Using the KEEP COOL Games
Some hints and teaching material
Our games provide a playful access to the content and conflict lines of climate policy. They set thought-provoking impulses and enable a change of perspectives by immersion ot the players in the game roles. But using KEEP COOL successfully means to inspire and achieve a fruitful and intensive discussion between the players during and after the game. A good facilitator will multiply gameplay and (educational) impact. On this page we collected some suggestions and material for a good KEEP COOL session.
KEEP COOL mobil
KEEP COOL mobil needs an “analogue” framing. Our experience from many workshops: The most important feature of the game is the PAUSE key! During a game break, players have time and opportunity to focus on each other’s activities. Then the cities with a carbon-intensive economy as well as the green pioneers receive the necessary attention. Below, some ideas for theintegration of complementary game elementsare collected here.
THE “PRESS” ROLE
The press accompanies a Keep Cool mobile game from the beginning to the end and reports on a regular basis. It collects information about the actions of all players and presents them in a newspaper page. The press also conducts interviews with the players and asks them about their strategies and special events. The role card “Press” provides a short summary to introduce (e.g. pupils or students) into the press role.
Workshop Outline
This is one (possible) Workshop-Outline for a session of KEEP COOL mobil. It includes proposals for an introduction and some hints for the interpretation and evaluation at the end of a workshop.
The Climate Researchers‘ Role
As a Climate Researcher (Download role card) you track the progression of climate change during the game. Additionally you observe the number of green and black factories (e.g. in 2010, 2020, etc.) and you keep an eye on the number of adaptation measures built by the players. Don’t forget to visualize your results grafically.
External Climate Conference
To initiate intense discussions about emission reductions within KEEP COOL mobil, an “real” climate conference may be introduced into a Session. The game will be interrupted for a while. The game leader takes over the “chair” of the conference and asks for commitments in emission reduction to avoid the most severe consequences of climate change. Players’ commitments and the negotiated conditions should be visualized via PowerPoint or on a FlipChart.
KEEP COOL board game
Our boardgame immediately involves players into intense discussions about climate politics. Due to the bunch of rules to be understood in the beginning, the real challenge is an efficient and diverting introduction into the game. Here we collected some supporting documents for introduction and evaluation.
Visualize the rules
Explain only as much as is necessary to start into the first round of the game. This is the golden rule to avoid confusion and long introductory monologues at the beginning of a session. The pictures shows an example (unfortunately in german) for a visualization of the steps a player passes when it’s his turn.
Workshop-Outline (Boardgame)
This is one (possible) Workshop-Outline for a session of the KEEP COOL boardgame It includes proposals for an introduction and some hints for the interpretation and evaluation at the end of a workshop.
The scientific background
To explain the scientific background of the game for the broad public, a booklet has been developed at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). It is part of the game box and is downloadable for free.