Program on the Environment

The uneven impacts of climate change persist as dominant adaptation frameworks prioritize techno-scientific and developmentalist knowledge systems while harming marginalized communities. Conventional hazard scenario planning processes are often constrained by disciplinary silos and entrenched power dynamics, which limit who gets to envision the future and what kinds of futures are considered possible. Through an iterative game conceptualization and design process and a series of pilot sessions conducted during an internship at the Climate Impacts Group, this research examines how collaborative, narrative-based gameplay engages diverse stakeholders in responding to socio-environmental hazards and in imagining climate-resilient futures in expansive, creative, and equity-centered ways. The game’s fictional framing allows participants to think beyond real-world institutional, political, and financial constraints, generating novel ideas for climate adaptation interventions and cross-sector collaborations that do not yet exist. The pilot testing process revealed that game mechanics and rules must be intentionally and iteratively designed to protect participants’ agency, dignity, and self-determination, as design choices can reproduce existing power imbalances within imaginative spaces. This research highlights a broader definition of climate resilience that encompasses interconnected, transformative changes, such as attainable housing, the decriminalization of poverty, and the fostering of social connection. It showcases how collaborative, narrative-based gameplay can serve as a hazard scenario planning and participatory research tool that empowers players to elucidate the structural changes needed to advance climate resilience. Insight gained from such gameplay can inform climate adaptation and disaster resilience planning by centering the imagination and desired futures of diverse stakeholders and communities.