Research ProjectsElements at play

Elements at play: increasing awareness of natural hazards and their impact on the territory through game-based learning

 

 

Project: Elements at play: increasing awareness of natural risks and their impact on the territory through game-based learning
Project Duration: March 2024 - December 2024
Funding Institution: University of Florence - UNIFI EXTRA 2024 Call
Allocated Funding: €7,000
Project Leader: Prof. Emanuele Intrieri

 

With the aim of enhancing the University’s engagement with the community for the social, cultural, and economic development, the UNIFI EXTRA 2024 call has approved several Public Engagement projects, including the project by the Department of Earth Sciences (DST): "Elements at play: increasing awareness of natural risks and their impact on the territory through game-based learning," coordinated by Prof. Emanuele Intrieri.

The project focused on disseminating scientific knowledge about geological hazards and their mitigation through the development and playtesting of a custom-designed board game, Dangers & Dwellers (Da&Dw).

Da&Dw is a semi-collaborative game about the sustainable management of geological hazards (earthquakes, landslides, floods). It is built to let the players experience how complex, multifaceted, and interconnected are the causes leading to natural disasters. This complexity is very hard to explain, teach and learn with traditional approaches. On the contrary, a game experience does the job very effectively.

Moreover, Da&Dw players discover that there is not a single solution to the problem. Rather, to build resilience, complex and well-designed sets of multi-sectorial actions need to be implemented, requiring a mix of scientific knowledge, balance of socio-economic interests, and civic engagement. 

The project, coordinated by the Department of Earth Sciences, involved the Civil Protection Centre of the University of Florence, the University’s Science Library, ATTOUNO A.P.S., the Villa Bandini Municipal Library in Florence, the Pascoli High School in Florence. The project also actively engaged the university student community, who contributed to the playtesting phase by providing valuable feedback to improve the game.