Model designed through participatory processes : whose model is it ?

Participatory modelling is increasing steadily in importance because of opportunities to obtain new; kinds of information, perspectives on validation and implementation of social learning. The concept of participation is spreading towards modelling processes. It uses a wide range of approaches, however, differing notably in relation to timing and involvement of stakeholders in the design process. The inclusion of stakeholders in the design process might alter the usual notion of authorship as well as ownership or appropriation of these models. In this paper we address the issue of ownership of participatory-designed models through examples that have been investigated in the FIRMA project, and through discussion on timing and level of involvement of stakeholders in the design process. The issue of ownership of models itself has to be explained because it is made up of several property regimes. As far as models are concerned these various facets of ownership are: authorship, allowance of use, permission to modify, responsibility for content, responsibility for use, control of access, control of use, and defining the proper use of models. If these facets of ownership are not properly defined, this may generate several types of conflict or under-use of the model. Technological control and legal control are the current ways of dealing with this issue of ownership through passwords, licenses, software agreements, specific interfaces, etc. Their translation to participatory-designed models may not be easy since there is a required dispersal of the model among participants, and any form of appropriation of the result by only one party of the participatory process might be difficult to justify. Participatory modelling (PM) is, however, also paving the way for a third way of dealing with this issue of model ownership through the development of mutual appropriation of the model: i.e. through a thorough and pragmatic knowledge of the model. This third way is analysed through three case studies of PM, all within the frame of the FIRMA project. PM in itself is not sufficient to make