Role-Playing Game Effective for Climate Change Planning

“Serious games” was an approach used to help four communities talk about climate change. More than 500 people participated in role-play climate change adaptation workshops. Four research reserves and other project partners, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists, led the effort.

One municipality was Cranston, Rhode Island, where flooding from precipitation represented a big problem. The role playing exercise coincided with an effort to update the city’s hazard mitigation plan. The role-play simulations were so powerful that many of the concepts and findings were incorporated into Cranston’s hazard mitigation plan and are being shared with other communities. (2016)

More information: www.nerra.org/projects/game-changer-new-england-climate-change-adaptation-project

Partners: City of Cranston, Rhode Island, City of Dover, New Hampshire, Consensus Building Institute, Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Maine Sea Grant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science Impact Collaborative, Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, Town of Wells, Maine, University of New Hampshire, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve