of the ADD-ComMod project (27 case studies) imposed a methodological rigour called for by the di...

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Jeux de rôles comme objets frontières dans un conflit de partage de l'eau d'irrigation au Bhoutan Résumé Le partage de l'eau d'irrigation est souvent l'objet de négociations entre des acteurs ayant des connaissances de natures différentes : chercheurs et acteurs locaux, irrigants et gestionnaires. La construction d'accords sur les modalités de gestion de la ressource doit alors s'appuyer sur une traduction des connaissances et des cadres de référence de ces acteurs hétérogènes. Dans cette perspective, nous nous intéressons dans cet article au rôle d'« objets frontières », ayant un sens différent dans différents mondes sociaux, mais suffisamment rigides pour conserver une identité propre. Ce cadre théorique est mis à l'épreuve par l'analyse d'une expérimentation de modélisation d'accompagnement menée au Bhoutan et reposant sur des jeux de rôles. Le suivi des sessions de jeu permet d'expliciter les frontières entre un groupe de scientifiques et deux groupes d'irrigants et de rendre compte des processus de traduction qui s'y opèrent. Ces informations peuvent être mobilisées en pratique pour la coconstruction de nouvelles règles d'usage de l'eau pour une gestion adaptative de cette ressource.