1 Welcome to the Workshop: Games for Environmental Communication Select and take with you to your seat one postcard that illustrates or reminds you of a future opportunity you will have to communicate about an important environmental issue.

2 To share your card with others, please tell: 1The number on your card 2Your name 3Your organization and country 4The group you will communicate with 5The main idea you will want to communicate

3 Games for Environmental Communication For USAID Washington, DC – February 23, 2016 Gillian Martin Meher & Dennis Meadows

4 Exercise: Paper Tear

5 When I hear, I forget When I see, I remember When I do, I understand

6 Outline of the Presentation 1Description of workshop goal 2Functions of games 3Components of the game experience 4The debriefing cycle 5Essential features of any game 6Examples of several useful exercises 7Informal discussion

7 Workshop Goals 1Goal: Help you communicate more effectively by using simple games. 2Approach: 1Share some guidelines for selecting and using games 2Demonstrate different types of games

8 Functions of Simple Games 1Social & psychological goals: 1introduce the participants to each other, 2develop group goals, 3release physical and nervous energy, 4promote trust, 5have fun 2Provide a shared vocabulary, shared metaphor 3Help communicate complex concepts Definition: A game is any process for an individual or group with rules, roles, and an index of performance.

9 Components of the Game Experience 1SETUP: The expectations, experience, emotions, and other information brought in by participants. 1Concern for a problem 2Trust in colleagues 3Commitment to change 2FRAME: The frame provided by the operator 3PLAY: The experience of the game 1Mechanics, supervision, goals, materials, participants 4DEBRIEF: The logical and emotional structure of debriefing

10 Seven Questions in Debriefing 1What happened in the game? 2Do those features characterize real life? 3How did the characteristics of the game cause these features? 4Do you find those characteristics in real life? 5How could you change the game to achieve better results? 6What would be the counterpart to these changes in real life? 7How can we make a commitment to make those changes?

11 Games and Number of Participants 1Mass game – every one sits in place and follows instructions, may involve discussion with neighbor 2Demonstration game – one group plays and everyone else watches and then discusses 3Participation game – everyone plays

12 Essential Features of the Game 1Each person must experience (do or see) the game process. 2Each person must think about the options. 3It must be possible to fail from personal reasons, not because the operator made a mistake, or from chance. 4Failure should be an opportunity for learning; it should not have costs. 5It should be possible to transfer ideas from the game to real life. 6Respect the audience – no tricks. 7The game will be more effective if it combines mental and physical activity.

13 Examples of Games You Could Use 1We will demonstrate a simple game 2You will work in small groups to answer 2 questions: 1What are some lessons of the game? 2How could you use it in your own work

14 Balancing Tubes

15  Your GOAL is to balance this tube on your fingertips.  First balance the tube while focusing your eyes on a spot just 1-inch above the point where the tube meets your fingers.  Now, balance the tube while focusing your eyes on a point at the top of the tube. Pause.  Finally, try to balance the tube while focusing your eyes on the ceiling.

16 Hands Down

17 Images

18 Hit the Target

19 Pens

20 Introduction I will show you two pens. Please decide which of them is more sustainable.

21 Here are two pens Montblanc Cardboard

22 The Montblanc Pen 1It is used for writing. 2It is made from platinum and precious resin. 3It costs about US $350 or € 260.

23 The Cardboard Pen 1It is used for writing. 2It is made from wood, plastic, and recycled cardboard. 3It costs about US $1 or € 0.75

24 Which pen is more sustainable? 1Refer to the Montblanc as pen #1; refer to the cardboard pen as pen #2. 2Please decide which pen you think is more sustainable and show either 1 or 2 fingers silently to the person sitting next to you.

25 More Information 1The Montblanc pen is never taken out of the office where it is used, so the owner will use it the rest of his life and then give it to a friend. 2The cardboard pen is lost almost every time it is taken out of the house. Thus the owner must buy many dozens of them each year. 3When the Montblanc pen ink cartridge becomes empty, the owner buys a refill. 4If he still has the cardboard pen when its ink cartridge becomes empty, he will throw the pen away and get a new one.

26 I will ask again: Which pen is more sustainable? 1Refer to the Montblanc as pen #1; refer to the cardboard pen as pen #2. 2Please decide which pen you think is more sustainable and show either 1 or 2 fingers silently to the person sitting next to you.

27 Main Lessons 1The new information did not describe the pens’ physical technology; it described the owner’s relationship, habits, and attitudes toward the pens. 2Many votes changed after the new information. 3Therefore sustainability is not mainly in the physical technology of the tool, it is in a person’s relationship to the tool. 4Achieving sustainability does require new technologies; but more important will be to develop new relationships and attitudes to the technologies we have.

28 The Impact of Games Jessie H. Bancroft, Games for the Playground, Home, School, and Gymnasium, The Macmillan Company, NY Games have a positive educational influence that no one can appreciate who has not observed their effects. Children who are slow to see, to hear, to observe, to think, and to do, may be completely transformed by the playing of games.

29 The Climate Change Playbook, Meadows, Booth Sweeney & Martin Mehers, Chelsea Green Publishing, Systems Thinking Games for More Effective Communication about Climate Change

30 Exercise: GO!