Detail Abstract

A serious agent-based simulation game to drive discussions about waste management in Vietnam

Abstract

Background. Waste management is a big problem in Vietnam, especially in irrigation systems, where waste has a profound impact on agriculture, which also provides a significant portion of wastewater production. While residents and decision-makers are becoming increasingly concerned about these issues, the implementation of collective solutions to these problems is almost non-existent.</br>   Aim. The challenge is then to propose a serious game allowing to open the dialogue on this subject and allowing to envision shared and sustainable solutions of waste management. Achieving such an objective also requires taking into account the realities of power relations between stakeholders, which a serious game can highlight.</br>   Method. In order to open the dialogue about waste management in rural areas in Vietnam, we propose RÁC, an agent-based serious game using a concrete case study which is exemplary in terms of risk management: the waste management in the Bắc Hưng Hải irrigation system  (Vietnam). RÁC places the players (stakeholders, but also students) in the role of a village leader, who must ensure a sufficient level of agricultural production while minimizing both solid and wastewater pollution in order to maintain a quality label that is essential for selling agricultural products in the national market. The model was fully implemented with the GAMA open-source agent-based simulation platform.</br>   Results. RÁC was played in two contexts: with students (middle and high school) from the Lycée Français Alexandre Yersin in Hanoi, and with farmers and village leaders in the Bắc Hưng Hải irrigation system. The first series of games with students, which was mainly used to calibrate and improve the game, showed the importance of the emergence of leaders amongst the players to ensure the coordination of the decisions made and thus the efficiency of the policy chosen. The second series of experiments with farmers and village leaders, in addition to participating to put in debate the management of wastes in their territory, allowed to highlight the importance of the local leaders (village leaders) in the coordination of decisions.</br>   Conclusions. The results showed that the game achieved a first objective regarding its potential to highlight the power games existing between players. It also allowed the players to discuss the subject of waste management, a subject that can only be discussed collectively. Future work in the short term will focus on continuing to organize game workshops to better assess the impact of the game on waste management coordination. Longer-term prospects include several improvements to the model and interface and improving the accessibility of the game to allow teachers and stakeholders to directly use the game independently.