TERRISTORIES® : a collaborative management game

An interactive multi-stakeholder conflict resolution tool

During the game, environmental, economic and social uncertainties are introduced. Participants are thus encouraged to react and to co-design operational management rules that take into account both their individual needs and those of the collective.

Beyond the development of short-term, context-specific collaborative tools, TerriStories® aims to foster endogenous and lasting change, from local to global scales.

An adapted version is now also available for the general public, as a board game published by Bioviva, a company that develops eco-designed games manufactured in France. It helps raise awareness about the conditions and usefulness of stakeholder dialogues for sustainable development challenges.

Features :

• natural resources management ;
• conflict prevention and resolution through the definition of collective rules ;
• initiation of collective actions ;
• stakeholders coordination ;
• management of sustainable development issues.

Stage Development

Social and environmental benefits for your projects

Projects involving diverse stakeholders with potentially conflicting interests are numerous. The TerriStories® game is therefore highly adaptable and :

• can be used for a wide range of issues: natural resource management, conflict prevention and resolution, definition of collective rules, initiation of collective actions and stakeholder coordination;
• enables complex forward-looking simulations based on simple modelling elements accessible to all;
• actively engages participants through a controlled process and interactions that include a necessary degree of improvisation;
• allows participants to progressively develop collaborative tools such as territorial maps, land-use charters, land-use plans, local development programmes and other instruments for sustainable territorial management.

Overcoming barriers to innovative territorial projects

TerriStories® has been implemented in various regions of the world and across diverse cultural contexts, for both development and research purposes. It is particularly relevant for local authorities, NGOs, professional organisations and stakeholders involved in major infrastructure projects, and is well suited to addressing issues such as :

• collective management of natural resources, including land tenure, land use and appropriation issues, as well as conflict resolution and competition;
• watershed management, water resource management and hydraulic infrastructure, including soil salinisation issues;
• improvement of production systems and innovation processes involving local farmers in the regulation of agribusiness and large-scale investments;
• integration of climate forecasts into family farming strategies;
• organisation of value chains or collection systems, including collaborative management to improve grazing systems and pastoral production;
• co-design of development or land policies, and collaborative rural or urban planning;
• collaborative design and monitoring and evaluation of programmes.

Interested in discovering real-life case studies and understanding how the game works?  Watch the videos.

Support for adapting the game to local challenges

For donors, NGOs and institutional partners

Would you like to use TerriStories® in a field-based project in the Global South? CIRAD can support you. To implement the game operationally, our researchers work with you through :

• support during collective sessions :

1. introductory training and awareness sessions on the approach and the game;
2. diagnosis and adaptation of the game to specific local issues;
3. facilitation of workshops to address the identified challenges;

• training and transfer to a project team, enabling them to independently facilitate workshops;
• interdisciplinary scientific expertise to ensure consistency in the co-developed rules and support their implementation.

For agribusiness or mining companies, or institutions in West Africa

If you wish to implement TerriStories® in a field project, Insuco BF, a CIRAD partner consultancy, offers the method and the TerriStories® platform to its clients, with CIRAD’s scientific support.

For individuals, companies, schools and local authorities

The company BIOVIVA (Montpellier) markets the game for the general public and can offer adapted versions for conflict resolution in corporate or local authority contexts.

References and intellectual property

TerriStories® licence :

TerriStories® is a trademark registered by CIRAD. The game rules and graphic elements (game sets, boards, cards, etc.) are protected by design rights. An accredited network and licensing system have been established to ensure the quality of implementation of both the game and the methodology.

Publications

D’Aquino P., Ba A., Bourgoin J., Cefai D., Richebourg C., Hopsort S., Pascutto T., 2017. Du savoir local au pouvoir central : un processus participatif sur la réforme foncière au Sénégal. Natures, Sciences, Sociétés, 25, 4, . https://doi.org/10.1051/nss/2018001

D’Aquino P., 2016. TerriStories®, un jeu au service de l’invention collective dans les politiques publiques.  Journal of Sociocultural community development and practices. 10, 71-80. http://www.atps.uqam.ca/numero/n10/pdf/ATPS_d%E2%80%99Aquino_2016.pdf