Development Roast Giving international development a proper roasting

By Ioulia Fenton* Whether it is family Trivia Pursuit at Christmas, Words with Friends on the android phone, or Second Life on a P.C., everyone likes to play games. They are challenging, fun, and constitute a healthy source of friendly competition. However, as Jane McGonigal, an American game designer, argued …

All this month, INESAD has published posts related to climate change, gaming, and deforestation to support the launch of the didactic game SimPachamama where the player becomes the mayor of an Amazonian town and has to balance policy priority to reduce deforestation while increasing community wellbeing. Today, we’d like you …

  Leelo en español AQUÍ  By Angelina Gherardelli “If you want to take all the fun out of it, get a bunch of educators involved” A common joke in game designer circles. As children we run, jump, and most importantly we play. When my five year old nephew was learning …

By Jillian Cordes* An Agent Based Model (ABM) is a model that simulates interactions between individuals and groups in social and environmental settings. These theoretical models are developed as a way to analyze behavior based on methodological situations. Using computation-intensive procedures, the concept of ABM was developed as early as …

In continuation with the SimPachamama launch month at INESAD, this week has seen a number of articles published around the topics of gaming, deforestation and climate change: What would it cost to implement deforestation reduction policies in Bolivia? By Ioulia Fenton In conjunction with its partners, the Institute for Advanced Development …

Leelo en español AQUÍ  By Tracey Li This month saw the release of INESAD’s SimPachamama game. This is an educational simulation game, designed to teach the user about the deforestation and human wellbeing challenges associated with rural development in Bolivian forest communities. Being freely available online, it can be accessed …

Leelo en español AQUÍ 

In conjunction with its partners, the Institute for Advanced Development Studies (INESAD) has designed statistical tools, using extensive real life data, to simulate what kinds of policies are likely to make a measurable impact on reducing deforestation while maximizing human wellbeing in Bolivia. As the “How to Live Well in …

By Juan Forero, article originally published by NPR. Though Brazil’s Amazon has been the focus of environmental groups for decades, the deforestation rate there has fallen dramatically in recent years as clear-cutting of Amazonian jungle in eight other countries has started to rise. As a result, the 40 percent of …

By Angelina Gherardelli ‘Serious games’ are games with a purpose that go beyond sole entertainment by aiming to educate, inspire, or even change certain real world behaviors of its players. ‘Games for good’ or ‘games for change’ focus specifically on creating social change. The movement is widespread and—as witnessed by the last …