As part of the GREAT (Games Realising Effective and Affective Transformation) project, co-funded by the European Union and UKRI, the project team has published the following paper at ECGBL which was held at Aarhus University, in October 2024.
- Harnessing the Power of Gaming to Influence Policies Addressing Climate Change – co-authored by Paul Hollins, Paul Watson, Anchal Garg, Jude Ower, Joost Schuur, David Griffiths, Barbara Kieslinger, Katharina Koller, Jane Yau, pages 403-413
Abstract:
In this paper, the authors present the findings of an empirical case study examining the efficacy of the Games Realising Effective & Affective Transformation (GREAT) Case Study design process. The process is underpinned by an established Mixed Methodological Research (MMR) framework for eliciting the preferences of gamers and determining their priorities in climate change policies. Funded by the Horizon Europe programme, the GREAT Project examines the impact and affordances of games for social engagement. The project explores the innovative potential of games as new forms of dialogue between citizens and policy stakeholders. The games are used as tools for players to express their preferences and actively shape policy issues. We present the first case study on this approach, which is one of ten to be undertaken with various partners over the next two years to test and validate the methodology, investigate its potential, and present findings. In partnership with the popular PC & Console game Smite, by the Hi Rez, game development studio.
The study involved stakeholders’ participation in the co-creation of research questions, designed to influence the prioritisation of future climate policies. The activity was embedded the Smite game playing community via the Playmob platform in January 2024 and engaged over four thousand active players with a completed response rate of 58 %. Quantitative analysis of the data collected during this period will be presented by the authors. In summary, the engagement in and completion rates of the activity were high, validating the initial GREAT project approach. The methodological approach and the substantive data sets produced are of interest to any organisation considering engaging diverse groups active in gaming communities in the political process, including NGOs and policymakers. The project and methodology applied is at the core of this paper.