Intergreat

The importance of urban regions is growing. Urbanisation and other spatial tasks of our time are bringing about far-reaching changes. This is why municipalities, provinces and the Amsterdam Transport Region are working together on spatial-economic development, in the form of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region (MRA). And to help them do so, we developed inteGREAT: a board game in which administrators experience that they are facing a joint task in the region.

The MRA can only maintain its strong position if parties invest together in a green and healthy living environment. In the form of a serious game, the debate on financing this joint task is taking place in a playful and serious manner. What weighs more heavily? The group interest or the own interest?

How does it work?

The year is 2020. The region has set itself a number of targets for 2050. Many houses need to be built in a short space of time and accessibility needs to be improved. However, we also want a pleasant living environment with an attractive landscape and great biodiversity. We will not get that by ourselves, so who is going to pay for that?

The players (three policymakers, three project developers and one game leader) are working together in four rounds to ensure that these goals are achieved by 2050. At the beginning of each round policymakers choose their policy: strict, or very flexible? Then it is the turn of the project developers. What can they achieve within the set policy? What do the projects deliver? And do they have enough money to make all the investments? The game leader ensures that everything runs fairly and distributes the profits between the project leaders at the end of each round.

Open map

Throughout the game it becomes increasingly clear what the winning strategy is: working together and playing open cards. In the beginning, the game may give the impression that strict policies are needed so that investors have to realise projects that are good for all goals. However, over time players may find out that strict policies are not always the right choice. In the final round, therefore, players are given more freedom and are allowed to add their own rules to determine their own policy.

Insights

The reactions to the stakes are very positive. Playing together, crawling into a different role and really experiencing the consequences of policy choices provides insight. Things that you may know in the back of your mind, but by experiencing them, it sticks better. The game has been developed for an event. It was so successful that several drivers asked for a copy that they could play with their own team.

Contact

Are you curious about what we can or can do for your organisation? Contact us or call 020 33 00 111