Trace of change: How stigmergy maps social learning loops in Companion Modeling through participatory simulation.

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Citation abstract

This study explored integrating stigmergy in Companion Modeling (ComMod) to enhance social learning loops (SLL) in participatory natural resource management. Taking a case study from the Ferlo region of Senegal, the research focuses on how stigmergy - a concept derived from biology involving indirect coordination through environmental traces - stimulates and documents cognitive, normative, and relational changes among stakeholders. By leaving digital traces during the iterative development of an Agent-Based Model (ABM), stigmergy support participants in co-constructing the model representing local agro-sylvo-pastoral dynamics. The paper highlights the role of stigmergy in fostering trust, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among diverse stakeholders and research team in a ComMod process, helping to refine the collective strategies aimed at sustainable land management. This research showed that stigmergic imprints can be used as a tool for monitor how learning and model development evolve during iterative modeling workshops, contributing to more adaptive and resilient resource governance strategies.