Renewing collaborative design in the management of animal genetic resources.

In French agriculture, the dominant mode of animal genetic resources management relies on cooperation between scientists and farmers. The latter take part in the definition of breeding objectives and in the production of genetic data via on-farm milk recordings. This mode of collaborative design is currently being called into question by cooperative failures and criticisms from farmers about the mode of knowledge production involved. We review the literature of present theories and methods of collaborative and participatory design, and then use an intervention-research project to analyse the way two initiatives of new modes of collaborative design can renew collective capacities for the management of local genetic resources.