Understanding Community Needs and Capabilities Through Serious Games: Introducing ‘Engineering WITH People’ Board Game

The role of humanitarian and development practitioners is to support at-risk populations by assessing emergency situations and the needs of the most vulnerable groups. This should be done in a way that allows a systematic change towards social cohesion, hazard resilience and economic growth. However, ‘external’ practitioners and other professionals tend to suggest solutions for people without developing with them. This often leads to system failure, mistrust and project abandonment. Building trust and genuine relationships between professionals and community actors is critical, as it can help both sides understand priority needs, available resources and appropriate approaches. Serious gaming is a technique commonly used in emergency and disaster management that can support trust and engagement. It brings together active, authentic and applied learning strategies, and game elements to teach specific skills and understand local knowledge, culture and attitudes. This paper introduces ‘Engineering WITH People’, the first board game in humanitarian engineering. The game was developed by the first author and updated on the experiences and challenges of both authors while working with communities in Asia and the Pacific, Europe and South America. The goal of the game is to help players understand the importance of communication, trust and cultural humility. To play the game, players select either a professional or a community character, and work together towards a solution for a hazard-prone community. The game was played by communities, emergency professionals, industry workers, university students and faculty, and received positive feedback. While ‘Engineering WITH People’ was primarily designed to prepare humanitarian engineering students to understand real-world challenges when working with communities, it is suitable for all players regardless of their educational background as it builds on sustainable behaviour and hazard awareness.