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We are pleased to welcome at ISAGA2023 keynote speakers who have a long and international experience in the fields of play, gaming/simulation, and social and environmental transitions issues.

What games and play tell us about our societies and their transformations

by Gilles Brougère                                               

Gilles Brougère is a professor in educational sciences at the University Sorbonne Paris Nord. He develops research and teaches on play and game, and the relationship between play and education. In 1981, together with Jacques Henriot, he founded the Master's degree in Sciences du jeu (Game/play studies) at Paris 13 University (to-day University Sorbonne Paris Nord), and for which he is still responsible today. He is the editor of the journal Sciences du jeu which promote French-speaking researches on play and game, and the author of numerous books and articles on the relationship between play, education and learning.

In his keynote, Gilles Brougère will discuss the relation between game/play and our societies and their transformations. Do current gaming practices inform us about the functioning of our society and its transformations? Is there more play today (both entertainment and serious play) in our societies? Can we talk about an extension of the field of play and how does this relate to transformations in society?

Transformative potentials of Gaming and Simulation

by Jan Klabbers

Jan H.G. Klabbers is involved in social systems development: organization and management development, and action learning. He has held professor and research positions in the U.S. (MIT, Case Western Reserve University), the Netherlands, and Norway. He has been ISAGA General Secretary from 1976 until 2004 and is honorary member of ISAGA and SAGSAGA. His publications cover game science, social systems theory, design science and analytical science methodology. His book "The magic circle: principles of gaming & simulation" (2009), is an essential reading for gaming and simulation scholars and practitioners. It provides the general framework for game science, which he presents as the design and use of games and simulations to advance research, design, and development of social systems.

In his keynote, Jan Klabbers will explore the transformative potentials of gaming and simulation. How can gaming & simulation enhance transformative processes to support social and environmental transitions? How do gaming & simulation differ from other methods regarding research of and support for transformations?

Social transitions, governance and games: a critical look from political science

by Alice Mazeaud

Alice Mazeaud is a researcher and lecturer in political science at the University of La Rochelle. Her research focuses on how public action is transformed in relation to participatory and environmental imperatives. She is particularly interested in the issues and effects of the professionalization of citizen participation on public action and democracy. She is the author of numerous articles and books on participatory democracy, its mechanisms and actors, as well as on ecological transition policies.

In her keynote, Alice Mazeaud will address the issues and limits of the multiplication of participatory mechanisms in environmental public action. She will discuss the place of simulation and games in the field of citizen participation and in ecological transition policies. Can games contribute to democratizing the ecological transition, and in what ways?  Or are they part of an individualized and depoliticized environmental governmentality?

Richard Duke and Cathy Greenblat’s legacies to Gaming-Simulation practices in the context of social and environmental transitions

Richard Duke was an Urban Planner at University of Michigan, and he introduced the method of Gaming-Simulation into urban planning and policy-making in the 1970's. With his 1974 book “Gaming: The future’s language”, he laid the foundation of design and research of and with simulation games in complex systems. He proposed simulation games as a language bringing different disciplines, people, and perspectives together.

Cathy Greenblat was a professor of Sociology at Rutgers University.  She was one of the very early leading scholars in the Simulation and Gaming community with applications especially in the field of health care. She carried on research on educational effectiveness of simulation games, on effects of group dynamics on attitude change, and their implications on game design. She was editor in chief of Simulation & Gaming journal for many years.

Together, Cathy Greenblat and Richard Duke authored an influential book "Principles and Practices of Gaming-Simulation" in 1975. They were honorary members of ISAGA and they both sadly passed away in 2022.

During this plenary session dedicated to their scientific legacy, a panel of speakers who have worked with Cathy and Richard will take the floor to talk about the lessons to be learned from their work and how their research findings and practices continue to inspire ongoing and future research in the context of social and environmental transitions.

The panel of speakers will include Amparo García-Carbonell (Spain), Elyssebeth Leigh (Australia), Ivo Wenzler (Netherlands), Paola Rizzi (Italy) and Shigehisa Tsuchiya (Japan). The session will be chaired and facilitated by Heide Lukosch (Chairman of the ISAGA Executive Committee) and Willy Kriz (co-editor of “Back to the Future of Gaming” with Richard Duke).