Last November Aengus, Isabel and Mick visited two conferences to share some of the outcomes of the shape2gether project with a broader audience. If you’d like to learn more about our shape2gether project you can read about our previous experiences in Trondheim, Malta and Bochum.
The first conference was the KNAG onderwijsdag (Education day) on the 14th of November. This conference for Dutch geography teachers is the largest event in the country for geography education and therefore a great opportunity for us to share some of our findings with education professionals. Some of the most discussed topics of the conference were climate and sustainability, which aligned very well with our own projects. However, we had come with one specific purpose in mind: to introduce all of these teachers to discursive game design, a pedagogical approach where designing games becomes a tool for learning.
The Shape2Gether Erasmus+ project aims to implement innovative approaches in the education for sustainable development in the context of climate change and its impacts on Europe by bringing together three groups of partner specialisations, i.e. geosciences, new technologies, and serious game design. Researchers involved in the project are Bouke van Gorp (UU project lead, Faculty of Geosciences) and René Glas(Faculty of Humanities). For more info, see here.
At the KNAG conference we had a small stand where we were able to share some of the outcomes of the Bochum summer school with other teachers and geographers. We explained some things about discursive game design and gave those who were interested a small flyer with extra information and a step-by-step guide to implement discursive game design in their own teachings. We spoke to many intrigued people with diverse backgrounds about discursive game design and the broader shape2gether project. The reactions to our stand were all positive and a lot of teachers were very keen to try it out and read more about the approach in their own time. They were somewhat surprised that we were just there to share knowledge and not sell them anything. We were similarly surprised that a lot of teachers already use some forms of game design in their classrooms and were able to share some of their thoughts and knowledge with us.
All in all, we feel like we have inspired some teachers to look into the subject further and try out some of the steps in their teaching. We had a lot of fun participating in the conference and talking to excited teachers about the subject and we also learned from those that already implemented the topic in their classes. We are now even more confident that discursive game design can be used at any level of education!
The second conference a few days later was the Dutch DiGRA symposium on the 18th of November. This is a small conference hosted by Utrecht University for the Digital Games Research Association, an international association for academics and professionals who research digital games and associated phenomena. At this conference we held a short presentation and answered some questions about the shape2gether project and the Bochum summer school and we showed off and talked about two of the games we designed ourselves while we were in Bochum.
The DiGRA symposium was especially exciting for Aengus because, as an enthusiast game designer himself, he got to show off some of his games! Located in a separate room adjacent to the main stage was a showcase of analogue games made in Utrecht, and Aengus got an entire table to himself. The purpose of this room was to complement the theoretical discussions of the symposium with examples of how they can be practically applied within actual games, and a steady stream of curious visitors stepped in over the course of the day. Other products on show were the game that Mick made in Bochum together with his team, small role-playing games designed as part of the Mzansi Climate Justice Game Jam, and reflections on discursive game design by the Utrecht University Game Lab. All in all, it was great fun to talk about game design and our experiences with it in Bochum! If you’re interested in trying out Aengus’ games for yourself, you can find them all here.
In conclusion it has been great to share some of our experiences and outcomes with the shape2gether project with others who are interested in similar topics. We really enjoyed both conferences and are excited to visit the final concluding shape2gether congress in Olomouc in May of next year, so come back then to read about our final reflections!
By: Mick Raamsteeboers, Isabel Rump, and Aengus Schutte
