A serious game on soils and agriculture

The living soils work­shop is a serious game based on col­lec­tive intel­li­gence which aims to spread a com­mon lan­guage on the func­tio­ning of soils and the issues lin­ked to their pre­ser­va­tion.

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How does it work ?

Each work­shop ses­sion lasts two hours and a half and is led by a faci­li­ta­tor. It is divi­ded into three phases.

  • In short
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

Through 48 cards and in 2,5 hours, this work­shop, acces­sible to all, allows you to acquire fun­da­men­tal know­ledge about soils – the life they contain & the cycles of which they are a key ele­ment – to unders­tand the impacts of prac­tices agri­cul­tu­ral and to open a fer­tile dis­cus­sion on the actions to be taken to engage socie­ty towards bet­ter mana­ge­ment of this finite resource.

In phase 1, we dis­co­ver the major actors of the soil sys­tem and the essen­tial mecha­nisms in which they par­ti­ci­pate. Par­ti­ci­pants must place the dif­ferent com­po­nents of the soil sys­tem and explain how they inter­act with each other. Par­ti­ci­pants are intro­du­ced to the fol­lo­wing concepts : mine­ra­li­za­tion, pho­to­syn­the­sis, nitro­gen fixa­tion, nutrient cycles, mycor­rhi­zae. Depen­ding on the team’s expe­rience, we will explore these topics with varying degrees of com­plexi­ty. Par­ti­ci­pants with more know­ledge are invi­ted to explain to others. The whole game is col­la­bo­ra­tive.

Phase 2 is a time where par­ti­ci­pants decrypt a range of agri­cul­tu­ral prac­tices and their impact on the soil and the envi­ron­ment. They are invi­ted to tra­vel back in time to dis­co­ver why and how those prac­tices where imple­men­ted and to dis­co­ver how they allow food pro­duc­tion but also have long term conse­quences on soils.

Phase 3 is a time for col­lec­tive reflec­tion with the aim of high­ligh­ting alter­na­tive courses of action and models to cur­rent agri­cul­tu­ral prac­tices, and sho­wing that the coope­ra­tion of all sta­ke­hol­ders in socie­ty is essen­tial to enable the sca­ling up of the agroe­co­lo­gi­cal model.

Why is it important ?

“Our pla­net, the lives of all its inha­bi­tants and our future pros­pe­ri­ty depend on conser­va­tion, wise use, sus­tai­nable mana­ge­ment and res­to­ra­tion of the soils.” Uni­ted Nations Fra­me­work Conven­tion to Com­bat Land Deser­ti­fi­ca­tion.

It is urgent to rely on solid scien­ti­fic data to unders­tand its func­tio­ning, its chal­lenges and to be able to make infor­med deci­sions.

They tested the tool

  • “Soils are the most com­plex eco­sys­tems on earth. The living soils work­shop makes this com­plexi­ty into an adven­ture. The work­shop teaches impor­tant concepts while encou­ra­ging the par­ti­ci­pant to unders­tand how soils under­pin life on Earth.” 
    Toby Kiers, Pro­fes­sor of Evo­lu­tio­na­ry Bio­lo­gy & Co-foun­­der of SPUN.

  • “The living soils work­shop is not only prea­ching about the impor­tance of soils but, rather, acti­ve­ly trig­ge­ring the phan­ta­sy and ima­gi­na­tion of the players of the game the­re­by trans­mit­ting key infor­ma­tion about soils : a modern form of high­ly effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion”.
    Prof. dr. J. Bou­ma

  • “The Living Soils Work­shop is a power­ful tool in our mas­ter’s course on orga­nic far­ming sys­tems. By acti­ve­ly syn­the­si­zing and sum­ma­ri­zing their know­ledge on soil bio­lo­gy , stu­dents prac­tice to apply their lear­ning in real-world contexts. This acti­vi­ty did not only rein­force key concepts but it also pre­pares the stu­dents for prac­ti­cal case stu­dies on farms, where they tackle real-life chal­lenges with infor­med solu­tions.”

     
    Michiel in ‘t Zandt – Lec­tu­rer at Wage­nin­gen Uni­ver­si­ty and Research

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