The CoOPLAGE approach: When actors model their situation, principles or plans together for sustainable, empowering decision-making and change

CoOPLAGE is the acronym for “Coupler des outils ouverts et participatifs pour laisser les acteurs s’adapter pour la gestion de l’environnement. This approach aims at guiding stakeholder participation (citizens, elected officials, managers, etc.) in the decision-making process with regard to their environment. This chapter presents the fundamental principles of the CoOPLAGE approach (empowerment, intervention research, true participation in decisionmaking, reflexivity on desired changes as well as a mix of engineering and do-it-yourself). In line with works on the modelling of complex systems, the background of this approach is also reviewed here. Lastly, the various CoOPLAGE tools are introduced, then detailed in the different chapters of this book.