Playing for change : designing a board game for the circular economy

Cockeram, Tom and Robins, Jess and Tsekleves, Emmanuel and Cruickshank, Leon (2021) Playing for change : designing a board game for the circular economy. In: Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 :. Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series., 2 . Cumulus, Aalto, pp. 1752-1768. ISBN 9789526490045

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Abstract

There is a lack of public engagement in sustainability initiatives such as the circular economy (CE). This can be attributed to an absence of understanding and promotion of this new way of living and consuming. This lack of engagement is hindering the implementation of the CE. This paper aims to address this through an exploration of the role of games in explaining difficult concepts. There will be a particular focus on board games as tools for exploring aspects of sustainability, as they allow for a more discursive experience with other players and are a simple way to relate complex ideas. The paper will then detail the design and development of a serious board game Circul8. Designed by the authors to encourage engagement with complex systems, it aims to introduce ideas of the CE to the general public. The paper will explore the methodology of game creation and detail initial gameplay results.