Usages des modèles spatiaux pour la prospective

This theoretical paper presents a state of the art on the use of spatial models dedicated to prospective studies. The first part summarizes the converging interests of foresight studies and geography. The second part gives helpful insights to answer the question of how choosing an appropriate model for exploring the future of territories/landscapes. The third part is dedicated to models validation tools and methods which combination may be useful to improve the plausibility of scenarios. These methods are not exhaustively described and illustrate that the geoprospective consists in a community of practices and tools with a common objective: better exploring the future to improve current decision making. It aims at highlighting the contribution of models for such purpose and helping geographer, modeler and/or prospectivists to choose a convenient model. It attempts to clarify some misunderstanding and confusions that already exists when combining scenarios and models. MOTS-CLES : Typologie, Scénarios, Simulation dynamique et spatialement explicite, Validation, Plausibilité.