The effects of serious gaming on risk perceptions of climate tipping points

Lisette van Beek; Manjana Milkoreit; Linda Prokopy; Jason B. Reed; Joost Vervoort; Arjan Wardekker; Roberta Weiner

doi:10.1007/s10584-022-03318-x

The effects of serious gaming on risk perceptions of climate tipping points

Lisette van Beek, Manjana Milkoreit, Linda Prokopy, Jason B. Reed, Joost Vervoort, Arjan Wardekker, Roberta Weiner

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

A growing body of research indicates that effective science-policy interactions demand novel approaches, especially in policy domains with long time horizons like climate change. Serious games offer promising opportunities in this regard, but empirical research on game effects and games’ effectiveness in supporting science-policy engagement remains limited. We investigated the effects of a role-playing simulation game on risk perceptions associated with climate tipping points among a knowledgeable and engaged audience of non-governmental observers of the international climate negotiations and scientists. We analysed its effects on concern, perceived seriousness, perceived likelihood and psychological distance of tipping points, using pre- and post-game surveys, debriefing questions and game observations. Our findings suggest that the game reduced the psychological distance of tipping points, rendering them more ‘real’, proximate and tangible for participants. More generally, our findings indicate that role-playing simulation games, depending on their design and future orientation, can provide effective science-policy engagement tools that allow players to engage in future thinking and corresponding meaning making.

Original language	English
Article number	31
Pages (from-to)	1-23
Journal	Climatic Change
Volume	170
Issue number	3-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03318-x
Publication status	Published - Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of all the members of the Gaming Climate Futures project, including our undergraduate game developers at Glasgow Caledonian University. We would like to thank the German Development Institute (DIE) for hosting some of the Tipping Point Negotiations game sessions. Furthermore, would like to thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation?s Program: Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges (grant no: 209306) and the Purdue Policy Research Institute for funding the Tipping Point Negotiations game and supporting the multidisciplinary project. Our thanks also goes to the Purdue Climate Change Research Center for hosting a game workshop and supporting our work through communication and outreach. This article is supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) who funded the NWO Vidi project ANTICIPLAY (project number VI. Vidi.195.007). The article was also supported by the CreaTures project. This project has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870759. The content presented in this document represents the views of the authors, and the European Commission has no liability in respect of the content.

Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of all the members of the Gaming Climate Futures project, including our undergraduate game developers at Glasgow Caledonian University. We would like to thank the German Development Institute (DIE) for hosting some of the Tipping Point Negotiations game sessions. Furthermore, would like to thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Program: Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges (grant no: 209306) and the Purdue Policy Research Institute for funding the Tipping Point Negotiations game and supporting the multidisciplinary project. Our thanks also goes to the Purdue Climate Change Research Center for hosting a game workshop and supporting our work through communication and outreach. This article is supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) who funded the NWO Vidi project ANTICIPLAY (project number VI. Vidi.195.007). The article was also supported by the CreaTures project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870759. The content presented in this document represents the views of the authors, and the European Commission has no liability in respect of the content.

Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Purdue University as part of the initiative “Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges” (grant no: 209306).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Keywords

Climate tipping points
Psychological distance
Risk perceptions
Role-playing simulation games
Science-policy interface

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s10584-022-03318-xLicence: CC BY

Beek2022_Article_TheEffectsOfSeriousGamingOnRisFinal published version, 823 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "The effects of serious gaming on risk perceptions of climate tipping points",

abstract = "A growing body of research indicates that effective science-policy interactions demand novel approaches, especially in policy domains with long time horizons like climate change. Serious games offer promising opportunities in this regard, but empirical research on game effects and games{\textquoteright} effectiveness in supporting science-policy engagement remains limited. We investigated the effects of a role-playing simulation game on risk perceptions associated with climate tipping points among a knowledgeable and engaged audience of non-governmental observers of the international climate negotiations and scientists. We analysed its effects on concern, perceived seriousness, perceived likelihood and psychological distance of tipping points, using pre- and post-game surveys, debriefing questions and game observations. Our findings suggest that the game reduced the psychological distance of tipping points, rendering them more {\textquoteleft}real{\textquoteright}, proximate and tangible for participants. More generally, our findings indicate that role-playing simulation games, depending on their design and future orientation, can provide effective science-policy engagement tools that allow players to engage in future thinking and corresponding meaning making.",

keywords = "Climate tipping points, Psychological distance, Risk perceptions, Role-playing simulation games, Science-policy interface",

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note = "Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge the contributions of all the members of the Gaming Climate Futures project, including our undergraduate game developers at Glasgow Caledonian University. We would like to thank the German Development Institute (DIE) for hosting some of the Tipping Point Negotiations game sessions. Furthermore, would like to thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation?s Program: Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges (grant no: 209306) and the Purdue Policy Research Institute for funding the Tipping Point Negotiations game and supporting the multidisciplinary project. Our thanks also goes to the Purdue Climate Change Research Center for hosting a game workshop and supporting our work through communication and outreach. This article is supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) who funded the NWO Vidi project ANTICIPLAY (project number VI. Vidi.195.007). The article was also supported by the CreaTures project. This project has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870759. The content presented in this document represents the views of the authors, and the European Commission has no liability in respect of the content. Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge the contributions of all the members of the Gaming Climate Futures project, including our undergraduate game developers at Glasgow Caledonian University. We would like to thank the German Development Institute (DIE) for hosting some of the Tipping Point Negotiations game sessions. Furthermore, would like to thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation{\textquoteright}s Program: Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges (grant no: 209306) and the Purdue Policy Research Institute for funding the Tipping Point Negotiations game and supporting the multidisciplinary project. Our thanks also goes to the Purdue Climate Change Research Center for hosting a game workshop and supporting our work through communication and outreach. This article is supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) who funded the NWO Vidi project ANTICIPLAY (project number VI. Vidi.195.007). The article was also supported by the CreaTures project. This project has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870759. The content presented in this document represents the views of the authors, and the European Commission has no liability in respect of the content. Funding Information: This research was supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to Purdue University as part of the initiative “Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges” (grant no: 209306). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

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AU - Wardekker, Arjan

AU - Weiner, Roberta

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N2 - A growing body of research indicates that effective science-policy interactions demand novel approaches, especially in policy domains with long time horizons like climate change. Serious games offer promising opportunities in this regard, but empirical research on game effects and games’ effectiveness in supporting science-policy engagement remains limited. We investigated the effects of a role-playing simulation game on risk perceptions associated with climate tipping points among a knowledgeable and engaged audience of non-governmental observers of the international climate negotiations and scientists. We analysed its effects on concern, perceived seriousness, perceived likelihood and psychological distance of tipping points, using pre- and post-game surveys, debriefing questions and game observations. Our findings suggest that the game reduced the psychological distance of tipping points, rendering them more ‘real’, proximate and tangible for participants. More generally, our findings indicate that role-playing simulation games, depending on their design and future orientation, can provide effective science-policy engagement tools that allow players to engage in future thinking and corresponding meaning making.

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The effects of serious gaming on risk perceptions of climate tipping points

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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