Playing policy: using games to explore, engage, and create policy

Session type:

Workshop

Presented by:

Lewis Just

Andthen

Fionn Tynan-O'Mahony

Andthen

Dr. Jen Ballie

V&A Dundee

Session time:

25 Sep 11:30 — 12:45

Session duration:

90 minutes

About the session

Theme: Games

This workshop will share an overview of Design for Scotland, a research project advocating for a national policy for design in Scotland. We’ll outline some initial findings and then play a bespoke policy game created for this project to facilitate engagement and generation of new policy ideas and directions.

This is a collaborative project between V&A Dundee, and Scottish-based design futures studio Andthen.

Participant takeaways:

learn about the impact design has on a national level, taking away stats, case studies and vocabulary to use in your future work
have an immersive game experience to model the trade-offs, negotiations and decisions that happen in policy
create and generate ideas for a national design policy that will translate into a larger national project
learn about how to use games to approach policy or complex, systemic challenges
enjoy a light-hearted engagement into a serious topic that will facilitate engagement and collaboration between participants

About the speaker(s)

Lewis Just

Lewis is a partner at Andthen and a futures and innovation practitioner with over a decade of experience working on complex societal challenges. His work often focuses on sustainability, data and systems change, helping organisations explore long-term change and design practical responses today.

He has worked with organisations including WWF, Oxfam, Defra, the City of Amsterdam, L’Oréal, B Lab and Nissan and is a visiting lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art.

Alongside his consulting work, Lewis co-founded EcoCoin, a venture exploring new approaches to sustainable economic systems. At Andthen he uses futures thinking and participatory design to help organisations navigate uncertainty and develop strategies for the future.

Pronouns: He/Him

Fionn Tynan-O'Mahony

Fionn is a Partner at Andthen, a design and futures consultancy that helps organisations explore long-term change and turn it into practical action today.

He has over a decade of experience supporting innovation in complex public sector contexts, helping teams design policies, services and strategies that can stand up to future challenges.

He has worked with organisations such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the NHS, the Scottish Government and is a visiting lecturer in product design at the Edinburgh College of Art.

At Andthen he focuses on helping organisations and communities identify and articulate their preferable futures, and translate insights into clear direction for service and policy design.

Pronouns: He/Him

Dr. Jen Ballie

Jen holds a dual appointment as Head of Design Research at V&A Dundee, a Design Museum, and as a Reader at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee.

Jen is a PhD graduate from the University of the Arts London’s Centre for Circular Design, whose research explores social innovation within fashion and textiles to re-think future systems and practices. She has over 15 years of creative leadership at the intersection of design research and sustainability.

Her expertise spans various design-led innovation projects and programmes. Currently, she is a co-investigator in 2 multimillion Arts and Humanities Research Council projects: one focusing on a creative economy cluster, InGAME, centred around video games, and the other, Design HOPES, which explores climate-responsive design interventions for healthcare, contributing to the Design Museum’s Future Observatory.

Jen is a member of the Design Research Society and the European Academy of Design, and her contributions to the field are internationally recognised through her publications on design research.