A policy simulation on sea level rise in the SIDSs: Come help build it!

Simulation/games come in all imaginable shapes and sizes.  One shape and size that you may not have encountered is SIMPLEX, developed by Drew Mackie.  The term means from the simple to the complex.

Simulations using this format start with only essential components: people and a theme.  In our example, the people are you; the theme is SIDS – Small Island Developing States.

SIDS are facing immense challenges caused by global heating, particularly rising sea levels (SLR).  Vulnerable stakeholders facing these challenges, as well as scientists, policymakers and other interested parties, can benefit from the use of co-created, participatory policy simulation using the SIMPLEX format.

Our presentation is actually an invitation to fellow geogamers to join us during the geogames evening to help co-build a simulation/game together.  It is more a simulation than a game, unless you decide otherwise!  In our presentation, we will do the following:

• Outline the content objective (develop a policy for SLR on SIDS);
• Outline the procedure that we will follow at the start of the simulation;
• Say a few words about some of the simulation elements (e.g., time);
• Emphasise the importance of the debriefing;
• Answer any questions.

On previous occasions, colleagues and DC have used the SIMPLEX format to examine or develop policy in regard, for example, to the three-day working week in the UK, the outcome of Dutch elections, an ideal education system and climate-ocean change policy.  When used in anticipation of events, the simulation can have powerful and uncannily predictive power.  The simulation format is adaptable to a variety of geo-situations.