Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Energy transition is a complex and urgent process, and therefore, effective actions cannot be address by a single industry, company, or any other institution alone; governments need multi-stakeholder collaboration to progress: a variety of expertise, convictions and resources. But how can governments create awareness on the energy transition while enabling multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration? Innovative approaches such as “serious games” have gained popularity in recent years. The use of serious games - games intended to fulfill a purpose, have potential to allow participants to actively engage with actionable information presented through a game interface. Under these premises, the We-Energy Game was developed. In the game, a minimum of five players can take the roles of production, people, planet, profit and balance. From their respective roles, they first negotiate which energy source they want to employ and on which location, and then they check the consequences for each of the roles. Through playing the game, they realize about the complexities in the provision of renewable energy and they initiate dialogue and collaboration with the others to achieve the ultimate goal of creating a sustainable energy mix for their town or city. The study explores the process of how serious games can facilitate stakeholders’ engagement with the issue by carrying out observation and group discussions with 120 participants in The Netherlands. In addition, the study analyses which game attributes facilitate engagement among participants by applying a validated framework. Practical recommendations are provided to enable multi-stakeholders’ dialogue and collaboration with serious games.