Work

Using games for social learning to promote self-governance

Year: 2023

Type: review

Abstract: Governance of shared resources needs to overcome collective action problems. Relational values and decision-making play a critical role in this process. Approaches are needed to stimulate self-governance, taking relational values into account. We review the literature on the use of collective action games as a tool to stimulate social learning and self-governance. We emphasize the importance of legitimacy in decision-making and the risk of crowding out internalized motivations — for instance, based on relational values — with instrumental incentive mechanisms. We further highlight the need to include ecological outcome indicators in the game design to allow the activation of relational values. Our review concludes that games used as part of a set of participatory activities enable communities to come together to identify relevant problems and craft potential solutions.

Source: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

DOI: 10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101289

Authors: Marco A Janssen, Thomas Falk, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Björn Vollan

Institutions: Arizona State University, International Food Policy Research Institute, Philipps University of Marburg

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,090