Serious games as tools for institutional learning

About

There are rapid developments in the design and use of innovative tools for stakeholder involvement, including serious games, particularly in policy domains in which institutional learning and “out-of-the-box” thinking is key to addressing and solving complex challenges.

This is the case in uncoordinated planning and management of marine and coastal areas, which can result in economic underperformance and/or overexploitation of resources. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is identified as a cross-cutting policy tool enabling public authorities and stakeholders to apply a coordinated, integrated and transboundary approach to marine development. However, stakeholder involvement in MSP proved to be difficult, because of the great number and diversity of maritime stakeholders in a transboundary context with high and (potentially) conflicting interests.

Aim

The aim of this project is to systematically analyse the contribution of serious gaming in MSP to (policy-oriented) learning. The main research question is: How and to what extent does serious gaming contribute to (policy-oriented) learning in (transboundary) Maritime Spatial Planning?