Serious game tackles challenges for regional water provision

A sufficient availability of freshwater for all purposes, such as for drinking water, industry, agriculture and nature, today and in the future, cannot be taken for granted. In the particular case of the Province of Groningen, large watercourses are absent and the availability of fresh groundwater is limited.  The dry summers of the last three years brought these constraints into stronger focus. Such summers, and even more intense drought periods, are likely to become more frequent in the future.

Growing water demand

At the same time, there is a strong and growing demand for water in the province. This is especially the case in the industrial sites (chemicals, bio-based and energy) adjoining the two North Sea ports of Eemshaven and Delfzijl, which will be the main drivers behind further future water demand growth. This water scarcity requires that an analysis be made of the entire system, including the stakeholders, and that solutions be worked on jointly.

Low-threshold engagement in discussion

The objective of this project is to develop a serious game, which will make the expected water demand and supply under different scenarios accessible and interactively available for use in area planning processes. The serious game provides all stakeholders (thus, also those with no specialised water knowledge) with a clear understanding of the significance of water, of how the freshwater provision works, and of the impact of choices on water availability. With the help of the serious game, regional stakeholders can engage, in a low-threshold manner, in the discussion about the challenges of a sustainable water system and possible solutions. This builds support for measures and system choices.

Several cases

The serious game is structured in such a manner that it can be applied to different cases. As envisaged in this project, the Groningen Water Transition case constitutes a first application. The case in this proposal provides an illustration of the type of question for which the serious game can be used.

Stakeholders in the region

In this project KWR, WLN and Waterbedrijf Groningen are collaborating with experts in serious gaming from NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and the University of Exeter. To begin with, the broad outlines of a game design will be developed in a number of workshops with the project team. The elaboration of the objectives and design specifications will then be done on the basis of a stakeholder and water-system analysis. This will provide the foundation for the development of the play area, where the game can ultimately be played with stakeholders in the region.

Different aspects and abstraction levels of the water transition in Groningen.