So, how are the values of creativity, collaboration and communication realized in the north?

First of all, Nordic schools welcome everyone. The founder and CEO of Scandinavian Education, Hans Renman, points out that social inclusion, democracy, and equality are taken very seriously in the north, thus the education system outlaws school selection and is publicly funded (also at the university level). In one classroom, there are children from all social backgrounds, which not only ensures equal rights to everyone but also teaches kids that respect, communication and openness are key to a healthy and functional society.

Secondly, creativity and collaboration are valued more than rivalry. Finland, for example, has almost no national tests whatsoever. Education as a competitive race is a non-existent concept. Joint problem-solving activities, collaborative group assignments, self-assessment or peer reviews are used to support and verify students’ progress, and no one, either within or outside the school, demands that it’s done according to a pre-defined schedule.

Foremost, however, the Nordics believe in the “joy of learning.” For example, central to early years education in Finland is fun and free exploration: “We believe children under seven (…) need time to play and be physically active. It’s a time for creativity,” says Tiina Marjoniemi, the head of the Franzenia daycare centre in Finland.

The power of play and active engagement is also appreciated at later stages of education, where blended learning, flipped classroom techniques, gaming and peer-to-peer learning are often introduced to support kids’ natural curiosity and encourage them to be responsible for their own learning.

How can other countries follow the Nordic way and immerse students in playful learning?

To answer this question, I decided to interview the developers of a serious Internet game, New Shores. The game, which has already been mentioned a couple of times on the blog (see here or here), has been developed for a similar purpose: to match the needs of a new, more digitized and more participatory school. How does it fulfil its mission? Is it working? And how can it be accessed and applied by teachers?

Meet Zsuzsa Vastag from the Rogers Foundation for Person-Centred Education (Hungary) and Mária Borvák from TANDEM n.o. (Slovakia) who co-worked with the Centre for Systems Solutions on New Shores – a Game for Democracy.

Tell us something about yourselves – what is your professional background? What do you do?

Zsuzsa: I am a psychologist, and I work now in an NGO called Rogers Foundation for Person-Centred Education, as a trainer and a project manager. We are conducting mostly teacher trainings in Hungary. Our main topics are emotional education and free play and games in schools.

Mária: Currently, I work as a professional leader and senior trainer of TANDEM n.o. We are focused on developing competencies in different areas of people’s lives through experiential learning.

The New Shores game has been developed as part of the Erasmus+ project. Where did the idea for a joint initiative come from?

Mária: All three organizations that are involved in the project, that is, the Centre for Systems Solutions from Poland, TANDEM n.o. from Slovakia and the Rogers Foundation from Hungary, are highly interested in developing new and innovative ways of dealing with topics that are important for our society. So in my mind, there was no question that we should join forces and work on the topic of democracy and active citizenship in a new way.

Who is the main target group(s) of this project? Why did you choose to address the project to them?

Zsuzsa: The primary target group of the project are educators who work with young people (between the ages of 13-30) in youth settings (camps, youth groups, schools, etc.). The secondary target group are the young people themselves – whom we have planned to reach indirectly, through the educators. This way, we hope to create a larger impact in terms of young people becoming more active in their community.

Mária: Just like Zsuzsa said.The overarching goal of the project is to reach young people. To do it, we turn to their leaders – teachers, trainers, tutors. We want to help them understand that in the era of digitization and more participatory educational approaches, their role as a teacher may be different. It may mean moving away from being a mentor or expert to becoming a partner and facilitator, who encourages independent thinking and discussion. Thus we offer free trainings to teachers during which they learn to use the game and the methodology.
What does the subtitle “game for democracy” mean? Why did you decide to raise this topic? And why did you decide to do it by the means of a game?

Mária: We consider the topic of democracy to be utterly important as only active and involved people can form their own path, the path of the society they live in. We believe in participatory functioning, which is the base of a democratic community. We also believe that developing anybody’s competencies can only happen effectively through experiential learning, which is highly enjoyable and offers not only information but an enjoyable way of learning skills and developing attitudes.

Zsuzsa: It is a game for democracy, as we are developing an online simulation game with a serious aim: letting young people experience what democracy means personally, what it takes to reach common decisions, to let yourself be heard, to take care of others’ needs and opinions while representing your own needs and opinions. We decided to use a game, as we believe that experiences can be the most effective tools to reach real change in attitude, and a game can serve as a fun and, at the same time, meaningful experience.

What is so special about the game-based approach?

Mária: A game is a great way to immerse the youth in doing, not only thinking about a concept.

Zsuzsa: We think using games in education is a great way to connect with young people (and adults as well…), as it is engaging, and people can have real, meaningful experiences through a fun activity. It is way more effective than a lecture about democracy – a game and their own experience makes it personal and therefore a personally more important issue for participants.

How can this tool be used at school, at work?

Zsuzsa: The game itself takes about one and a half hours to play, together with the necessary debriefing afterwards. This is a timeframe that can be relatively easily integrated in traditional schools, as it is the time of a double lesson. But if teachers/educators have more time in their hands, on a project day, at a summer camp, etc., then there are nearly endless opportunities to create a workshop or a series of workshops according to the pedagogical aims of the educator (whether it’s mathematical competence development or attitude shaping towards democracy), by choosing the appropriate follow-up activities.

Mária: What makes it very easy to use is that fact that you only need a good Internet connection and a PC or laptop to access the game; you don’t even have to be in the same location. It is very easy to set the game up, and there are many tools to help make the game not only enjoyable but very easy to learn from.

You mentioned that it is enough to have a good Internet connection to play the game. So how can I access it? Is it free?

Zsuzsa: Yes, access to the game and all additional materials for teachers and players (such as the workshop scenario, a moderator video tutorial or player introductions) are free. To learn how to use them, all you have to do is register to the Edmodo platform, which is a very quick process; you only need an email address, and you are in.

There are four language classes there – English, Polish, Slovak and Hungarian. When you follow the appropriate link, you will find instructions on how to join one or all of them and read, watch or download all materials and become ready to conduct a game with your students. They are neatly divided in 9 different chapters that you can browse through one by one or select only the topic that interests you the most.

The platform is mainly addressed to those educators who are interested in using the game in their work and therefore want to learn about the methodology behind the game, the technical necessities, and the way to build up workshops around the game. It is also a way for them to exchange their experiences, ask questions from each other, create a community. And finally, it is a place to share their students’ achievements as well: If during a workshop they have produced something, the teachers can share it here.

Have you noticed any interesting reactions of players during the games? What are the most important lessons learned?

Zsuzsa: What I like the most is when I see that people are becoming really engaged: They do care a lot about the state of the island in the game, even though they entered the situation as “professional adults” – but within the game, they can be just humans being engaged. Of course, “being engaged” in this sense can also mean negative emotions, possible conflicts – which are good, in terms of real and adequate emotional responses to a situation. The important thing is that we do work with these emotions afterwards. Its is also great to see how insightful people are usually after the game: They do see the connection to real life, and many time, I have seen a “light-bulb” moment, when people connect the way they were behaving in the game to how they behave in real-life situations, or how humanity works in the real world.

Mária: The most satisfying reactions are always the ones where you see that people forget where and who they are because they thoroughly enjoy themselves while playing the game. This also means that they are so involved that afterwards there are heated discussions about how all of this work in real life, and mainly how they personally would react in such a situation. These personal reflections allow us to form their attitudes and teach them skills necessary to participate in their own lives.

Can games replace traditional education?

Zsuzsa: Our aim is not to completely replace traditional education, but to offer an alternative to it, a tool that can make education more colourful, aiming for a more diverse impact. I think it is important that educators have a toolbox they can open any time they want and choose a method that fits their aim well. Traditional education can be also useful, but games can add the personal aspects to the theoretical knowledge.

Mária: Every type and form of education can be beneficial, so in my eyes the more we work with a topic, and the more tools we use, the better the outcome. So I would suggest using this game as an equivalent to traditional methods of education, but also keeping the already-used methods. This would mean a higher exposure of young people to the topic from many different aspects.

What are the next steps in the project?

Zsuzsa: We are in the final phase of the project, and our main agenda at the moment is promotion of the game and the e-learning platform. We would like to reach as many educators as we can, so we can have a large impact.

And what are your plans afterwards? In what direction will you go?

Zsuzsa: We will definitely use the game later on, even after the project ends: We plan to offer workshops to schools and other interested groups of educators. We can also use it personally, as it can be a fun activity with friends and colleagues, as well.

Mária: We are introducing the game and methodology into our own democracy project and incorporate it in an even more essential way so as to reach even more people who can make use of the game itself.

Thank you for this fascinating interview and the best of luck with promoting the game among educators!

Zsuzsa and Mária: Thank you!

What about you? What do you think about game-based learning? Do you know any other methodologies that would follow the Nordic way of education? Or are you a traditionalist, believing in the power of textbooks and lectures? Share your opinion in comments!

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The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in October 2018 is “…like getting a troubling diagnosis from your doctor. Every possible test has been done and the news is not good”.

So what is the diagnosis? 12 years to a catastrophe. In this time window we have to change our consumption and production habits and slash global greenhouse gas emissions 45% below 2010 levels. Otherwise by 2030 we are going to face a collapse of many ecosystems, devastating weather extremes and their related impacts, such as crop failures, famine, disease, economic losses, and refugee crises.

12 years! That’s not much, taking into account how a massive and unprecedented transition in production, agriculture, energy and transport sectors has to be undertaken globally. To even start it, we need to find a way to communicate and make joint decisions across regions, countries and continents. How difficult it is has been proven by the recent COP24 talks held in Poland. It took two weeks for the world leaders to settle on the contents of the “rulebook” for putting the 2015 Paris agreement into practice. And yet some of the major oil producers – the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – still insist on undermining the IPCC’s findings, refusing to take them into account while pursuing the countries economic plans.

If policy-makers are ready to ignore scientific facts, how to make a general audience understand the urgency of the IPCC report? Is it possible to break a vicious circle of ignorance and denial and make people see the threat?

Let’s not depreciate the power of education

There is no single answer to the questions above, as global transition is not a simple equation with only one correct solution. International contracts and guidelines, like the one agreed on at COP24, is one thing. Individual responsibilities and bottom-up activities is another. For example many production trends depend directly on our choices as consumers. Also our daily habits and trivial decisions concerning transportation, diet or domestic heating options may have an impact. What we need as a global society is a wide-ranging environmental, economic and social education and awareness raising that would assist in dispelling myths and misinformation spread by e.g. climate change deniers.

One of the promising bottom-up initiatives that undertakes the difficult task of promoting awareness of global challenges is The Educators’ Challenge competition. Launched by the Swedish foundation Global Challenge, the competition aims to encourage a creative approach towards the major global risks and enhance international cooperation. It gathers thus the most inspiring projects that engage students and broader audiences in discussions on better frameworks of global collaboration. The applicants had an opportunity to submit their projects till June 2018. In Autumn 2018 the list of 12 finalists was announced, which included games, educational programs, comic books and initiatives focused on, e.g. climate change and marine degradation, sustainability or shaping a proactive attitude among kids. On the list of the potential winners there are also two serious games focused on climate change; You Change It, an interactive card game for high school and college students and New Shores – a Game for Democracy, a fantastic multiplayer internet game that we already wrote about before.

What is so special about them that they caught the jury’s attention?

Well, first of all, they are engaging and offer a way to immerse participants in simulated, yet plausible, scenario of what can happen if we chose to ignore the scientific knowledge on anthropogenic climate change. For example, in You Change It, students use specific cards to show whether they decide to produce pollution or not. Their decisions are entered into a computer system by a teacher and as a result may generate a natural catastrophe, forcing players to reconsider their choices and follow a more sustainable path.

Furthermore, serious “climate change” games can help young people render the IPCC abstract “diagnosis” into something real and more related to their lives. For example, in New Shores, players inhabit a fictional island and are free to manage their resources to satisfy their individual or community needs. What has the potential to become the fulfillment of the American Dream, may quickly turn into a nightmare with players competing over resources and distracting the island’s fragile ecological balance. One wrong move, one snap decision and the fictional world is devastated by a series of hurricanes and floods that wipe out players’ households and leave them penniless and dependant on others. In this way, a disastrous scenario anticipated by climate scientists materializes itself not in 12 years but in an hour-long game session, providing players with a lesson that will certainly be long remembered.

How can you use the games for yourself?

The good news is that both games are easily available, which makes them a perfect choice for educators working with the youth. To get instructed how to access and use the You Change It game, contact its producers, the Climate Cost Project. To access and use the New Shores game all you need to do is create a free account on the Edmodo platform and join the virtual New Shores class. It functions similarly to a Facebook group but additionally it allows you to access an e-learning course and additional materials (e.g. a methodological guide for teachers, a comprehensive game-based workshop scenario or a video tutorial for moderators, from which you will learn what game-based learning is, how to log to the moderator’s panel, create a game and manage its functions as well as facilitate dialogue with your students).

What do you think is the potential of initiatives like The Educators Challenge to accelerate transition towards more green solutions and reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions? Which of the presented projects deserves the award (the results will be announced at the beginning of 2019)? Share your opinion in comments!

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Democracy is a universally recognized ideal and one of the key principles of the United Nations (defined as SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions in the Agenda 2030). “It provides an environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights, embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further developed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which enshrines a host of political rights and civil liberties underpinning meaningful democracies.”

However, the goal to ensure peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity is an ongoing process, which cannot happen without the full engagement and support by those who constitute the very core of democracy: people. Meanwhile, in many places all over the world human rights and democratic values are either taken for granted and thus not appreciated or blissfully disrespected.

Democracy on the new shores

Last year, on the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, we wrote an article about the social participation crisis and reflected on possible ways to make civil society and individuals more engaged in shaping their present and future. By that time, the New Shores – a Game for Democracy was under construction. This year, the game and its accompanying materials are ready and available for free in four languages: English, Polish, Hungarian and Slovak.

New Shores – a Game for Democracy is a multiplier internet game that has been designed to help educators engage youth in exploring the complexity behind democratic processes and make them observe different social, economic and environmental impacts that are intrinsically linked to human activity.

The players are sent to a vibrant green island where they try to establish a functional community. Equipped with nothing more than basic huts and a couple of action points, they are thrust into a harsh reality of earning money, protecting their households and developing public infrastructure. Soon they discover that all their actions are interlinked, and one poor decision may cause environmental, social or economic catastrophe.

The game offers an unparalleled opportunity to observe how inequalities are formed, and how our individual values shape the reality we live in. For example some players, as observed during many workshops, focus on accumulating wealth and refuse to contribute to the community development. Others sacrifice everything to invest in the common good, never getting acknowledged for it. The game offers no simple solutions, leaving participants to set their priorities and experience the consequences of their decisions.

Join us for International Democracy Day celebration

New Shores – a Game for Democracy and its accompanying materials have been created as part of the Erasmus+ programme funded from the European Union. They have been tested by lecturers and teachers, librarians, NGO’s staff and other people actively engaged in working with youth. Their valuable feedback helped the New Shores’ team prepare an innovative educational kit consisting of the internet game, methodology guide, workshop scenario with additional activities and a 9-day long e-learning course – all of which are available for free upon registration to the Edmodo’s New Shores’ class (you can read how to do it here). In October 2018 free face-to-face workshops for the game’s future moderators are going to be held parallelly in four countries. To register for the event held in Wroclaw, Poland, fill the registration form.

Meanwhile, to celebrate the eleventh International Day of Democracy, the New Shores’ team invites you to join an open online game session on 15th September 2018 at 4 p.m. CEM (for English-speaking participants). All you have to do is send an e-mail to aleksandra.solinska@crs.org.pl and play for democracy! To see who else is going to share the experience with you, join the FB event here. Don’t miss the deadline for registration (14th September 2018 till midnight). The applications are processed according to the order in which they arrive

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Beat the Plastic Pollution

Every year, the World Environment Day is organized around a particularly pressing environmental issue. This year’s theme – “Beat Plastic Pollution” invites us all to take a personal pledge “to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on our natural places, our wildlife – and our own health.”

Take action!

We wrote about the damaging consequences of plastic in April this year. This time, we would like to encourage you to take direct action against it. It does not have to be a big thing. It’s enough to start from little personal choices, e.g. to refuse unnecessary single-use plastics, such as straws, shopping bags or take-away containers. You may also raise environmental awareness among youth and inspire them to think about the Earth in a more long-term perspective by engaging them in serious games. The closest opportunity to get familiar with one of them – New Shores – a Game for Democracy coincides with the celebrations of the World Environmental Day!

Play for the environment

The New Shores game, although not focused directly on plastics, enables players to appreciate these nature’s gifts, such as greenery and clean air, that are often taken for granted, at least until they become scarce. The players will be sent to the unspoiled green island somewhere in the middle of an unknown ocean. With rich coal deposits and pristine forests full of green trees and tasty berries, the island seems a perfect place to lead a prosperous life. However, its fragile ecosystem is highly responsive to the players’ actions. Will they be able to manage its valuable resources wisely or will you turn it into wasteland?

Join an open session

Chceck for yourself! Celebrate the World Environment Day by playing the New Shores game. Join one of the open online game sessions that we have prepared for you on 5th of June 2018 at 4 p.m. CEM (for English-speaking participants) or 6 p.m. CEM (for Polish-speaking players). All you have to do is send an e-mail to aleksandra.solinska@crs.org.pl – you will receive a return email with all necessary information. To see who else is going to share the experience with you, join the FB event here. Don’t be indifferent – play for the bigger cause!

Don’t miss the deadline for registration – 4th of June 2018 till midnight. The applications are processed according to the order in which they arrive.

The game and its accompanying materials have been created as part of the Erasmus+ programme funded from the European Union. They have been tested by lecturers and teachers, librarians, NGO’s staff and other people actively engaged in working with youth. Their valuable feedback helped the New Shores’ team prepare an innovative educational kit consisting of the internet game, methodology guide, workshop scenario with additional activities and a 9-day long e-learning course – all of which will be available for free upon registration to the Edmodo’s New Shores’ group (at the beginning of June 2018).

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Plastic and natural environment

Plastics pose threat to our planet mostly due to their un-biodegradability. This material never fully degrades – over time it may only break into smaller pieces. As a consequence, plastics not only litter our beaches, parks, landfills but also oceans (did you know that huge concentration of plastic debris cover large areas of oceans, the bigger one being the size of the state of Texas?). Little particles of plastics are also very dangerous to many marine species, as they are often mistaken for food. Once consumed, plastic cannot be ever digested or processed, so it remains in the system until the organism is eaten by another species. Consequently, the plastics accumulate up the food chain and make seafood potentially dangerous for humans as well!

Plastics and human health

Many plastics used for food and beverage storage have been proven to negatively affect human health, as they may contain toxic chemicals (mostly DEHP and BPA). Food stored or heated inside such containers becomes contaminated, and the chemicals make their way directly into our bodies. The list of potential damaging effects of these chemicals to our health is long and embraces chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, impaired brain and neurological functions, cancer or adult-onset diabetes, early puberty obesity or resistance to chemotherapy.

Plastic and climate

Plastic is not only harmful to our landscape or health. In fact, plastic production is very intrusive to our climate. Plastic is created from petroleum and, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, its production accounts for an estimated 8% of global oil production. The drilling of oil and processing into plastic releases harmful gas emissions into the environment, including methane – a greenhouse gas that causes a greater warming effect than carbon dioxide!

What can be done?

If we do nothing to change our production and consumption trends, 12 billion metric tons (13.2 billion US tons) will enter landfills or the environment by 2050 and there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish (by weight)! In response, Earth Day 2018 is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics.

End Plastic Pollution!

Established on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day mobilized 20 million Americans to protest against the negative impacts of 150 years of industrial development. 50 years later it is now the largest civic-focused day of action in the world, attracting more than 1 billion people in 192 countries. Crowds of people engage in public cleaning of their towns and roads, planting trees or organizing seminars to support global efforts towards more sustainable and clean future. This year’s Earth Day’s mission is to educate millions of people about the health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including pollution of our oceans, water, and wildlife, and about the growing body of evidence that decomposing plastics are creating serious global problems.

Join the End Plastic Pollution campaign and go through three easy steps on the way to plastic pollution-free future:

1. Learn: Download a free online Plastic Pollution Primer to learn more about this problem
2. Act: Use the calculator to learn about your plastic consumption anc create your Personal Plastic Plan and track your progress
3. Engage: Get more information on how to organize events to End Plastic Pollution, register your Earth Day Activity and “get on the map” to find other Earth Day activities in your area. Tell others about the End Plastic Pollution Campaign: tag your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts with #EarthDay2018 #EndPlasticPollution #lessplastic #plasticless

If you are working with kids and youth, you may also engage them in one of the free online serious games focused on sustainable production and consumption. There are a lot of them to choose from, e.g. the easy but fun flash game Clean Up the River that sends kids on a mission to clean the Murrumbidgee River or the Super Sorter game in which students become workers of a materials recovery facility, responsible for successful sorting of the recyclables. We also recommend reading a fascinating interview with Sandhya Nankani (one of the co-creators of the World Rescue game), from which you will learn why video games may be a perfect medium to talk about global problems.

If you have any other ideas how to fight against plastic pollution, leave a comment!

Photos from Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit. Photos by Hermes Rivera and Arshad Pooloo on Unsplash.

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Celebrated on March 22 every year, World Water Day is about focusing our attention on the importance of water. This year’s theme is ‘Nature for Water’. The key idea behind the motto is to explore the solutions that we already find in nature. Nature-based solutions (NBS), such as planned afforestation, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, and restoring wetlands and grasslands, offer a sustainable and economic opportunity to support better management of water availability and quality.

NBS may not only help meet the growing demand for water but also reduce negative environmental and climatic impacts, ensure clean water and sanitation and improve human health and wellbeing – which are all key objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Water Games for WWD 2018

Like every year, we invite you to enjoy the Water Games – a joint initiative of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Centre for Systems Solutions to celebrate the World Water Day and the Sustainable Development Goal no 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation.

Year after year we’ve been collecting and describing games which address different water challenges, including also those related to the nature-based solutions. Join us, play one of the serious games presented on the Water Games website and let us know what you think about them! Don’t forget to leave comments here and on our social media!

We’ve also rounded up all our water-related posts for you to learn how games can change people’s perception of many water-related issues.

To get a better understanding of what “green” infrastructure and nature-based solutions are and how they relate to other Sustainable Development Goals, we encourage you to visit the WWD’s official website and the Fact Sheet.

And remember – “Wherever you are and whatever you do on March 22, make it about nature and water!”

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Lies are captivating

One of the most recent examples of depending on uncorroborated and unreliable sources of information is the Brexit.

Before the referendum happened, the Leave side had claimed that the UK sent £350m a week to the European Union. This kind of statement really sticks in people’s minds.

And although reasonable counterarguments had proven the claim false, this lie is still being spread. Why? As I have already mentioned, facts are problematic…

Firstly, false statements are usually more captivating. Just think about clickbaits promising you to lose 10kg in a week or to make $1000 without having to step foot out of bed. Sounds ridiculous? Yet, a lot of people do click on such links in the hope of finding a perfect solution to their problems.

Secondly, lies are viral and spread faster than truth. The example of Brexit has shown that even if the very intention behind repeating a hoax is to debunk it (e.g. by entitling an article “Why Vote Leave’s £350m weekly EU cost claim is wrong”), the readers’ concentration span is too short to grasp the intended meaning, and the lie is transmitted further and further.

Misconceptions feed on fears and doubts

Studies have shown that when individuals are stuck in a certain mindset, it is nearly impossible for them to change it. Why? Because urban legends and myths often base on people’s darkest fears. For example, In 2011 scientist conducted a study where some of the parents of small children were shown a scientific proof that there is no correlation between vaccines and autism. Other parents were not presented with these facts. On the first glance, people who saw the proof were less likely to believe that vaccines can cause autism, but if the parents earlier had believed in it, they still would not want to vaccinate their children. Even though they said that they believe in the proof that they saw. Why? People will believe in the correction, but all their doubts and prejudices connected with vaccines may increase.

We are overwhelmed with information

Finally, searching for facts is time-consuming. We are sinking in the ocean of information, and verifying each piece of news costs us too much effort. Let us just look at the conflict between the government and environmentalists over the Białowieża Forest in Poland.

The last major primeval forest in Europe is on brink of collapse due to the state-sanctioned logging, which embraces 100 years old trees in Unesco-protected areas. The government argues that the logging is needed to protect the forest from a bark beetle outbreak and for reasons of public safety. The environmentalist supported by scientists and researchers, on the other hand, claim that the logging of infested spruces does not stop a bark beetle outbreak. They say that such “plagues” used to happen cyclically and are part of natural processes that the forest is ready to deal with. The alleged “protection” against “plague” is, according to conservationists, in fact profit-oriented and supports timber industry. Both sides support their opinions with “research” and “expertise”. Who is right? Who should we listen to?

Is truth lost forever?

It seems from the examples presented that the truth is in a lost position either because lies are more fascinating than facts or because we are too overwhelmed with contradicting opinions to even care about truth anymore. However, there is still hope! Researchers have found out that some of us have a characteristic called “scientific curiosity”, which reflects the level of our personal interest in exploring scientific content. It turned out that people with higher scientific curiosity tend to be less radical and more open to other people’s arguments. They won’t get discouraged by contradicting opinions. On the contrary, they find searching and analysing facts fascinating. Great, right? Unfortunately, not everyone is naturally curious.

What can be done to increase one’s scientific curiosity?

To my mind, we should find way to present facts in an interesting way. Not only scientific facts, of course, but political and social facts that are hard to be presented in an objective yet fascinating way. We need people like Hans Rosling that can show the statistics and data in a way that will appeal to audience.

How to not be ignorant about the world:

We need also tools that can enable people to grasp the complexity of the world. A great tool for that are social simulations, such as e.g. Energy Transition Game or Forest@Risk which help players experience frustration and confusion in the face of contradicting and overlapping interests. In real life, controversial disputes, such as e.g. the issue of Białowieża Forest need in-depth, multi-faceted analysis that can take months or years. In order to understand the nature of a problem, we would carry out extensive research, consulting biologists, environmentalists, researchers and foresters… and yet, probably few people would be able to embrace the complexity of the issue.

Play for facts

Meanwhile, social simulations enable the participants to compress time and space. Players immerse in new roles (be it government, ngo, environmental minister, ect.) and test out different strategies and solutions. In this way they experience both frustration and satisfaction, helplessness and hope, discouragement and motivation. The strength of simulations lies in dialogue. People of different backgrounds and opinions meet in one place and are forced to interact, negotiate and talk. Their “truths” may clash, their “facts” contradict but after all they all try to achieve a consensus. I like simulations for one more reason – that they base on curiosity. Curiosity to get to know other player’s motivations and to gain multi-perspective overview of a given problem. So, it seems to me that curiosity doesn’t kill but helps bridge the gaps between completely different people!

What other tools do you know to make people curious? Can you recommend any games, simulations or websites? Leave a comment and share your insights with us! And visit our Gamepedia for more games and simulations to increase scientific curiosity!

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Democracy – the political version of spinach

As a consequence, the level of civic participation – reflected by the voter turnout – has been decreasing in most OECD countries since the 1970s by an average of 8 percentage. At the same time, there is a falling number of people joining political parties, attending political meetings and serving on committees. We are voluntarily giving up the rights that we were fighting for over centuries, preserving and loving the idea of democracy but refusing time and sacrifice to develop it. Lerner concludes thus that democracy has become the political version of spinach. Although almost everyone knows it’s good and healthy, only few people actually eat it. How to change this tendency?

Wietse Van Ransbeeck, the founder of CitizensLab, a civic engagement platform, believes that the key to trigger change in people is to understand their motivation. People engage in certain types of activities (be it table-tennis or dancing) not because these activities are always interesting per se (although the more interesting, the better). They engage because these activities seem interesting to them. The same can be stated about participatory budgeting or open debates. As Jeff Howe states it in his book Crowdsourcing, “people are drawn to participate because some psychological, social or emotional need is being met. And when the need isn’t met, they don’t participate.”

In other ways, unappealing boring public debates or community meeting may become tempting if we find a way to appeal to its potential attendees. How? By addressing the question what psychological, social or emotional needs are met by activities which are commonly loved, such as fitness, football or computer games, and applying this knowledge into “civic activities”.

Motivation – external versus intristic

So, what needs do fun activities fulfil? Well, first of all, being competitive by nature, people like winning. Winning a young muscular body, winning a match or combating an opponent in a bloody fight in the virtual world of a computer game. Secondly, people like fun and they need activities which help them let off steam – dancing, cheering on their favourite team or crying at the concert of a beloved music band. Thirdly, as social animals, people appreciate the sense of being part of community and sharing similar values.

How can we use this fun aspect in the context of civic participation then? Once again, Van Ransbeeck offers a solution; he believes that governments can make engagement more rewarding by applying the very mechanism which are used in plays (be it football or computer games), such as competitiveness, fun and sense of belonging, into their schemes. This is how gamification works.

There are many ideas on how to link gamification to real-life benefits for the engaged citizen, e.g. by creating public leaderboards or rewarding active citizens with virtual badges of participation. However, it has to be remembered that in gamification, participants are more likely to focus too much on external motivation rather than to depend on their true sense of commitment. Thus, rather than relying on gamification, it may be be a better idea to use serious games to engage people into real decision-making.

In contrast to gamification, serious games, are not targeted at reaffirming some “desirable” social behaviour (e.g. encouraging people to vote) but at making players reflect on certain issues and discover their multiple, complex aspects on their own. A great example of a serious game at the service of public good is Luke Hohmann’s initiative of Budget Games – remember this one?

New Shores – a Game of Democracy

At CRS where I work, we are also currently developing a “civic engagement” tool; New Shores – a Game of Democracy.

Funded by the European Union within Erasmus+ Programme and prepared jointly with two other organizations, Tandem n.o. and Rogers Foundation, the game aims at stimulating citizenship mindsets among young Europeans. Sound serious?

Well, it is a serious game after all! However, with a serious focus, this online game employs a number of fun elements, such as e.g. a very interesting narrative and the possibility to take on new, attractive roles.

Like Robinson Crusoe, the players are cast on a shore of a deserted island, which becomes their new home. With no hope to return to civilisation, they are forced to develop their own community from scratch, relying merely on the resources they find on the island. Fortunately, a dense, pristine forest, which covers their new home, offers the newcomers juicy berries as food, high quality timber for huts, and coal to produce energy. Round by round, the players start to understand, however, that their idyll is bound to end soon, as the reservoir is shrinking, and to satisfy their needs, everybody has to compete with each other.

No “losers”, no winners”

To make it even more complex, the clear division into “losers” and “winners” gets blurry when a sudden hurricane sweeps away both a luxury villa and a plain bungalow.

Faced with the harsh reality of climate change, all players start to analyse the cause and effects of their actions, realising that their once green and flourishing island is turning into wasteland…

There are many endings to this story. No matter whether the players save or destruct their community, they will learn their lesson. A deep debriefing session, which is part of the game, is designed to reveal their motivations and help them reflect on their contribution to the final outcome. Who is responsible for the destruction? How individual choices affect the whole community? What could be done differently and how will our world look like if we keep on pursuing only personal interests? The players may hate what they’ve done but they cannot deny being the very ones who did it. This is how democratic rule of the people works!

What other games on citizenship values do you know? Do you believe such tools may prove helpful in making people realise they are responsible for shaping the world they share? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

The post How to love democracy? appeared first on Games4Sustainability.

“Spiral of silence”

While the report’s authors imply that the reason behind this “spiral of silence” is the fear of social consequences of sharing an unpopular opinion, the Nobel-winning cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman seems to find an alternative yet complementary answer. The researcher suggests that most humans tend to follow their natural sense of social competition, which makes us seek for external reasons behind problems. Meanwhile climate change is “a perfect and undetectable crime everyone contributes to but for which no one has a motive.”

When it comes to climate change, there is no clear division into innocent and guilty ones. We all do what we have to do – drive to work, heat our homes, cook our food. Global warming seems a distant problem, and to avoid its “uncertain” disastrous consequences, we would have to make inconvenient sacrifices, resigning from things we are so used to. Most of us are unwilling to do it because our brains stay focused on short-term needs: family safety, a career, a new car or the latest Smartphone. No one bothers about seemingly unpredictable and remote results, such as a flood in India or a hurricane in the Caribbean.

Morning coffee, a chocolate bar and a five o’clock tea

But are the climate change consequences really so remotely related to our daily consuming-oriented lives? Let’s think about your favourite treats: a morning coffee on a porch, a chocolate bar between the meals, and a five o’clock tea – all of these minor yet important pleasures may be actually in danger due to the climate change.

An increased rainfall variability with an observed surge in extreme precipitation poses two existential threats to tea: degraded flavor and health benefits, and economic ruin for tea growers (as prices will increase from reduced quantity and/or quality).

Similarly, cocoa and coffee cultivation areas are shrinking dramatically, as they grow warmer, drier, and less suitable to agricultural use. “These changes in climatic suitability are predicted to take place over a time period of almost 40 years.” In a worst-case scenario, with no mitigation and adaptation measures undertaken, our grand- and great-grandchildren would know the brown treat only from photos.

How to talk about climate change?

The threat of losing access to the most willingly consumed goods may seem a reasonable argument for rethinking our daily habits. But what about the “spiral of silence”? How can we break the taboo of not talking about serious matters with family, friends or colleagues? With the growing popularity of experiential and game-based learning, a lot of social simulations and serious games, such as Catan: Oil Springs, Climate Health Impact or EchoChains, to name just a few, are being released with a goal of raising awareness of environmental issues. They offer a safe yet fun and engaging environment for spurring an inspiring discussion on climate-related issues, which makes them less abstract and closer to our daily-life.

Some of these games are free to use, which makes them even more accessible and easy to apply. No matter whether you plan to conduct an informal lesson about climate change with your learners or just initiate a talk with your close friends, Climate Game may turn a perfect choice. Over several rounds of competing for timber and other resources, the players may personally experience the consequences of overconsumption and environment degeneration. They can either destroy or save the island they live on, and the deep debriefing session after the game helps them understand the significance of both scenarios, breaking the “spiral of silence”.

If you find the issue interesting, browse more games on the topic in the Gamepedia, and share your experience in comments below the post!

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