ISAGA NEWS 2022-03

“The ISAGA communication channel that keeps you updated on interesting simulation game news around the world”

Dear ISAGA members and friends,
In this newsletter we update you on:

1. ISAGA-2022 hybrid Conference in Boston
   Website is open for registrations and sending in your contributions and papers
2. The three Special Interest Groups (Facilitation, Game Science and Sustainability&Environment)
3. Introduction of our new members, ISAGA is growing steadily!
4. A new Calendar Update: filled with many new inspiring new webinars and events!
5. Looking back on the ISAGA Indore 21 conference to get inspired for the future

 

ISAGA-2022 Conference July 14-18

 
The ISAGA-2022 Conference will take place from July 14 to 18 at Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA in hybrid form.
 
Theme  “Simulation and Gaming for Education, Resilience, Health and Social Justice”.

The website is now open for registration and sending in your papers and contributions. The deadline for full papers is April 21 and extended abstracts. The final deadline for all submissions is April 28.
 
 https://www.isaga2022.com/
 
We are looking forward to receiving and reading your contributions and hope to meet many of you in Boston and online.

 

ISAGA summer school Stuttgart

ISAGA Summer School on Facilitation and Evaluation from 26.09.2022 to 30.09.2022 (five full days with social program)
 
Location
Centre for Management Simulation of DHBW Stuttgart, Paulinenstr. 50, 70178 Stuttgart, Germany

The summer school will be organised along 2 tracks with a common core:

General (for all participants)

• Acquiring knowledge of different types of business games and topics
• Learning from experienced lecturers (impulse lectures on aspects of simulation game methodology)

Track Facilitation and Debriefing

• Build up competences to successfully facilitate simulation games
• Learning about the possibilities and pitfalls of facilitating simulation games
• Gain confidence in dealing with difficult situations during game performance
• Get knowledge of a set of methods for facilitating simulation games

Track Research and Evaluation

• Addressing methodological and analytical questions concerning research on game-based teaching and learning
• Examine the topic of learning effectiveness research in simulation games
• Getting to know methods for evaluating simulation games

We start the week with common simulation game experiences. This will then serve as a basis for further activities. We want to bring the participants into dialogue, set impulses and move forward together. Experienced trainers will lead through workshops, role plays and keynote impulses addressing methods, tools and the mindset of facilitation. The program is framed by excursions and fellowship.
The Summer School is hosted by the Centre of Management Simulation at the Cooperative State University in Stuttgart, Germany. Partners are ISAGA and SAGSAGA as the local SAGA Association.
 

Update Special Interest Group Simulation Games for Sustainability, online gameplay time!

We aim to play a game at every meeting and evaluate its purpose and meaning.
In February we played a game known as the open source En-ROADS simulator (see https://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/) by Karen Jeffers-Tracy. This was a short version of the game. In fact, EN-Roads is a tool that you can use in very different contexts. Karen indicated that you can think of all kinds of games around it relatively easily, single player, single group, different groups/roles. The tool offers all kinds of options for overviews adapted to the role. Players experience the impact of policy measures and also how they influence the climate now and in future. Negotiation, systems insight and political behavior are part of the game.

Gameplay and website building session March meeting Wero presented a greatly shortened session of her Border game. The game is about refugees who want to cross the border between Belarus and Poland. It's a card game, but for the occasion Wero converted it into a game board in Miro and playing cards in a Google sheet. The game has not yet been fully developed, but will be available as an open source product in due course.
Metadata – Title: The Border; Estimated time of play: 1h +15min debriefing; Number of players: 6 – 8 – 12 (if 12, 2 facilitators are necessary).

Gameplay - The Border is a mix of a board/card game with RPG elements. As Białowieża citizens (a village in the State of Emergency Zone), you will deal with dilemmas related to helping refugees, your internal motivation, position in the community and limited opportunities to engage in the crisis.
 
The game board consists of a grid. The refugees start in country A (left) and want to go to country B (right). In a straight line, that could be done in seven days. They have food for eight days. Along the way, they can land on a blinded action card. These then become visible and the described action (positive or negative) is carried out.
More info on this open source game contact Weronika Szatkowska <wszatkowska@kozminski.edu.pl>
Practical info: The SIG Sustainability & Environment meets every third Friday of the month for 1,5 hours (usually) at 1 pm UTCS+2. You are free to join the group or visit one of the meetings as a guest. Next meeting will be Friday April15, 9 am Amsterdam time. (we can change times if other time zones are more favorable and happy to do so!)
 
Next meeting we will play an online sustainability game on the reduction of greenhouse gasses while managing a company.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://radbouduniversity.zoom.us/j/88982281513?pwd=WDVnZG5TY1g5OWNmMGlIcnVab1U0dz09
Meeting ID: 889 8228 1513
Passcode: 921467

 

Update Special Interest Group Game Science

 
In this group we are working on and responding to gaming in the broad sense of the word. Gaming as a discipline is relatively young, there are still many unsolved and undefined mysteries we can work on in an interdisciplinary way.  This month we exchanged on where we draw the boundaries of the game systems and its context to develop theoretical insights and frameworks to understand the learning phenomena within the game system.
Please visit https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15xt_oNnz3Lr7PFlZWZ-r6Z0Se6iSNJ5C?usp=sharing.

 

Update Special Interest Group Facilitation preparing webinars and tutorials for you for online facilitation

 
Next Facilitation Meeting we are going to experience a team building game by Fernando Mendez of gaminar.net. He will also introduce us to his platform available for facilitators full of gameful activities, gamified training setups and tools for especially facilitators.
 
If you feel like joining be welcome to visit a meeting – every fourth Friday of the month at different times because we want to accommodate for different time zones. You’ll easy catch up on what we are doing and you are also welcome just to watch. Here’s the zoom link for Friday March 25, 15.00-16.30 pm Amsterdam time.
 
Join zoom meeting
https://radbouduniversity.zoom.us/j/82020121372?pwd=YzdxQ2NVYVpTaTVwaHk0LzZXS2dudz09
Meeting ID: 820 2012 1372
Passcode: 434376

 

Introduction of new members

ISAGA’s community is steadily growing by at least 5 new members a month. In this section we allow new members  to introduce themselves to share interesting details on their game related work and what they can bring to the community.
 

Hans Luyckx, director award winning Dutch Serious Game company

Why did you become ISAGA member? 
I am director of IJsfontein. IJsfontein is already 25 years one of the leading serious gaming companies in Europe. IJsfontein works closely with academic researchers in international consortia such as H2020, AAL, Erasmus+ etc . More than 20 PHD’s did their research using our products. ISAGA and IJsfontein share the same ambitions regarding international academic cooperation regarding serious games.
What do you wish for?
At the moment we are active in the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia and the Middle East. Our ambition at Ijsfontein is to further  internationalize our business. ISAGA is a great international network that can help us to grow our contacts worldwide.
What are you bringing?
We are bringing 25 years of experience of evidence based serious game development in close relationship with international academic researchers  in education, health and  heritage.
Can the ISAGA community add further value for you?
For sure. ISAGA is an active international (mostly) academic community regarding play and serious games. A great fit for me and IJsfontein.

 

Dr. Klaus Gronwald , Director at Kdbisglobal.com

Kdibis Learning Games
Dr. K.D. Gronwald
+41 79 815 3774
Klaus.gronwald@kdibis.com
www.kdibisglobal.com
 
I am author, lecturer and educational game designer with 20+ years experience in G&S and member of SAGSAGA, the Swiss Austrian German Simulation and Gaming Association.
 
My textbook series, published at Springer in English and German, addressing computer science and MBA students, is linked to the web-based kdibis business game learning environments https:// www.kdibisglobal.com, introducing new combined team-based classroom and e-learning methods in a role-play exercise.
 
My main interests and competencies are in interactive web- team- and role-based business simulations combined with “agile didactics” or “didactics as performance” which include the instructor into the business simulation and role-play. The role of the instructor changes from a teacher to a learner, coaching the teams to the daily learning goals with the learning path developed while gaming. With up to four teams in one class, there will be four different paths and it becomes a demanding and challenging exercise for the instructor.
 
With 7 years experience evolving these concepts and a couple of thousand students in various universities and business schools mainly in Germany, Switzerland, and some in other countries inside and outside Europe, it is time to present this concept to a broader international audience.
 
Personal Website: https://www.kdgronwald.com
Profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0016-4016
Network: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kdibis/
Business Simulation: https://www.kdibisglobal.com

 

You might have missed these – interesting webinars in review:

 
Simaust sim cafés are every first and third Friday on zoom between 1 and 2pm AEST (this is 11.30pm-12.30pm ACST or 11AM-12PM AWST)

 

 
Webinar Series “Pratiti…becoming aware”

Webinar – III
Dr. Paola Rizzi, Professor of Techniques of Urban and Regional Planning at University of Sassari, Italy spoke  on "Acts of Citizenship for Civic Spaces: The Role of Urban Gaming Simulation" in the III session of the webinar series “Pratiti…becoming aware” held on February 25, 2022 (Friday). The Webinar Series is organized by Centre of Excellence in Simiulation and Gaming of Shri Vaiahnav Vidyapeeth Viswavidyalaya, Indore, India.
In this webinar Dr. Rizzi emphasized how two important points of view in UGS: that of the player/user and that of the planner can simultaneously direct and orient both the physical and the social and economic definition of urban areas. It was an amazing session indeed and attended by people across the world. Those who missed it can watch this webinar on YouTube with below link:
YouTube Link 
 
Your newsletter editors and the ISAGA Board,
 
Elena Likhacheva
Marieke de Wijse
Sebastiaan Meijer
Heide Lukosch
 
If you have news from ISAGA community or any comments / wishes about the newsletter, please contact elena@isaga.net or marieke@isaga.net