Circular Maring World – Modeling sustainable development in the times of climate crisis Erasmus Project

Project Title

Circular Maring World – Modeling sustainable development in the times of climate crisis

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Environment and climate change; Energy and resources

Project Summary

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

1. Educational goals
– strengthening and motivating ecologically responsible consumer choices
– raising awareness of the connections between private economic decisions and global climate change
– mastering scientific concepts helpful in discussing macro-economic models
– discarding the exploitative paradigm contained in most board and computer strategic games

2. Publishing goals
– publishing 200 copies of the full-size board game “The Circular Maring World”
– equipping teachers, educators and youth-workers with an innovative tool of climate education
– promotion of non-formal educational tools in a wide and diverse audience

3. Strategic goals
– strengthening cooperation of partner organizations included in the consortium
– increasing the prestige of partners by publishing an attractive and original board game
– transgression of board games into the territory of theater and online interactive performances
– establishing cooperation with representatives of schools and public institutions

4. The environmental objectives
– reduce air pollution
– empower responsible economy and sustainable development

PROJECT STRUCTURE

– 3 designers’ meetings (TPM) aimed at constructive criticism of 3 Prototypes of the Board Game
– cooperation with 160 young people committed to climate education and/or designing board games
– 2-year quantitative and qualitative research on the impact of the game, influencing the modification of its rules
– 1 mixed mobility of young people, the culmination of which is an interactive theater and internet game set in the story of the board game
– 3 multiplier events in a XVIII century tropical setting transporting future users to the imaginary world of the Game
– 160 game sets distributed to at least 80 institutions acting for climate education on the local and European level

THE CIRCULAR MARING WORLD

In short, the idea of ​​the game is to combine high competitiveness between factions with sustainability of their economy (break with the paradigm of unlimited exploitation) and to embed local cultural values ​​into the winning-conditions of each faction (break with the paradigm of linear evolution). As a result, we obtain a model of harmony between human population and natural environment, as well as the mechanisms of maintenance and disturbance of this model.

The innovativeness of the game is based on anthropological research (Roy Rappaport, “Pigs for ancestors. Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People”, Yale University Press, 1967; AP Vayda – afterword). The plot of the game uses the economical and environmental models of indigenous people of New Guinea, described by anthropologists, found at the time of the arrival of the first settlers from Europe. The interaction between these completely alien parties forces both to abandon their negative cultural patterns (on the one hand – superstition and ritual violence, on the other – unrestrained exploitation economy) and develop a synthesis enabling survival on an island with limited space and resources.

We do not want to convey to young people the imperative “do not pollute the air”. Instead, we want to equip them with a conceptual apparatus that makes it easier to understand the mechanisms behind the fact that buying certain products locally and using certain resources causes air pollution somewhere else on the planet. As experienced educators, we believe that it is a more effective way of making a change.

The first spark of the Maring World appeared in 2018 while attending anthropology classes at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The idea was kept at bay, due to limited funds and opportunities. While on another project (DiveIn Larp Project, 2019-1-PL01-KA205-063392) in Poland, 2020, the partners accidentally discovered the Maring sketches and appreciated their educational potential. This project is based on using some ideas from the past in order to create a high-quality product that would help to shape the future, thanks to joint forces of several specialists and enthusiasts from three European countries.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 81196 Eur

Project Coordinator

FUNDACJA EDUKACYJNA NAUSIKA & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Larpifiers AMKE
• Fahrten-Ferne-Abenteuer-Abenteuerzentrum