I am excited to announce that I will present "The Sustainability Game" at the 2024 AIMS conference on February 23rd and 24th. If you are attending the conference, I invite you to join me for the Sustainability Game workshop on Saturday, scheduled from 1:15 - 2:30 PM. If you haven't registered, you can do so here.
Sustainability is a topic that needs to be better understood, especially globally. Two opposing viewpoints tend to dominate the conversation. On the one hand, some believe we need to extract as many resources as possible to make them cheaper for the marketplace, which keeps prices lower for consumers. However, this perspective often needs to pay more attention to the environmental impacts of resource acquisition and tends to only worry about the supply once the problem is immediate. On the other hand, some prioritize the environment over human suffering and quality of life. This viewpoint often sees all actions by human industry as only evil and fails to understand the importance of equity within sustainability initiatives. Solutions presented by this viewpoint are often a one-size-fits-all approach and do not consider a nation's ability to support such initiatives when they struggle to meet basic demands. This game's main lesson is that problems are rarely black and white, and we must employ a more nuanced perspective.
The rules of the game are deceptively simple. This resource acquisition game only has a couple of rules, but once the students begin playing, they almost always fail collectively the first couple of times. It is not until later in the game that they realize "how to play the game" so they can still compete without completely losing it. The game is an elegant metaphor for how humans interact with the environment, either sustainably acquiring resources or ruining them through overproduction.
During the workshop, we will actually play the game and not just talk about it. Fair warning: we will be moving our bodies (which many people need after lunchtime). But don't worry, you don't have to be an athlete to participate. The game is designed for all levels of physical ability with a low barrier of entry.
I invite you to come and experience this new and exciting way of learning about sustainability. I am confident that you will find it both informative and fun. See you at the workshop!