CO2: An Introduction and Possible Board Game

Ausubel, J.H. (1980). CO2: An Introduction and Possible Board Game. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-80-153

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Abstract

There are growing concerns that human activities may lead to global climatic changes. Particular concern is associated with the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, in the future above all from the burning of coal. Questions of the physical effects of different energy policies on climate have been investigated during the last few years under IIASA's Energy Systems Program. More recently, research in the Resources and Environment (REN) Area of IIASA has focused on the relationships of short-term climatic variability and longer term climatic change to human activities, for example, in the agricultural sector.

In March of 1980, informal discussions among Jesse Ausubel, and Ingolf Stahl, John Lathrop and Jennifer Robinson of the Management and Technology (MMT) Area led to the idea that gaming might offer an integrative method for study of the overall problem, from causes, through physical changes, to environmental, economic, and societal effects. At present, a collaborative effort is underway among REN and MMT to develop two prototype games, one a board game with primarily an educational purpose, and one an interactive computer game which is seen primarily as a research tool. The board game is intended to be useful for an audience which is non-technical or begins with quite limited familiarity with the CO2 issue. In view of this objective, the following Working Paper sketches the overall CO2 question in simple terms, describes some basic elements of a board game, and offers an annotated bibliography. Another Working Paper, "An Interactive Model for Determining Coal Costs for a CO2-Game," (WP-80-154) describes the logic and a possible framework for parts of the computer game. The project as a whole is described in a Working Paper entitled "Carbon and Climate Gaming" (WP-80-152).

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