31247 Chap.6 Participatory Modelling and Group Model Building
Participatory Modelling and Group Model Building
Models built with stakeholders
Participatory modelling combines modelling tools with the active involvement of the people who know the system.
In system dynamics the usual form is group model building, in which a facilitator guides participants through activities that draw out and combine what they know.
Workshops or interviews
The readings show two routes: facilitated workshops that move from brainstorming variables to a shared causal diagram, and interview-based modelling that merges individual maps when people will not speak freely in a group.
Why it matters for your project
The definition quoted in the lecture describes participatory modelling as learning undertaken in order to act.
For a student team, the group is often both the modellers and the stakeholders, so running your own sessions with care gives the project the shared ownership that the method is designed to create. Stakeholders who helped build a model are more likely to accept what it shows.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Participatory modelling defined
- 02
Group model building in system dynamics
- 03
Elicitation, integration, representation and reflection
- 04
Gatekeepers and participant selection
- 05
A workshop script from the safety case
- 06
Interview-based modelling and merging maps
Worked example · free
Sort workshop activities into the four group model building steps
- 1Writing causes on sticky notes draws knowledge out of each participant, so it is elicitation.
- 1Clustering similar notes combines individual contributions, so it is integration.
- 1Drawing the causal diagram turns the clusters into a model, so it is representation.
- 1Discussing what the diagram suggests and what is missing is reflection, which starts the next round.
Key terms
- Participatory Modelling
- Modelling with stakeholders so that their knowledge shapes a shared, formal picture of a system, as a basis for action.
- Gatekeeper
- An insider who selects suitable participants and helps plan a modelling workshop.
- Reference Mode
- A chart of how the key variable of a problem has behaved over time.
- Influence Diagram
- A causal diagram drawn without the plus and minus signs on its links.
Participatory Modelling and Group Model Building FAQ
What is group model building?
It is the participatory form of system dynamics. A facilitator guides a group of people who know the problem through activities that elicit their knowledge, combine it, represent it as a model and reflect on it, so the model belongs to the group.
When is an interview better than a workshop?
When participants are unlikely to speak freely in front of each other, for instance with opposing groups or superiors in the room. The flood-risk reading switched to interviews for this reason and merged the individual maps afterwards.
Is a qualitative model enough for group model building?
Often it is. The safety-culture reading notes that a qualitative model is usually adequate when a study is exploratory and data are scarce, which is the situation of most student projects early on.
What does the facilitator do in group model building?
The facilitator guides the participants through a planned series of activities towards a deliverable, such as a causal diagram, and manages the process rather than the content. In the readings, facilitators also redraw diagrams in software and send them back for checking.
What is a reference mode?
It is a chart of how the core problem variable has behaved over time, shown early in a workshop so that every variable the group suggests has to help explain that trend. The safety-culture reading used an injury-rate trend this way.
What is a gatekeeper in a modelling workshop?
An insider who selects suitable people to take part, helps plan the pre-workshop meetings and often attends. In the safety-culture reading, two safety managers acted as gatekeepers and invited operations and training staff to bring other viewpoints.
Assessment move
Plan a short modelling session for your own team: name a gatekeeper, draw a reference mode for your key variable, and write the problem statement you would display. Run the brainstorm with sticky notes, cluster the results, and photograph each stage for your work log. Ask Sia whether your plan includes all four steps, then decide what to change. Keep the photographs; they are evidence of collaboration for the reflection.
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