78 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
78 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
# Polycentricity
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A governance roleplaying game
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## What is it?
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**_Polycentric_** is a structured roleplaying game that simulates the complexity of collaborative governance. Players take on unique roles (e.g. farmer, co-op, policy advocate) and must negotiate agreements with others by exchanging obligations and benefits.
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Instead of “winning,” the aim is to practice creative problem-solving and reflect on real-world governance challenges:
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- How do coalitions form?
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- What’s fair?
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- What breaks trust?
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- What creates shared value?
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## Core Concepts
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### Actors:
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You play as a stakeholder with values, goals, constraints, and assets.
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**Agreements:** Formalized exchanges between actors. These can be bilateral (asymmetric) or multilateral (symmetric).
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**Obligations**: What you commit to do.
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**Benefits:** What you get in return.
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**Board of Agreements:** Visually maps actors ⇄ agreements with string and post-it connections.
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## Game Flow (110 minutes total)
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### Setup (20 min)
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- Intro + rules overview (Z)
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- Scenario overview (D)
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- Role cards distributed (V)
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- Explanation of board and materials (V)
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### Free Play (60 min)
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- Players discuss their roles in relation to the scenario
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- Negotiate creatively within your character's values and constraints
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- Form agreements with other players and connect them on the board
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### Debrief (30 min)
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- Walk through the agreement network
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- Reflect: What worked? What was hard? What patterns emerged?
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---
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### What We 'll Learn
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- How values and constraints shape negotiations
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- How governance models emerge from interaction
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- How complexity can be visualized and navigated
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- How collaboration requires trust, creativity, and compromise
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---
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### Materials We'll Use
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- Role Cards (your character)
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- Cork board or whiteboard
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- Tacks (nodes), string (edges), post-its (terms)
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- Markers for annotations
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---
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### Facilitator's Role
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- Set tone: This is about learning, not winning.
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- Keep players engaged and reflective.
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- Help document agreements on the board.
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- Prompt discussion, not decisions.
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Let’s play agreements :)
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