Conceptualizing Serious Games as a Learning-Based Intervention in the Context of Natural Resources and Environmental Governance

Abstract

The use of serious games in the governance of natural resources and the environment is progressively increasing and includes games used for research and data collection, teaching and training, and fostering a change of practices. However, this diversity remains underexplored and underreported. In view of a growing interest in the use of serious games in natural resource and environmental governance, the absence of discussions about how differences in intended use and delivery influence the performance, assessment, and outcomes of games is problematic. Here we present an inventory, and a description, of such different uses then, by focusing on serious games used as interventions, we discuss when, and how, games could be used to generate learning and social learning. To that end we use a narrative review of selected literature, and insight from research on social learning, to develop an inventory of game use, and within that inventory we conceptualize the use of serious games as a social learning intervention. Also, by means of an illustrative case of a serious game (developed as part of the Assessing the Learning Effects of Games on Attitude of Stakeholders toward Sustainable Shrimp Farming – ALEGAMS research project) we reflect on a few key aspects of game use. We suggest that developing a serious game needs several iterations and, although the learning outcomes can be assessed, the impact of games aiming at changes in current practice and policy will likely fall beyond the timespan of usual project periods. This is something future research should consider as it has implications for the research design and methodology.

Understanding Interdependent Climate Change Risks Using a Serious Game

“…of the increased use of game approaches are entertainment (non-serious) board and video games with environmental content included in game mechanics (e.g., Civilization VI, 2016) or 84 in game graphics (Abraham, 2018) and the gamification of tools for behaviour change (Beck 85 et al, 2019;Zehir et al, 2019). 86 87 We report on using a serious game approach that combines aspects of education, research, 88 and intervention games (Rodela et al, 2019). Our game ("Cascade: A Decade of Weather" or 89 short "Cascade") is designed to (i) communicate climate projections and climate hazards to 90 infrastructure operators; (ii) identify potential interdependencies, cascading impacts, 91 cumulative effects, and vulnerability hotspots; and (iii) engage infrastructure operators to 92 improve cooperation and enable a shared understanding of cross-cutting climate risks and 93 interdependencies.…”

A Framework for Addressing Multiple Ecosystem Services in Forest Management Planning

“…Their use for planning and problem solving grew exponentially in recent years (Laamarti et al, 2014). Rodela et al (2019) explore further the possibility of using them to support forest ecosystem management planning processes.…”

Towards a Framework for Designing and Assessing Game-Based Approaches for Sustainable Water Governance

“…Predominantly, the game-based approaches for water governance described in this SI aim to (a) facilitate understanding of the overall complexity of the real world; (b) foster stakeholder collaboration, cross-sectoral integration, and/or multi-stakeholder dialogue; (c) experiment with multiple scenarios in a safe trial environment; (d) facilitate capacity building; and (e) overall, enable single-to triple-loop learning [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. These aims correspond mostly to phase 2 of the water governance process (i.e., create stakeholder awareness and trigger multi-stakeholder dialogue), as well as phase 4 (i.e., creating an enabling environment) ( Figure 2).…”

“…These aims correspond mostly to phase 2 of the water governance process (i.e., create stakeholder awareness and trigger multi-stakeholder dialogue), as well as phase 4 (i.e., creating an enabling environment) ( Figure 2). Rodela et al [70] call these game-based approaches "learning interventions". In addition, Galván-Pérez et al [73] reviewed 20 game-based approaches ("educational videogames") that aimed to educate players in ecology, to raise awareness.…”

“…The game-based approaches described in the SI papers focused on different water topics: Water supply safety plans at the watershed and household scales [64], water supply in peri-urban areas [66], local to transnational maritime spatial planning [65,67], flood mitigation in urban-rural watersheds [68], water resource management at the watershed scale [69], mangrove shrimp farming [70], the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus [71], how water managers perceive "models and interactive interfaces (serious games)" [72], and a review of games on the water cycle, water and aquatic ecosystem management, and the human right to water [73].…”