Vasilikou, C., Papamanousakis, Y., Lanuza, F., 2023.

The story of the design partnership behind ZeroCityPlus: a community game for participation and local governance beyond net zero goals

Can playing a game help us raise awareness of the climate crisis, contribute to behavioural change towards a more sustainable way of life, and create plans and strategies for cities that can regenerate the ecosystems we all depend on? What would this game look like? The paper investigates the design partnership between an academic institution, a small not-for-profit organisation, a research associate, and three local community groups. We researched the development of an urban game that negotiates the conflict between the multiple stakeholders of sustainable urban development, public participation, and climate literacy. The goal is to trace the journey, as citizens, communities, businesses, and local government, together, towards net zero and carbon-negative strategies and action plans, for a more sustainable and resilient city. ZeroCityPlus (ZeroCity + ) is one of the fifteen Design Exchange Partnerships participating in the inaugural year of the Future Observatory, a UK-wide research programme coordinated by the Design Museum in partnership with UK Research and Innovation and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project methodology was based on design research, prototyping, active community workshops, and a test-learn-improve approach. Successive iterations of gaming workshops were developed with local communities in Nottingham, Reading, and London. The paper presents the findings from the first phase of the project and the story behind the development of a hybrid analogue and digital urban game for public participation beyond net zero.