STAR interview: shaping climate-resilient futures through gaming

Tuesday 5 August 2025

In this STAR interview, we speak to Robert-Jan den Haan of the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET). STAR is an acronym for (S)ituation, (T)asks, (A)ctions, (R)esults. We have many “star” colleagues at UT with interesting stories to tell. Robert-Jan den Haan contributes to shaping climate-resilient futures for both our environment and society by facilitating games that promote collaboration and knowledge exchange, fostering systemic thinking.

Situation

What is/was the situation (S) of your research/initiative?

Climate change is placing pressure on our environment and society. We need to act now to add resilience to extreme events like flooding or drought, which are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity. It is essential that stakeholders are able to take a holistic perspective and jointly assess possible future impacts in comparison to possible courses of action. For that to be effective and lead to meaningful outcomes, it requires carefully designed support to bridge disciplines and backgrounds, exchange perspectives, and gain a shared understanding of both the challenge at hand and possible solutions.

TASKS

What tasks (T) were or are you currently working on?

As part of the Human-Centered Design chair, my team and I create tools to bring people together on climate challenges at a national or regional level. These tools act as 'boundary objects', things that bring different groups together around a shared issue. Our main focus is on designing and using games. We design these games as interactive simulations where players explore possible futures, including the effects of climate change, and experiment with ways to build resilience. In doing so, these games aim to facilitate multi-stakeholder interactions, enable the exchange of knowledge and perspectives, and inform the development of joint strategies.

Actions

What actions (A) are you working on, and who is involved?

We work in several applied research projects, mostly consortium-based and focused on water, its quantity, quality, or both. Current projects are funded by the Dutch Research Council, the European Commission, and the UT Incentive Grant on Resilience, with co-funding from partners. Our partners include national and regional water authorities, governments, companies, consultancies, network organisations and interest groups. We also work closely with other ET research chairs in these projects, such as the Marine Fluvial Systems, Multidisciplinary Water Management and Integrated Project Delivery chairs.

One of our projects involves designing a game that helps address salt intrusion and its impact on freshwater in the western Netherlands. It explores how to balance this issue with the needs of other sectors. Another project looks at increasing drought resilience in the Twente region, where we aim to design a water allocation game that combines future projections for the region with exploring perspectives on the value of water. We are about to start a project on designing a game to experiment with sand nourishment strategies in coastal regions to assess effects on flood safety, ecology and socio-economic factors.

In all our projects, we use co-design methods. We work closely with stakeholders to understand their needs and how games can be embedded in real-world decision-making. What sets us apart from others working on climate games is our focus on interaction design. We experiment with combining physical and digital elements, using principles of tangible and embodied interaction to create hands-on experiences while incorporating the best available knowledge in simulated environments. Thanks to infrastructure funding from the Dutch Research Council, we established a lab around a physical-digital game table (see header photo). It’s now part of ITC’s Design and Interactive Space for Co-Creating (DISC), where we continue to explore the power of games in bridging science and policy.

Results

What results (R) do you hope to achieve, and how will society (or UT organisation) perceive them?

Our research shows that combining physical and digital elements in games works well. Board games offer hands-on and face-to-face interaction, while computer games provide flexibility and simulation power. By blending the two, we get the best of both worlds. As boundary objects, we see that such games actively shape discussions. Recently, we tested a prototype of our salt intrusion game in a hackathon organised by Rijkswaterstaat. There, experts assessed specific salt intrusion mitigation measures in terms of their potential for the Rhine-Meuse delta. A group of experts then used the game to experiment with the same measures. While playing, discussions immediately shifted from looking at measures one by one to discussing combinations. They furthermore explored how effects, based on an underlying simulation model, varied between the northern and southern parts of the delta. Moreover, the game encouraged experts to bounce ideas off each other and not just discuss, but also experiment with measures. The game thus facilitated collaboration and knowledge exchange and promoted systemic thinking. By enabling this kind of stakeholder interaction, we contribute to shaping climate-resilient futures for our environment and society.