Self-transcendence Motivated Decisions in Water Governance—Learning by Playing the Serious Game AquaRepublica

The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) process requires knowledge of water and governance systems to reach its dual goal of equity and sustainability. These goals align with self-transcendence motivated values, which mean to extend one’s sense of self; i.e., to want the welfare of other humans (equity) and non-humans (sustainability). Serious games, a type of role-play simulation with a specific societal goal, could be used to teach players self-transcendence motivated values. Using AquaRepublica, designed to teach IWRM, four game events with eight teams were held between 2016 and 2017 across Eastern Canada. Players included graduate students of IWRM at McGill University (n = 18), and local stakeholders in two provinces (n = 12). Using a mixed method approach, the research demonstrated that AquaRepublica exemplified the pillars of IWRM but that its design did not allow players to easily make choices motivated by self-transcendence motivated values while still scoring high. The game incentivized competition to the detriment of self-transcendence motivated decision making. These results illustrate the importance of testing assumptions of a game and ensuring that incentives align with the learning goals of the serious game.