theater and simulations,
to shape collective rules and actions.
TerriStories
Today, faced with ecological, economic, and perhaps above all, political challenges, what models of society, development, and collaboration should we pursue?
At the heart of every territory, men and women make a living from their lands, drawing on their experiences to find ways of working together to overcome challenges and navigate an increasingly uncertain environment.
Our primary goal is to establish endogenous and sustainable changes that would enable us to address contemporary challenges, particularly in the way resources and territories are collectively used and managed.
Our tools support people so that they can demonstrate, both to themselves and others, that the choices they pursue are just as realistic, reasoned, and sustainable as others.
The challenge? On one hand, address a question without assuming in advance that any of our knowledge or perspectives are 'correct,' in order to allow everyone to freely contribute to the discussion with their own vision... and on the other hand, find a way to reach a shared and structured representation of these differences so that a constructive dialogue can take place.
play the outcomes
"TerriStories is a platform that combines open role-playing and theatrical improvisation to allow participants to decide for themselves the 'rules of the game', meaning how they describe their situation, their difficulties, and their objectives, and then to test their own ideas on how to better navigate through these challenges by 'playing' them out. Through multiple rounds of the game, gradually testing various scenarios, participants progress together in their way of seeing things and, most importantly, in finding better ways to overcome them. Where do we really want to go? How can we concretely engage to get there?
In Action : Laos, 2014
As part of an international project aimed at building the innovation capacity of local actors, the TerriStories approach was transferred by Cirad to agents from various public institutions in Laos to support local actor groups in developing their innovation capacities. In a political context where the informal facet of community functioning is not easily expressed, engaging local actor interactions through the game reveals them, and does so in a playful manner that mitigates any potential risks. Building on this success, the approach spread across Southeast Asia. Thus, in 2018, research, development, and civil society actors implemented the approach with the support of Cirad to guide farmers towards agroecological transition in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
