Project update: Gaming for policy experimentation in Future Deltas
The Future Deltas project 'Gaming for policy experimentation in future deltas' was one of the three projects receiving a 2016 seed fund. The seed money has enabled researchers Joost Vervoort, Karin Rebel and Astrid Mangnus to unfold a set of activities that contribute to its aim of developing a prototype flexible simulation game for knowledge integration across disciplines and sectors, and experimentation with delta management under varying conditions.
Tygron
An important element for the project is Tygron, a GIS-based game engine that allows for precisely modelled games simulating future deltas. Tygron was demonstrated in a lecture for 170 UU-Geosciences students, complemented by the UN game Stop Disasters on coastal floods. Furthermore, the Tygron-based peatlands game RE:PEAT is being prepared for educational use.
Easier integration of knowledge and perspectives
A next step for Tygron will be the active use of the engine in an interdisciplinary honours course for 30 UU-students, starting in February 2018. With regard to research, the team is developing a workshop in which a set of delta games will be played and assessed by a group of academics from a range of disciplines. The gaming toolbox that results from these activities should facilitate easier integration of knowledge and perspectives and stimulate experimentation with delta management for all involved in Future Deltas.