Can games help people manage the climate risks they face? The participatory design of educational games

The document argues that traditional 'wait and see and respond' approaches to climate disasters are insufficient, particularly for vulnerable populations in developing countries. It proposes the use of participatory games and simulations as innovative tools to help humanitarian organizations evolve into knowledge-based entities capable of acting on scientific climate information. These tools are designed to approximate real-life complexity and elicit insights from professionals to improve forecast-based humanitarian decisions and climate risk management.

• Humanitarian organizations must transition into knowledge-based entities that can rapidly absorb and act on reliable information about changing risks to improve outcomes in an uncertain climate, as simply increasing staff or training is insufficient.
• Participatory games and simulations serve as tools that can approximate real-life complexity, facilitating learning and dialogue on climate risk management among various stakeholders and helping professionals elicit deeper insights.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2014). Can games help people manage the climate risks they face? The participatory design of educational games. https://cdkn.org/resource/participatory-design-of-educational-games

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Can games help people manage the climate risks they face? The participatory design of educational games. 2014. https://cdkn.org/resource/participatory-design-of-educational-games.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Can games help people manage the climate risks they face? The participatory design of educational games |date=30 July 2014 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/participatory-design-of-educational-games |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2014can, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Can games help people manage the climate risks they face? The participatory design of educational games}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2014}, month = jul, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/participatory-design-of-educational-games}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }