Strategy games to improve environmental policymaking

authored by

Claude A. Garcia, Sini Savilaakso, René W. Verburg, Natasha Stoudmann, Philip Fernbach, Steven A. Sloman, Garry D. Peterson, Miguel B. Araújo, Jean François Bastin, Jürgen Blaser, Laurence Boutinot, Thomas W. Crowther, Hélène Dessard, Anne Dray, Scott Francisco, Jaboury Ghazoul, Laurène Feintrenie, Etienne Hainzelin, Fritz Kleinschroth, Babak Naimi, Ivan P. Novotny, Johan Oszwald, Stephan A. Pietsch, Fabien Quétier, Brian E. Robinson, Marieke Sassen, Plinio Sist, Terry Sunderland, Cédric Vermeulen, Lucienne Wilmé, Sarah J. Wilson, Francisco Zorondo-Rodríguez, Patrick O. Waeber

Abstract

While the scientific community documents environmental degradation and develops scenarios to identify the operational margins of system Earth, less attention is given to how decisions are made that steer the system in one direction or the other. We propose to use strategy games for this purpose, increasing the representation of human agency in scenario development and creating spaces for deliberation between different worldviews. Played by the right people, strategy games could help break free from established norms and support more transparent democratic dialogues, responding to the human and social limitations of current decision-making.

External Organisation(s)

Bern University of Applied Sciences (BUAS)
ETH Zurich
Liljus Ltd.
University of Helsinki
Utrecht University
University of Tasmania
Leeds School of Business
Brown University
Stockholm University
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Universidade de Evora
University of Liege
UPR Forêts et Sociétés
Pilot Projects
University of Edinburgh
Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE)
World Agroforestry (ICRAF) Latin America
French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD)
Universite Rennes 2 Haute Bretagne
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg
University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU)
Biotope
McGill University
UNEP-WCMC
Wageningen University and Research
University of British Columbia
World Resources Institute Africa (WRI)
Missouri Botanical Garden Antananarivo (MBG)
University of Connecticut
Universidad de Santiago de Chile

Type

Article

Journal

Nature Sustainability

Volume

5

Pages

464-471

No. of pages

8

ISSN

2398-9629

Publication date

06.2022

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Global and Planetary Change, Food Science, Geography, Planning and Development, Ecology, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Urban Studies, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00881-0 (Access: Open)