Red&Blue Lab 08

On 24 November 2023, the Red&Blue Lab was hosted by WP2 in Utrecht. Researchers from all work packages came together to share insights from recent research and publications and to explore serious gaming as a research method.

Co-creation was central to this lab, from finding potential synergies between our research efforts, jointly playing a serious game developed by our guests from TU Delft to developing design criteria for a Red&Blue serious game.

The programme was opened by Zac J. Taylor, Assistant Professor of Urban Development Management at TU Delft and Red&Blue co-lead, inviting participants to share current research highlights. Wishes were extended to two PhD Researchers who recently received ‘go-decisions’ for their projects and to Lilian van Karnenbeek, Red&Blue WP2 Postdoctoral Researcher at the Law Department of Utrecht University, for producing one of the first publications of the Red&Blue program, a book chapter on the Water and Bodem Sturend Brief [Water and Soil Letter].

Then, Lilian van Karnenbeek presented insights from her book chapter, reflecting on the implications of the new spatial planning decision for Red&Blue, Dutch climate adaptation, and real estate development. Lilian opened the floor to questions from our multidisciplinary group of researchers who reflected critically on the contents of the letter, from and beyond their different disciplinary perspectives.

Following the introduction and presentation, Juliette Cortes Arevalo, Assistant Professor of Technology, Policy and Management at TU Delft was invited to share the serious game ‘Where We Move’ with the Red&Blue researchers. The game developed by the TUDelft Game Lab had a hybrid format, using a website that tracked scores during the gameplay and a gameboard. Red&Blue participants were divided into two playing tables, with six players per table. Each player randomly took a homeowner role with a given income. Players first selected where to live given the houses available in one of three areas in the game board: a farmland along the river, which was not necessarily protected; the urban area referred to as the dike area; and a nature-based protected area. According to the news and government announcements, players could choose between buying satisfaction or implementing adaptation decisions for the imaginary homes they selected in the first round. After playing a few rounds of the game, participants provided feedback to the game developers and facilitators and reflected together on key methodological challenges and opportunities. Altogether it was an exciting, in-depth look into an engaging serious game for research – a lot to learn for the Red&Blue serious game.

After a filling lunch, Richard Pompoes, Red&Blue PhD Researcher at the Public Administration and Policy group of Wageningen University moderated a workshop on design principles for the Red&Blue serious game. Participants were invited to share and map their matters of concern, which pluralised the game’s aims, approach, potential roles, beneficiaries, and rules. Yet, in awe of the complexity of the ‘Where We Move’ game, the final takeaway of the workshop was that decisions on what matters most will have to be made soon.

The programme of the Red&Blue lab hosted by WP2 in Utrecht ended with a city walk through the city, and drinks and bites at a nearby restaurant.