Can games impact climate change?
Urban Gorillas, and Frederick University have teamed up to co-design and implement a Cypriot case study on urban rooftop utilization for climate change. The case study is part of the co-funded program GREAT (Games Realizing Effective and Affective Transformation) by the European Union under the Horizon Programme – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society.
The case study utilizes the GREAT methodology to engage with multiple stakeholders to promote a new form of dialogue using the positive impact of games, allowing each group to express their attitudes and facilitate dialogue to policy issues relating to rooftop utilization and to gain insight into the needs of each group.
As members of the European Creative Rooftop Network (ECRN), Urban Gorillas identified rooftop utilization as a policy dilemma to be explored resulting in the development of a dilemma game which engages citizens and stakeholders in learning and role-playing scenarios. More specifically, the game presents real-world implications of green rooftop utilization, covering benefits and opportunities for stakeholders in tackling climate change as well as challenges and barriers to green roof implementation and incentive schemes to counteract foreseen challenges. Through interactive face-to-face game sessions and workshops, participants explore solutions that address the needs and concerns of all parties involved.
The initiative aims to drive change in the way our buildings are designed and how the utilization of currently ‘lost’ spaces of the city can be reclaimed in the context of the climate emergency. As part of the case study 5 sessions have been held to date, including a dedicated session for Architects at the offices of Urban Gorillas.
As a tool for collecting and analyzing citizens’ and expert attitudes, it also served as a method for learning about a specific action relating to urban planning within the context of the climate emergency in a localized environment. Insights gained from the sessions have demonstrated positive implementation of a serious dilemma game which: promoted a sustainable initiative, actively engaged the participants, and allowed them to learn from and be part of an innovative means of sustainable urban planning consultation. Most crucially promoting two-way knowledge transfer. In this case, participants also felt they gained significantly from the session.
By following the first 4 steps of the GREAT case study methodology, we were able to develop a complex serious dilemma game that can be utilized as a mediation tool between citizens and policy makers. The development of the dilemma game provides citizens the opportunity to; voice their attitudes towards a climate policy; gain valuable insights into specific initiatives; and enhance their acceptance of green infrastructure and sustainable urban planning.
