The second LittoSIM Majunga workshop took place in the large hall of the Hotel 401 Majunga from July 11 to 13.
The participants were all technicians with different specialities, but working on the theme of marine or rainfall submersion. The "Majunga" archetype of the LittoSIM tool and the data, including recently acquired data used in this archetype, were presented to the technicians from the city of Majunga.
On the last day of the workshop, a field trip was carried out to get a better idea of the flooding problems encountered. Seven areas were visited: the small dike on the Amborovy road, the northern end of the Metzinger valley (fokontany Mahavoky avaratra), the clapper bridge, the dike of the tourist village and the small pirogue harbour at Antsahabingo (fokontany Mahavoky atsimo), the Metzinger canal (on the Tsararano ambany side) and finally the mangroves near Reniala park.
What is LittoSIM?
LittoSIM - a serious game - is an immersive, participatory tool for managing the risks of flooding. It is based on the use of the GAMA complex systems modeling platform (developed by the UMMISCO laboratory), combined with a cartographic interface and a teaching kit adapted to the local legal context.
The system has been successfully tested with the Ile d'Oléron community of municipalities in France. Since 2021, DiDEM has enabled it to be adapted and tested in Madagascar, in the Boeny region, with the participation of :
- CNRE: Centre National de Recherches sur l'Environnement,
- GESCOD: Grand Est Solidarités et Coopérations pour le Développement,
- EMIT: School of Management and Technological Innovation,
- CNRS: Centre National de Recherche Scientifique,
- CUM: Commune Urbaine de Majunga,
- University of Majunga,
- IRD: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.
Objectives
- Put decision-makers from the Boény region and the city of Majunga, Madagascar, into a situation using the serious game LittoSIM.
- Collectively develop management and land-use planning scenarios incorporating issues related to the risk of marine submersion.
The game requires different roles :
- players (municipalities), each made up of a group of technicians and decision-makers, represented here by the participants. On average, four to five people represented a commune.
- the risk agency: one or two people supposedly representing the state or government, acting as fund manager and calling on players to collaborate and follow greener strategies, here represented by Derrick (Gescod staff)
- the game master, who keeps the simulation running and presents the manifestations and results of possible submersions resulting from meteorological phenomena and the evolution and manifestation of actions carried out by all the communes
Each player has an annual budget to carry out various actions on their territory. The actions carried out are the result of consultation between the decision-makers of the commune or player, or of several communes or players at the same time. In addition to this, certain actions require the validation of the risk agency, such as whether there are sufficient funds/budget to carry out the work.
Three typical profiles are predefined in LittoSIM: the "builder" profile, the "soft defense" profile and the "strategic withdrawal" profile.
Each commune's strategy has an impact on the extent of future flooding, not only on its own territory, but also on that of other communes. The following figure shows the evolution of submerged areas as players take action to protect their populations and territories. In this figure, for example, we can see the impact of the presence and condition of the dike road leading to Amborovy airport.
Figure 4 - Extent of submergence according to the evolution of players' strategies
Group photo, LittoSIM workshop July 2023
Location of players in the room, with the game master on the left-hand table
Field trip to the mangrove area at the end of the small Amborovy dike road