ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Speaking as a river - Introducing multispecies role-playing games for urban sustainability planning

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 08 | EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Speakers

Mr Philip HarmsDr Neelakshi Joshi

Description

Severe social-ecological crises on earth are intensifying, leading, among other things, to the destruction of biodiversity and habitats of all living beings. Behind these crises lies a deeply rooted anthropocentric world view, in which humans perceive themselves not only as separate from, but also as superior to the rest of nature (O'Brien et al., 2024). The same applies to urban and regional planning, which has traditionally been committed to designing cities for human needs. Increasingly, however, this imperative is being questioned and more-than-human approaches to spatial planning are being advocated in order to break away from anthropocentric thinking and open up new avenues for alternative imaginaries (Bush and Doyon, 2023).
Role-playing as a serious game is an established method in planning education, where students learn, practise and reflect on taking on roles and representing others (Olesen, 2018). Role-playing allows participants to consciously step out of their own perspective, take on other points of view and act as proxies in a fictional world of play. However, role-playing games mostly reflect anthropocentric planning practices, as the games mainly take human interests into account (Castellazzi, Hakkarainen and Raymond, 2024; Istrate and Hamel, 2023). In contrast, the voices of the more-than-human world are increasingly being staged at the interface between art, activism and education using playful methods (Sachs Olsen, 2022). In this context, the question arises as to how role-playing can be used to develop and practise a more-than-human perspective and ways of thinking in the sense of a transformative skill (Chen and Martin, 2015). We therefore explore how role-playing as a method can create a safe and reflective space in which more-than-human voices are included in urban sustainability planning. Four different role-playing game designs were developed and tested based on the relational ethics of a human-nature partnership (Artmann, 2023). The participants were encouraged to question anthropocentrism in a what-if world in which more-than-human actors had their say in a planning scenario and a thriving life for all living beings in the city was sought.
Our paper will first illustrate and reflect on the overall game development process by describing the main features of the four role-play designs, and the possibilities for integrating more-than human voices and the intersections with urban planning. Second, we present the results of a directed content analysis of the role-play designs using multispecies justice as an analytical framework. Building on this, we share our insights on how aspects of recognition, participation, capabilities and distribution can be shaped for just urban planning in the scripted environment of a role-playing game. To further explore the potential of multispecies role-playing games, we discuss their future use in the education of planners, its use as a participatory planning practice and its role as a research method. In doing so, we consider the opportunities and challenges of using the method to better include more than human voices in urban sustainability planning.

References

Artmann, M. (2023) ‘Human-nature resonance in times of social-ecological crisis – a relational account for sustainability transformation’, Ecosystems and People, 19(1). doi: 10.1080/26395916.2023.2168760
Bush, J. and Doyon, A. (2023) ‘Planning a just nature-based city: Listening for the voice of an urban river’, Environmental Science & Policy, 143, pp. 55–63. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.02.023
Castellazzi, E., Hakkarainen, V. and Raymond, C.M. (2024) ‘Role-play as a catalyst for justice awareness: a relational approach to nature-based solutions with secondary school students’, Ecosystems and People, 20(1), p. 2430591. doi: 10.1080/26395916.2024.2430591
Chen, J.C. and Martin, A.R. (2015) ‘Role-Play Simulations as a Transformative Methodology in Environmental Education’, Journal of Transformative Education, 13(1), pp. 85–102. doi: 10.1177/1541344614560196
Istrate, A.-L. and Hamel, P. (2023) ‘Urban Nature Games for integrating nature-based solutions in urban planning: A review’, Landscape and Urban Planning, 239, p. 104860. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2023.104860
O'Brien, K. et al. (2024) IPBES Transformative Change Assessment: Summary for Policymakers.
Olesen, K. (2018) ‘Teaching planning theory as planner roles in urban planning education’, Higher Education Pedagogies, 3(1), pp. 302–318. doi: 10.1080/23752696.2018.1425098
Sachs Olsen, C. (2022) ‘Co-Creation Beyond Humans: The Arts of Multispecies Placemaking’, Urban Planning, 7(3). doi: 10.17645/up.v7i3.5288