Abstract for: Integrating GMB and Games in the Built Environment

This placeholder submission describes a study at University College London (UCL) that is currently underway integrating Group Model Building (GMB) process with a system dynamics (SD) based simulation game towards increasing consensus among stakeholders. During game play participants will make the decisions, first as individuals and then as groups. The game is designed as two stage process. The first stage is a trial-driven process, played before the model structure has been revealed and explained. In the second round, analysis-driven process will predominate following a description of the underlying structure(Van Daalen et al., 2014). Our hypothesis is that stakeholders with greater levels of ownership due to participation in the GMB workshops will have better outcomes regarding shared understanding, commitment, systems thinking, insight and consensus. The final model will be integrated website of the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering to enable continuous learning among participants and create a window into the study for a broader audience. This work builds on the qualitative application of SD conducted by Macmillan et al. (2016) and Shrubsole et al. (2014) as part of an integrated project on housing, energy and wellbeing (HEW).