Stakeholder-driven design and appraisal in hydroelectric projects: a participatory gaming approach

Hydropower is an important source of renewable energy, but large hydropower multipurpose river basin projects can displace communities and have serious adverse effects on the local environment and livelihoods. The Sardar Sarovar Dam in India and other similar projects have provoked local and international protest culminating in the temporary withdrawal of the World Bank from large hydropower project finance. It would appear to be a better option for powerful stakeholders to engage seriously with weaker ones. As well as ethical concerns, economic theory would suggest that there is a flawed basis for costbenefit analysis which omits input from local stakeholders, particularly that of indigenous peoples who also have a role to play in project design. It is argued that the Kaldor-Hicks criterion should be abandoned and that decisions should be made based on a multi-criteria analysis of which cost-benefit analysis is but one component. It is suggested that full stakeholder engagement could best be conducted through participatory role-playing games which are being increasingly found in use as a means of exploring and resolving stakeholder conflicts. Such use is still relatively recent and safeguards such as a neutral moderator, advocates and ethical gaming rules are required to protect weaker and non-expert stakeholders

Exploring the effectiveness of serious games in strengthening smallholders’ motivation to plant different trees on farms: evidence from rural Rwanda

Addressing the global challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss requires the widespread adoption of sustainable agricultural practices such as agrofor-estry. In many Sub-Saharan African countries, however, agroforestry adoption rates remain low among small-scale farmers, with insufficient knowledge about the benefits being a major barrier. To close this knowledge gap and increase farmers’ motivation to plant different tree species on their farms, this study applies a Role-playing game (RPG) as an awareness-raising tool. 72 small-scale farmers from Rwanda played the RPG and participated in pre-and post-game surveys. A comparison of responses before and after playing demonstrates that the RPG increased farmers’ knowledge and attitude toward most tree-related benefits. Moreover, playing the game significantly strengthened farmers’ motivation to plant more tree species on their farms. The findings were supported by debriefing results, confirming that RPGs are an effective tool to raise farmers’ awareness and motivation on sustainable land use management

Serious gaming in flood risk management

Serious gaming is increasingly used to explore important real-world problems and a growing number of serious games are addressing flood-related issues. However, there has been limited synthesis of these attempts and their contributions to the ongoing shift toward a more holistic and governance-based flood resilience perspective in flood risk management (FRM). This international review collates and analyses these attempts in order to develop a knowledge base of serious gaming in the field of FRM. It contains 37 games that were developed with different rationales that include engaging players in the topic of FRM, supporting practice by exploring future options through collaboration, improving communication of FRM, as educational tools, and to collect research data. The gameplay countries and player characteristics, game characteristics, relevance to FRM, game rationales, and collection of data are explored in this paper. Identified serious games provided an unconventional and entertaining approach to engage stakeholders on flood-related issues. The review analyzed the serious games in light of the shift toward flood resilience and identified limitations in the documentation of serious games and their potential in understanding the longer-term impacts of gameplay on players. Furthermore, the vast majority of reviewed games were played in a single country and missed out on understanding the cultural production and perspectives of FRM that could support cross-cultural learning and inspiration for future FRM strategies. Overall, the review identified an important role for serious games in the shift toward governance and the adoption of more holistic flood resilience perspectives. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Human Water > Methods Science of Water > Water Extremes

Learning about climate-related risks: decisions of Northern Thailand fish farmers in a role-playing simulation game

The findings of this study underline the importance of understanding decision-making behaviour around risks for climate risk management in fish farming. The study aimed to improve how farmers make investment decisions in their fish farms when faced with risks from floods. The simulation game provided novel situations of experimental, role-playing, and decision-making, revealing limitations in common assumptions about the ease of learning from previous experiences. Findings also suggest that decision-support systems for aquaculture should take into account how recent experiences, understanding of information, and other factors influence risk perceptions and decisions

A participatory approach for hydrometeorological monitoring in the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia

The monitoring of hydrological and meteorological variables from watersheds is one of the principal tasks of hydrology and water resources management. Hydrological and meteorological data are the basis of hydrological science (Rodda 1995; Vorosmarty et al. 2001). High-quality hydrological data are also needed to support decisions on rainwater management strategies and water allocation practices (Gomani et al. 2010)

The Migration Policy Simulation: Engaging stakeholders in Austria’s migration future by linking an agent-based model with a policy exercise

This report fulfils the ABM2Policy project Deliverable 2.2: A scientific report describing the protocol and outcomes of the migration-focused gamification exercise and the usefulness of an agent-based model for policy assessment. The goals guiding the research of the ABM2Policy project are twofold: i) to advance macroeconomic agent-based model (ABM) methodology for a realistic and verifiable analysis of migration as an external economic shock to the Austrian national economy, and ii) to explore the usefulness of an ABM combined with a gamified user-interface to support the Austrian migration policymaking discussions and to enhance stakeholder engagement. This Deliverable reports on the second project goal. The ABM was ‘gamified’ by developing a model-based policy exercise (PE) in the complex policy setting of climate migration to Austria. The results of the simulations of a macroeconomic ABM informed (role-playing) stakeholder deliberations, and in some instances, consensus emerged on complex climate migration policy issues. The PE brought to the fore the diverse and often conflicting viewpoints regarding migration through a process of discussion and negotiation, which in turn helped the participants understand the complexities of migration issues in the Austrian context. Overall, the PE participants assessed the game to be an effective tool for gaining knowledge and understanding of the policy process on environmental migration. The preliminary trials show promise in combining an ABM with a PE to support stakeholder deliberations on the migration policy process. The next step is to conduct a similar policy exercise with relevant Austrian stakeholders, e.g., political party members and public officials, to inform actual policy processes