Scott Francisco and Sarah Jane Wilson (co-authors)
Nature Sustainability, May 7, 2022
People do not behave the way models assume and information is not sufficient to change minds. Environmental policies that do not take these realities into account fail. Strategy games can help develop better policies. We will change the choices we make when we change the way we make choices.
Nature Sustainability volume 5, pages 464–471 (2022) View or download the PDF here
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. The question is, who gets to play?
