Before the fires: a forum for a humanist approach to the fight against deforestation

Fight against deforestation: moving beyond the objective-based approach and promoting co-construction through games

That is the aim of the work undertaken by a group of 23 researchers, consultants and NGO stakeholders in 13 European and North American countries, working for 23 organisations, including Biotope.

Because it’s time to move beyond the magic spell of the objective set beforehand to a more ambitious approach, as complex as the human beings that it involves. Through games, the participants and especially those who earn their living from the forests, those who shape them every day, can become aware of their different perspectives by playing their own role or that of someone else.  The games offer the participants the opportunity to live the experience of decision-making and its hypothetical consequences, thus making the lessons learned more meaningful.

Ultimately the protagonists can, together, live different possible futures and identify objectives that are compatible with the issues that each of them has; they co-construct sustainable solutions.

This is discussed in a “open forum” article jointly signed by Fabien Quétier, Biotope, Claude Garcia of the Cirad and Jean-François Bastin, researcher at the University of Gand, which you can read on the Libération website:

https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/07/02/la-deforestation-est-une-affaire-humaine_1793032