Editor’s choice
Editor’s choice
Designing an urban treescape to provide multiple social, cultural and ecological values.
Urban areas need to expand their tree cover to distribute benefits equitably and to meet tree-planting targets. In our recent research for the Future of UK Treescapes Branching Out project, stakeholders struggled to determine the practical actions to take in achieving their ideal future treescapes.
We propose that being able to experiment with configurations of the treescape in a game setting will help stakeholders explore actionable steps for the future in a neutral setting where they can negotiate competing agendas.
Blending environmental science and applied game design, we will reimagine Prasad Sandbhor and Priti Bangal’s ‘Birds in the City’ game concept for the context of the multiple values of trees, using Branching Out research to develop a prototype board game where players collaborate to design treescapes that meet multiple societal and ecological goals.
In this interdisciplinary project, we will explore how to represent the complex social-ecological system of urban treescapes while balancing educational goals with engaging in-game challenges and rewards – for example, creating satisfying aesthetic designs and completing in-game challenges versus learning about trees and creating designs that meet the needs of people and wildlife.
In playtests with advisors and critical friends in the Play for the Planet and InTREEgue networks, we will evaluate the potential of board games as tactile, interactive, and immersive means of prompting shared learning to enhance public participation and engagement in understanding urban treescapes, thereby fostering stronger community involvement.
This work will provide a strong foundation for developing and understanding a set of use cases for the game, as well as drafting a subsequent proposal aimed at further improving and developing the gameplay and integrating it with communities.
For full details, visit the fellowship page.
Project / Novel methods to map the social and cultural value of trees to inform policy decisions regarding urban treescapes.
Feature / The Branching Out project connected researchers, policymakers and communities to integrate the social and cultural value of UK city treescapes into planning.
Feature / This International Day of Forests, SEI shares four insights into how forests support food security, climate resilience and sustainable cities.
Feature / Urban Labor-a-tree, a new game, helps people to imagine urban trees by creating an inclusive city treescape.
