Urban Labor-a-tree

Context

Urban areas need to expand their tree cover to equitably distribute benefits and to meet tree-planting targets. In our recent research in the Future of UK Treescapes Branching Out project, stakeholders struggled to determine what practical actions to take to achieve their ideal future treescapes.

Aims and Objectives

We propose that being able to experiment with  configurations of the treescape in a game setting will help stakeholders explore actionable steps into 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 needs of people and wildlife. 

In play-tests 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, fostering stronger community involvement. 

This work will provide a strong foundation for developing and understanding a set of use cases for the game and drafting a subsequent proposal aimed at improving / developing the gameplay further and playing it with communities.