Ep. 8: Project Inner Alliance - Designing a Social Impact Game Focusing on Cultural Evolution, Inclusivity and Team Cohesion

Our host Donna Dupont interviews Kassie Miedema to discuss the power of social impact games to support learning goals, behaviour change and positive social messaging. 

Kassie Miedema is a Senior Foresight and Design Researcher at Archipelago of Design. Kassie is passionate about resilience and transformative culture change and continues to contribute her multidisciplinary expertise to address contemporary security and defence challenges. 

In this episode we discuss development of the game Project Inner Alliance, focused on cultural evolution and inclusivity within teams to transform beliefs and behaviours. The premise is a humanitarian aid and disaster relief scenario game where the environment is “the enemy” presenting challenges and obstacles. This orientation of the game shifts the focus from character based combat to collaboration and building team cohesion. Project Inner Alliance leveraged a co-design participatory approach and included a diversity of participants and perspectives in order to advance a scenario game that resonates with our defence and security community.

About This Episode's Guest:

Kassie Miedema is a senior Foresight and Design Researcher at Archipelago of Design. Kassie is passionate about resilience and transformative culture change and continues to contribute her multidisciplinary expertise to address contemporary security and defence challenges. At AOD, Kassie uses her skills in design thinking, foresight, serious games, workshop facilitation to tackle projects involving cultural evolution, inclusivity, and climate change. Kassie studied architecture at the University of Waterloo and worked for several years in architecture firms before pivoting her career. Her time in architecture taught her an appreciation for sustainable design and resilience, but Kassie had a desire to pursue a career change where she could have a more positive social impact. She enrolled in OCAD’s Strategic Foresight and Innovation program in 2021 where she met Professor Michele Mastroeni and began working with AOD. Most recently, Kassie has completed the project Safeguarding the Future: A Strategic Foresight Handbook for National Security and Defence Professionals (which is publicly available on the AOD website) and is currently working on a Climate Change and Security Workshop Toolkit and Project Inner Alliance, a transformative game to increase inclusivity and readiness within defence and security teams.

Show Notes

AOD is hosting an international conference on security design on September 18-20, 2024 at the Naval Academy, Lisbon, Portugal. If you’re a fan of the podcast and want to learn more, please visit https://aodnetwork.ca/securitybydesign/ for the full programme, and  https://securitybydesign.eventbrite.ca/ to register.

Project Inner Alliance, currently under development in partnership with Wero Creative, is one of several games conceived by AOD to accelerate cultural evolution. Specifically, Project Inner Alliance promotes transformation of beliefs and behaviours by exploring team dynamics and cohesion. Through mechanics such as limited command, trust, and procedural rhetoric, players learn the importance of increasing inclusivity and readiness in their teams, both in the game and in real life. Learn more: https://aodnetwork.ca/project-inner-alliance/
Note: This game is in the early stage of development, if you are interested in collaborating on the game design and/or have expertise in emergency management or disaster relief we invite you to email us at [email protected].

Safeguarding the Future: A Strategic Foresight Handbook for National Security and Defence Professionals, developed in partnership with Helen Kerr and KerrSmith Design, is a practical guide designed to equip leaders and teams with future-ready mindsets, essential for navigating the rapid and unpredictable changes in today's global landscape. This handbook addresses the need for resilient, adaptive, and proactive strategies, particularly in the realms of defense and security. It includes detailed, step-by-step instructions on various foresight tools, relevant case studies, and resources to deepen understanding, aiming to foster future-thinking skills that can be applied across diverse initiatives. Learn more: https://aodnetwork.ca/safeguarding-the-future/

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Previous AOD Content
Tension Ep. 7: The Bold and Messy Roller-coaster Ride of Design Education for Military Officers
Tension Ep. 6: Should We Play or Should We Learn? Reflections on the Tension Behind Serious Games

Credits
Host: Donna Dupont
Editor: Mikhial Gurarie
Graphic Designer: Habiba Elgendy
Producer: Thomas Changarathil