Simulation/Gaming
for Learning about Sustainability and the Environment
Markus
M. Ulrich
Swiss
Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG/ETH),
Duebendorf-Zurich, Switzerland
Both within the System
Dynamics community and the Simulation & Gaming community, numerous tools
have been developed that address environmental problems and sustainable
development. The instruments focus on learning about the complexities of the
problems and about the characteristics of the dynamic systems involved. A
further topic is the exploration of comprehensive problem-solving strategies.
These are critical processes as human behavior in complex systems is very often
far from optimal (see for instance Sterman 1995 or Duke 1974). This paper has
two main objectives:
• To present selected simulation games for
learning about sustainability and the environment, three of them in greater
depth (New Commons Game, SusClime, Global Warming). The comparison will reveal
a large variety in specific learning objectives, models and formats.
• To analyze the underlying models, and to
provide the link to learning objectives
Table 1 presents
selected simulation games that deal with aspects of global warming. This list
was compiled based on a survey of all 27 volumes of the journal Simulation
& Gaming, searches on the world wide web, and queries on two discussion
lists (system dynamics list, GSPE-NL list). Full results will be published
elsewhere (Ulrich 1997). Three of the instruments will be presented in greater
depth.
The New
Commons Game demonstrates the dynamics of the ”tragedy
of the commons” (Bredemeier 1995). It takes about 90 minutes, with 6-24
players. Every team chooses privately how to exploit the common resource.
Competitive choices maximize individual profit, but destroy the resource, and
vice versa. Negotiations and other control mechanisms are provided to optimize
the overall performance. The objective is to promote the understanding of the
commons dilemma, to illustrate strategies to overcome social traps, and to
foster empathy for persons operating in the real world.
The power of the game lies in its ability to
create a vivid atmosphere of frustration and alienation among participants
within a short period of time. The mechanisms of the system are communicated
in a comprehensive, holistic way. The experiences during the run serve as an
excellent base for debriefing and further discussions on commons. Application
to global warming, where the atmosphere is used as a common sink for
greenhouse gases, is easily possible.
SusClime
is a simulation game on sustainable development and
the greenhouse effect (de Vries, 1995). The transition of a two-region world
from poverty, rapid population growth and dependence on fossil fuels to
prosperity, a stable population and use of renewable energy sources is addressed.
The implications of the value system, i. e. egalitarian, hierarchist, and
individualist, on the outcome are demonstrated. The objective is to communicate
basic insights about the long-term dynamics of a simple world with people,
economic production, energy use and emission impacts, and to gain understanding
of the key issues in a world which is both source-constrained and
sink-constrained.
CO2 - The Interactive Negotiation:
Global Warming is a highly abstract 24-person
multi-party negotiation exercise whose structure is almost that of a repeated
24-person prisoner's dilemma. It takes about two hours. Participants represent
delegations from various nations to international conferences. There are no
dynamics, except social, and no "science". This exercise has been
used about 300 times, in 15 countries. The objective is to learn that the
essence of negotiations is managing the tension between individual and
collective advantage. This includes coalitions, cooperation, threat strategies,
dealing with free riders and leadership.
Despite the fact that
all three simulation games deal with global warming, the models that underlie
these simulation games are completely different.
The New
Commons Game employs a simple mathematical formalism that relies on several
tables. They display the state of the resource, and the points achieved by
different strategies. The dynamics of the simulation game are provided by a
simple qualitative (or abstract) model. The numbers generated cannot be
interpreted quantitatively. Only the general characteristics of the systems
are of interest, and thus the numbers serve as quantitative indicators only.
SusClime
is based on a quantitative
mathematical model that is directly derived from scientific research. The
mathematical equations used therein are claimed to have a (certain) scientific
validity, beyond the simulation game, i. e. they might also be used
independently. De Vries (1995), for example, used the mathematical model of
SusClime to examine various strategies that could be applied in the simulation
game.
In the negotiation simulation game Global Warming, the reference to the real world directly serves as the underlying
model. Bilateral and multilateral negotiations and conferences are simulated
according to the processes in the real-world.
A large number of
simulation games are available for teaching about complex systems, and, in
particular, about various types of environmental systems and sustainablility.
They serve as excellent learning laboratories or “flight simulators”.
Simulation games are based on various, fundamentally different model types.
Depending on the underlying model, they are suited for different learning
objectives. The models of the three selected simulation games represent a
continuum.
Simulation games based on qualitative, highly
abstracted models have a great potential to communicate in a holistic way the
gestalt of a system and its behavior. Such simulation games do not claim
quantitative validity of their results. Simulation games based on quantitative
models can be directly or indirectly linked to real world data. They may be
evaluated in-depth to learn more about specific relations in feedback loops,
delays and other processes in a given system and serve in this way as powerful
learning laboratories. Extensive arguing about numbers and the underlying
model, however, may lead to missing the objective of the game. This is
especially critical when working with scientists. The model type should be
carefully chosen and should reflect the particular learning objectives.
Both the field of System Dynamics and of
Simulation and Gaming contributed substantially to existing simulation games on
environmental issues. Increasing exchange and cross-fertilization between the
two related disciplines should therefore be fostered for the sake of the best
possible simulation games.
Bredemeier, M. E. 1995. New Commons Game. Simulation & Gaming 26 (1): 113-115.
Duke, R. D. 1974. Gaming, the
Futures Language. SAGE Publications, John Wiley and Sons, London/New York.
Frank, A. I., and R. D. Duke. 1995. SEIDL
- Ecosystem Philosopy Game - A Generic-Specific Game. College of
Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Internal Report.
Mastik, H., V. Peters, R. Scalzo, G. Vissers. 1997. TERRA NOVA - A game
on the social surroundings of the environment. In Proceedings of the 27th Annual International Conference of the
International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA), July 96,
Lielupe/Riga, Latvia. In press.
Parson, E. A. 1996. A Global
Climate-Change Policy Exercise: Results of a Test Run, July 27-29 1995.
IIASA Working Paper WP-96-90.
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg/Vienna,
Austria.
Proctor, Ch. M. 1997. The Design for Environment (DFE) Game. In Proceedings of the 27th Annual International
Conference of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA),
July 96, Lielupe/Riga, Latvia. In press.
Robinson, J., and J. H. Ausubel 1983. A Game Framework for Scenario
Generation for the CO2 Issue. Simulation
& Games 14 (3): 317-344.
Sterman, J. D. 1994. Learning in and about complex systems. Systems Dynamics Review 10(2-3):
291-330.
Ulrich, M. M. 1997a. Addressing Environmental Problems with Simulation
and Gaming: Current Approaches, Examples and Underlying Models. Gaia. In prep.
Ulrich, M. M. 1997b. Sustainability at a local level: The computer tool
INES (Interactive Energy Scenarios) and EMS (Environmental Management
Simulation Game) as instruments for the reduction of energy consumption at a
research institute. In Proceedings of the
27th Annual International Conference of the International Simulation and Gaming
Association (ISAGA), July 96, Lielupe/Riga, Latvia. In press.
de Vries, B. 1995. SusClime - a simulation game on population
and development in a resource- and climate-constrained two-country world.
Global Dynamics & Sustainable Development Programme. GLOBO Report Series
no. 11. RIVM Report no. 461502011. National Institute of Public Health and the
Environment (RIVM), P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
|
Name |
Description |
Reference |
|
New
Commons Game |
The participants exploit a common resource and
experience the “tragedy of the commons” |
Bredemeier 1995 |
|
Terra Nova |
Participants from five countries develop
strategies for sustaining the quality of human living conditions |
Mastik et al. 1997 |
|
Beer Distribution Game |
The participants act in this simulation game
as beer distributors and experience the dynamics in a complex system with
delays and feedback |
http://learning.mit.edu/pro/ tool/instr.html |
|
SusClime |
Simulation game on sustainable development and
the greenhouse effect representing a two-region world |
de Vries 1995 |
|
Stratagem |
Participants, acting as the ministers of a
country, try to implement a sustainable development |
pubpages.unh.edu/~amseif/Strategem.html |
|
Global
Warming |
Multi-party negotiation exercise with
participants acting as delegates at international conferences |
http://www.law.harvard.edu/Programs/PON/ |
|
Global Climate-Change Policy Exercise |
Participants negotiate climate change
agreements during a 3-day exercise supported by integrated-assessment models |
Parson 1996 |
|
Global Change Game |
Each of the participants becomes one hundred
million people on a world-map the size of a basketball court. |
http://www.solutions.net/ gcg/index.html |
|
Framework for CO2 Issue |
Participants negotiate on strategies to reduce
CO2 emissions within a loose
framework |
Robinson and Ausubel 1983 |
|
ICONS |
Participants of different country teams
negotiate by computer links agreements on e.g. the global environment |
http://www.bsos.umd.edu/ icons/icons.html |
|
EMS - Energy Management Simulation Game |
Participants act as members of an academic
institution and develop energy saving strategies for their institution. |
Ulrich 1997b |
|
DFE - Design for the Environment |
Participants run three competing companies and
develop strategies to lower environmental degradation while remaining
competitive |
Proctor 1997 |
|
SEIDL - The Ecosystem Philosophy Game |
Participants manage an ecosystem and have different
clues on the system behavior that have to be shared for successful
management. |
Frank and Duke 1995 |