Mitigating Future Crisis Through Collective Meaning Making – Megagaming Sustainable Energy Systems

Abstract

Future crises such as natural disasters will be shaped by climate change and involve complex causal relationships affecting multiple societal actors. To enhance understanding and engagement with these challenges, this paper presents a large-scale social game (megagame) approach designed to explore energy production, distribution, and consumption within a broader socio-political context. Megagames, as large-scale social simulations, enable participants to experience decision-making processes, trade-offs, and systemic interdependencies. Findings from six iterations of the game reveal that participants struggle to act early enough to mitigate emissions, prioritizing short-term goals over long-term sustainability. However, through gameplay, they develop a deeper awareness of the interconnectedness of energy, society, and climate. The game fosters experiential learning, demonstrating the challenges of transforming energy systems while addressing climate-induced disasters. Results suggest that megagames can be effective tools for fostering systems thinking, stakeholder collaboration, and climate action, making them valuable for education, policy development, and crisis preparedness.