Using Serious Games to Facilitate Collaborative Water Management Planning Under Climate Extremes

Abstract

Sustainable management is a complex process that involves balancing the competing interests of the human, plant, and animal communities that depend on watershed resources. It involves developing and implementing plans, programs, and projects that sustain and enhance watershed functions while taking into account the natural, social, political, economic, and institutional factors operating within the watershed and other relevant regions. Examples of such factors include crosscutting mandates by different levels of government, conflicting objectives across sectors, and the constraints and uncertainty of the availability and accessibility of the resources within the watershed. One way to address these complexities is with public participation processes designed to share knowledge among disciplinary experts, policy‐makers, and local stakeholders and provide outcomes, which inform the creation of sustainable watershed management plans. Serious games (i.e., games played for purposes other than pure entertainment) are an example of such processes. Here, we present a case study of how a serious game, called the multi‐hazard tournament, was used to facilitate watershed management by promoting social learning, cross‐sectoral dialogue, and stakeholder participation in the planning process.

Marae-opoly: supporting localised Māori climate adaptation decisions with serious games in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…Serious games are an innovative participatory approach to stimulate and foster action as they integrate technical-physical and socio-political complexity for participants to learn and test alternative strategies to achieve desirable outcomes (Medema et al 2016;den Hann and Voort 2018;Wesselow and Stoll-Kleemann 2018;Bathke et al 2019). Game-based approaches have been used to facilitate knowledge and action in natural resource governance, and climate change adaptation (Flood et al 2018).…”

Informing the Development of the Coast Model of the Watershed Game

“…These characteristics of the Watershed Game embrace many of the documented benefits of games. It offers a fun and enjoyable activity that entices individuals to engage with a larger group (Falk et al 2001;Burby 2003;Bathke et al 2019). It allows for a controlled and safe environment from which to learn about and test complex concepts (Mayer 2009;Rusca et al 2012;Rumore et al 2016;Bathke et al 2019) that are directly relatable to specific challenges being faced in participants' communities and watersheds (Peters and Vissers 2004;Arndt and LaDue 2008;Rumore et al 2016;Bathke et al 2019).…”

“…Serious games may be particularly helpful when addressing difficult and potentially divisive environmental issues, as games can promote dialogue, civility, and mutual respect. In this context, small-group simulations encourage teamwork, cooperation, and enhanced understanding of management challenges and solutions, while building collaboration skills across various stakeholder groups (Bathke et al 2019).…”

“…Gaming and simulations as forms of experiential learning are documented in the extension literature as early as 1978 (Boehlje and Eidman). Though many terms (e.g., gaming models, games, role-play simulations, or science-based role-play simulation exercises) have been used to refer to games designed to engage adults in learning or collaboration (Rumore et al 2016), "serious games," which are played for reasons beyond entertainment (Bathke et al 2019), have a strong track record of being used to help engage people in discussions about difficult challenges (Rumore…”

Flood Hazard Awareness at Old Dominion University: Assessment and Opportunity

“…Engaging communities in a participatory education process from design to evaluation increases willingness to implement protective measures and contributes to more holistic flood resilience (Dufty 2008; Muro and Jeffrey 2008; Charalambous et al 2018). Activities, such as flood simulations, reduce anxiety and improve understandings of risk (Bosschaart et al 2016; Bathke et al 2019). Utilizing interactive maps to assimilate risk data also helps overcome powerless feelings (Houston et al 2019; Sanders et al 2020).…”