University of Canterbury (UC) game-based simulations aim to bridge the gap between communities, scientists and policymakers in planning for climate change adaptation.
UC Civil and Natural Resources Engineering PhD candidate Bryann Avendaño is using game-based simulations to bridge gaps in planning for climate change adaptation.
Sustainable Developmet Goal (SDG) 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
UC Civil and Natural Resources Engineering PhD candidate Bryann Avendaño has developed a game that could foster community-based resilience to plan cities for the future.
The game simulates real life social and infrastructure decisions that will have to be made by stakeholders and policymakers in the face of climate change.
"Our participatory approach is aimed to allow multiple stakeholders to understand trade‐offs and interdependencies between social and technical dilemmas when planning the adaptation to extreme weather.
"Engineers and social scientists should work together to build models that encourage public engagement and inform policymakers, so all stakeholders can understand predictions and outcomes due to climate change, for example rising sea levels."
This kind of game-based simulation enables information to flow both ways with insights and information from communities and policymakers relayed back to experts.
"It provides an opportunity for stakeholders to come together, without preconceptions, to participate in these decision-making game-based simulations and discuss data and evidence in resilience planning for future events," says Avendaño.
Negotiation is at the core of the game. Starting with a model that provides six participants with a predicted future scenario, the participants are assigned a role as either a community stakeholder, policymaker, scientist or engineer. Much like a board game, the participants sit together and negotiate, from their platform, how best to invest in either social or infrastructure assets while obtaining the best possible outcomes for their role in the game.
Unlike most games, this is serious participation. Participants are resilience experts or peer doctoral students who have at least two-years-experience in resilience-related works.
Avendaño facilitates the process by introducing the model and increases the tension by introducing new factors and time pressures within the game.
"We play six rounds and with each round I change the scenario and the investment options. At the end of the game, we review the consequences of each decision. It is a simulation of evidence-based negotiations that local governments could follow.
Avendaño says the importance of his research is to bridge the gap so all stakeholders are confident and open to tough discussions on the social and technical aspects of planning resilience.
"I hope that this game-based simulation will not only be a methodology, but also a tool that local governments and local authorities can use here in New Zealand and abroad."
Avendaño has been working with participatory modelling and game-based simulation solutions with communities in Latin America. He has built local knowledge through community engagement in remote Latin America for eight years, introducing science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) to rural communities. Communities that, he says, have limited connection to the outside world, fear of politicians and limited knowledge of the global impact of climate change.
He has been recognised as a solution maker for the United Nations Foundation during the 2019 General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City. The recognition was for his work with communities bridging the gap between scientists and communities facing climate change challenges.
Read further stories on how UC researchers are contributing to the resilience of our cities and communities.
Playing with Uncertainty: facilitating community-based resilience building.
