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For several years now, a field of research on simulating societies in interaction with their environment has been taking shape. Methods such as multi-agent systems (MAS) can be used to create virtual societies. The effects of interactions among different behaviors on resource dynamics and associated feedback are simulated. Modelers use such methods to create computer representations of dynamics observed in the field. Then, multi-agent systems provided a new tool for the modeling of complexity and particularly the modeling of collective decisions.

In CIRAD, our team has been using MAS in several ways. 1. First, we developed abstract models, also called artificial societies that help to understand the generic properties of interacting processes. 2. We also developed applied models to understand the dynamics of natural and renewable resources and their management. 3. We developed an agent-based simulation toolkit (CORMAS, common-pool resources and multi-agent systems). 4. We also worked on defining the possible uses for these MAS tools within the very wide framework of collective decision support.

Schematically, on the one hand, the researchers following a positivist paradigm try to discover the objective truth. This knowledge is used to develop and deliver new technologies or new management rules. On the other hand, the constructivist paradigm assumes that reality is socially constructed. This second paradigm is the epistemological context of our research. The collective creation of a common artificial world serves to create a shared representation and to simulate various scenarios with the stakeholders, among which are the scientists. We have been interested in using MAS models in the collective decision -making process for ecosystem management.

Our method uses role games to acquire knowledge, build a MAS model, validate the MAS model, and use it in the decision-making process. We named it “companion modeling” because

- it is used as a tool in the mediation process
- the social dimension of the companion
- and it co-evolves with the social process
- temporal and adaptive dimension.

Different applications have been developed to assess whether models and
role games can be used successfully together to support collective decision making, and to explore different uses of these coupled tools. In this presentation I will present a case-study located in Senegal. The purpose of this project is to facilitate discussions between populations and their local representatives in the case of the decentralized allocation of land in the Senegal River delta. During village workshops, role games were used to help stakeholders develop a common model, which was then computerized in the form of a MAS. The model was then used to simulate the scenarios imagined by the stakeholders, which triggered a group discussion of the possible evolution of the interactions between users and resources and of the steps that could be taken to adapt to these changes.

The role and status of women in the Japanese society has been changing constantly along with economic as well as demographic changes. Economically, the labor force participation (LP) and employment of Japanese women changes with the economic growth and structural change, while demographically, their role in the household to take care of children and the elderly change with the demographic transition. The Japanese society has achieved both economic development and demographic transition very rapidly. An interesting issue is, for example, how Japanese women react to the changes, both in terms of direction and magnitude. The Japanese population is rapidly aging and the proportion of population aged 65 plus will become about 30 percent of the total population in 2025. A very important role of Japanese women, particularly the married women, is to look after the elderly, cet. par.. With the increasing proportion of the elderly, women's time becomes increasingly required for taking care of the elderly. Should this affect the female LP? And how much? Can this be explained by the increasing proportion of part-time employment? How is the female LP affected by the demographic change compared with economic change (there is also increasing demand for women workers? There is a shift of economic production). How does this affect the campaign for increasing role and status of women as women's time allocation is conflicting between their role at home and in the society (social and economic), etc. With these issues in mind, the pattern and change of women's role in Thailand is compared. (E.g. What is the rate of aging in Thailand compared with Japan; what is the role of women in taking of the elderly − what is the pattern of time allocation between various choices; it should be noted that Thailand is still predominantly rural with more than half of the population in the rural areas while Japan is almost universally urbanized).

The study covers (A) a comparative analysis of patterns and change analysis of female labor participation rates in Japan and Thailand; (B) general characteristics of women's employment (to provide an overall picture of women in the labor market in Japan and Thailand); (C) salient features of women in the labor market (to provide a more specific picture of women in the labor market) such as (i) married women and part-time work in Japan compared with that of Thailand which is considered as Underemployed; (ii) Women in professional (essential/expert labor force) − inequality; (iii) Labor feminization (increasing/changing trend of female employment); (iv) Unemployment compared to men and between the two countries; and, (v) Homeworkers in Thailand; and, (D) an analysis of factors affecting female LP and employment, such as household time allocation, wage and family income, marital status, dependent (children and the elderly), social security structure (Japan) or other incentive to work or not to work, educational background, age, household status (head of household), economic situation (e.g. crisis, unemployment), economic structure (agriculture vs industrialized), urbanization (rural-urban differentials), standard of living, and socio-Cultural factors including historical factors.

The speaker will talk about the debate about the democratization in the Muslim world, espesially in Indonesia. He will discuss three schools of thought on the Islamic view on democracy and democratization in the Muslim world and Indonesia. He concludes that the wide diffrence among three schools of thought on democracy and democratization itself hampers the democratization prosess in the Muslim world and Indonesia.