This week’s Technoculture, Art, and Games (TAG) 5a7 Symposium will look at games as catalysts for change, more specifically those that succeed in inspiring their users to engage in social action. This conversation is the first in a series of 5a7s co-designed by MOBmontréal and TAG to explore in-depth the theme of mobilization through play and games.
Have you ever wondered if we could support citizen action using fun and games, therefore helping to cultivate social change before we’re faced with crisis?
If so, how would we define the terminology behind playful social action?
What would the playbook of successful (and not so successful) design strategies that cultivate social engagement look like?
What would happen if we bridged the gap between NGO campaigners and game designers?
Our intention is to make this into a process of experiential learning and skill sharing on these topics. Let’s start thinking together, connecting with new people and playing with ideas for playful engagement. By the end of this series of conversations, we would like to be prototyping real-life actions in the form of games to support real Montreal projects that are aiming for social change.
We invite game designers, activists, tech heads, community members and all other curious folks to come and join us on Thursday, July 4, 5-7pm at the Hexagram Game Lab, EV 11.425, 1515 St. Catherine W. No experience with any of the above topics is required.
Introduction to MOBmontreal
“Imagine a world where everyone can participate in critical social decisions, be they laws or budgets or anything else related to governance. Then add another ingredient to the mix : what if all this would be built as a game?
How could we take inspiration from powerful examples of games for social good to build platforms that support engagement and facilitate the mobilisation of Montrealers?
MOBmontreal wants to experiment with this theme by uniting actors who will co-develop a community interested in games as a means to support social change.
Accompanied by the open citizen lab Mandalab, MOBmontreal is shaping up to become a veritable living lab to activate open innovation in social gaming!