The Climate Adaptation Game offers its players the opportunity to increase their understanding of various aspects of water management in relation to climate change and accompanying spatial (and urban) adaptation. This ‘serious game’ clarifies the complex relations which rule the overall water system and initiates a discourse between all parties involved.

In a Monopoly style fashion, the Climate Adaptation Game reveals how various elements within the Dutch water safety system are interconnected and which decisions are of essential value to the process of adapting urban space to the unsteady climate of the future. Will you jointly invest in a storm surge barrier or will you focus on making your own structures flood proof?

By choosing between various adaptation measures, the polder on the playing board can be transformed into a climate resilient space. In order to win, players have no choice but to cooperate: they must learn to speak each other’s language. A player with a background in civil engineering will obviously opt for different concepts and motivations than an urban planner or a policymaker. Nonetheless, towards the final stage of the game, it will only become more and more important to connect and cooperate for the sake of their shared interests. The interplay between all participants will eventually lead to a better understanding of the problem and the solutions for each of them. By actively ‘poldering’ (or compromising), all smart players can initiate alliances and protect their shared assets from flooding and water nuisance.

The Climate Adaptation Game offers its players the opportunity to increase their understanding of various aspects of water management in relation to climate change and accompanying spatial (and urban) adaptation. This ‘serious game’ clarifies the complex relations which rule the overall water system and initiates a discourse between all parties involved.

In a Monopoly style fashion, the Climate Adaptation Game reveals how various elements within the Dutch water safety system are interconnected and which decisions are of essential value to the process of adapting urban space to the unsteady climate of the future. Will you jointly invest in a storm surge barrier or will you focus on making your own structures flood proof?

By choosing between various adaptation measures, the polder on the playing board can be transformed into a climate resilient space. In order to win, players have no choice but to cooperate: they must learn to speak each other’s language. A player with a background in civil engineering will obviously opt for different concepts and motivations than an urban planner or a policymaker. Nonetheless, towards the final stage of the game, it will only become more and more important to connect and cooperate for the sake of their shared interests. The interplay between all participants will eventually lead to a better understanding of the problem and the solutions for each of them. By actively ‘poldering’ (or compromising), all smart players can initiate alliances and protect their shared assets from flooding and water nuisance.