The Flexible Forward- looking Decision- Making (FFDM) Game Facilitator s Guide

The Flexible Forward- looking Decision- Making (FFDM) Game Facilitator s Guide CHAPTER ONE: Preparing to Play 2 I. ROOM SET UP 2 II. CHECKLIST OF GAME MATERIALS 2 III. GAME SET UP 3 CHAPTER TWO: Overview of the Game 5 I. INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME 5 II. OBJECTIVE OF GAME 5 III. FLEXIBLE AND FORWARD LOOKING DECISION MAKING 5 IV. GAME STRUCTURE 6 V. INTRODUCING GAME MATERIALS 6 VI. WAYS OF WINNING 8 CHAPTER THREE: Playing the FFDM Game 9 I. HOW A ROUND IS PLAYED 9 II. EVENT CARDS & THE IMPACT WHEEL 10 III. CREATING LOCAL EVENT CARDS 11 IV. REVIEW GAME STRATEGIES 13 V. CLIMATE CHANGE WHEEL 13 CHAPTER FOUR: Scoring & Winners 14 I. DETERMINING WINNERS 15 II. REFLECTING ON GAME PLAY STRATEGIES 16 CHAPTER FIVE: Summary - Order of Play 17 ANNEX I Understanding Specific Development Cards 19 1

CHAPTER ONE: Preparing to Play Setting up the room where the workshop will be held, and preparing materials for gameplay may be done the day before, or at least one hour before participants are scheduled to arrive. I. ROOM SET UP For a workshop with 24-32 people, you will need 6-8 tables that each seat 4 players 1. Arrange the tables informally, not in neat rows. Allow sufficient room to walk between the tables. II. CHECKLIST OF GAME MATERIALS One checklist is for each table of 4: 63 Development Cards (in 5 colors, with symbols representing 5 sectors) o 12 each for Energy, Agriculture, Education, and Health, o 15 Infrastructure cards 1 'Development Options' Placemat: Piles of Development Cards are stacked by color on this Placemat, 5 District Cards (in 5 colors, with 5 different sector symbols) Each player gets a different color District Card (not all District Cards are used if only 3 or 4 players). 150 Investment Units (colored beads) 30 per player (in the color corresponding to player s District development card) 1 Development Points Tracker (with 5 tracks in different sector colors) 5 sets of Sector Markers (colored beads, used for the Development Tracker) o A set is 5 beads - one in each sector color. o One set is placed at the bottom of each Development Track. 5 Timeline Markers (colored beads used for District Cards) One Marker in the matching sector color is needed for each District Card Impact and Climate Change Wheels (1 each) o Impact Wheel with lower impact numbers is used to begin 1 The game can be played with teams of 3 or 5 players, but teams of 4 are ideal. 2

o Conceal the Climate Change Wheel with higher numbers (with 4 highest) until it is used in the final cycle of the game 1 Pin for each set of Impact Wheels (use to set up for spinning) 20 Event Cards o 12 extreme Event Cards and 3 good (normal conditions) Event Cards in one deck; o 5 blank Event Cards (to be used at the end of Practice Cycle) 1 Key to Shields (this depicts symbols for different kinds of shocks) At least one flipchart (projector can be substituted if desired) o Prepare a score- chart for determining the overall winners: make 5 rows across and write the Ways of Winning in left column rows: Sector, Diversity, Regional, Flexible, Climate Change. Add as many columns as there are teams playing in the session and label by team name or number. o Optional: include an additional column at the right for strategy reflections to be solicited during scoring/debrief. If desired, additional flipcharts can be provided for each team to do their regional scoring 1 piece of paper per player for Strategy Reflection o On one side write Your starting strategy? o On the other side write How did your strategy change? 1 Ways of Winning card per player This explains the 4 ways of winning and overall winner One Scoring Sheet per table to determine district winners at each table Stack of sticky notes For players to jot questions during gameplay and use in reflection exercises FFDM Posters (if you have them printed - PPT available from the ACCRA Team) Overall poster placed prominently on a wall, and 5 theme posters placed on flipcharts or on a wall so each team can easily read at least one. III. GAME SET UP 1. Each player should have in front of him/her: one District Card, 30 Investment Units, 1 timeline marker (same color beads); sticky notes; and a Ways of Winning card. 2. Each lead facilitator should have in front of him/her: the Impact Wheels; all Event Cards; the Key to Shields; up to 5 pieces of paper for players to write their strategies (to be distributed at appropriate moment) and a Score Sheet. 3

3. At the center of the table should be: the Development Options Placemat with Development Cards stacked by color; and the Development Points Tracker with Sector markers of each player at the bottom of the tracker. Optional: leave the Sector markers off of the Tracker and invite players to place their markers on the Tracker at the start of the game. 4. The flipchart and FFDM Posters should be visibly located in room. 4

CHAPTER TWO: Overview of the Game I. INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME 2 Hello! My name is and I d like to welcome you to the ACCRA FFDM game! FFDM stands for Flexible and Forward- thinking Decision Making, and I expect you ll discover more about this as you play the game! II. OBJECTIVE OF GAME In this game all players are district officials. Each player is responsible for making annual investment decisions, and each decision will determine the development path of each players district. Players may choose among many Development Options - and will face many dilemmas Each player s overall goal is to develop and play out the best 30- year resilience strategy, competing with each other for the most resilient district. At the same time, each group of district officials - all the players at a table - form a Region. All the regions will also be competing with each other! So players want to be flexible and resilient both at the district level and regional level. III. FLEXIBLE AND FORWARD LOOKING DECISION MAKING Use the main poster to read the LAC list and relate it to the game. There are 5 FFDM 'Local Adaptive Capacity' (LAC) Themes: "Communities adapting to climate change are ones that: Understand and employ forward- looking decision- making effectively Use knowledge and information in meaningful ways Have evolving institutions and fair entitlements Foster innovation and develop enabling environments Access and utilise assets / capabilities as necessary " But what does this mean in practice? What if anything do we need to do differently? 2 Please fight any impulse to give too much information and try NOT to elaborate in detail with your players too early. Reassure them that your goal is for them to learn by doing and further rules and clarification will be introduced as the game proceeds. The time for full explanations comes once you get the players actually playing, so answer all their questions like this for now: Good question! We will get to that in a moment when you start to play! 5

ACCRA partners have produced this game, to enable you to explore and experience what it is like to work in an FFDM way. Remember as you play that you can win the game by working in FFDM ways. For example, by: thinking longer- term, and collaborating across districts, keeping your options open to be ready for the unexpected, developing cross- sector projects and so on. IV. GAME STRUCTURE It is important to avoid giving too much information early on. Only give an overview of the game structure and assure players they will understand more as soon as game play begins. The game consists of one Practice Cycle, after which the game is played for real which includes 4 Planning & Investment Cycles (See Chapter 5 for overview of order of game play). Each cycle is 7 years. Each year every player takes 1 turn; this is called a Round. 4 cycles will entail about 30 years of planning and investment decisions. At the beginning of each 7- year cycle, players are given partial information about the kinds of volatilities - good or bad that may affect development. At the end of each cycle the type of event is revealed by drawing one Event card, and its impact on development in players districts is discovered by spinning the Impact Wheel. V. INTRODUCING GAME MATERIALS It is important to avoid giving too much information early on. Try to only give an overview of the game materials and assure players they will understand more as soon as the game play begins. 1. Point to piles of Development Cards in center of table, or hold up several examples. Development cards are different colors representing options for development in 5 sectors. Each color represents a sector: purple is Education, yellow is Energy, blue is Infrastructure, red is Health, and green is Agriculture. The symbols on the back of the cards also represent these sectors. Development Cards in your hand are options for developing your district. Ask each player to draw three cards from the piles on the Placemat, and look at their cards. Details on each card will be described later when game play has begun. 2. Introduce Group Project cards and individual vs. shared development benefits 6

Some of the Development Cards are Group Projects, indicated by the dashed line around the outer edge of the card. Any player can invest in a Group Project, and the project cannot be completed without investment by at least one other district. The benefits of investing in group projects vary and are indicated on each card; some offer protection shields for all investors, or additional Development Points, others open new development options, allowing investors to draw additional Development Cards. Importantly, the initiator of the Group Project is the only person that gains the Development Points of the car; however, everybody that invests in a Group Projects benefits from the protection shields of that project. Only in specific cases do all investors gain development points and this clearly stated on the specific Development Cards. 3. Hold up a District Card, or point to a player s District Card. District cards are also different colours, which correspond to the same sectors as the Development Cards. Each player has a different Priority Sector, indicated by colour and a corresponding symbol in the corner of each card. Notice the Priority Sector of the card denoted by the icon in the top right corner; this is the sector in which the district is most in need of development. This does not mean that players cannot develop their district in other sectors as well! 4. Point to some piles of Investment Units. These colored beads are Investment Units. Each player uses one color, corresponding with the Priority Sector, to keep track of their own turns, investments, points, and also to distinguish them from other players investments. 5. Point to Development Tracker Points are recorded on the Development Tracker by moving the player s Marker (same as an Investment Unit in the player s color) up the number of points earned on the sector track corresponding to the color of the Development Card completed. Some development projects also provide other benefits, such as protection from shocks, depicted by the Shield symbols found on some Development Cards. 6. Point to Shield Key Shields protect the district from shocks such as, Flood, Drought, Health or Economic Crises and Energy Shortages that can be very important depending on what unexpected events might occur during a planning cycle 7

VI. WAYS OF WINNING Point to the Ways of Winning cards and tell the players they can refer to it as they play. As you go through each of the Ways of Winning below, tell them a little about strategies they might use: There are five categories of winners: 1. BEST SECTOR DEVELOPER! The player with the most development in his or her Priority Sector at the end of the game. This prize is for planning for the longer- term, e.g. by investing beyond one game cycle or by not always going for 'quick wins'. 2. BEST REGIONAL DEVELOPER! The player who has initiated and invited other players to help complete the most Group Projects during the course of the game in his or her own district. This prize is for collaborating with other districts in your region - and part of that is how well you persuade people to work together. 3. MOST DIVERSE DEVELOPER! The player who has diversified development over time across all five Sectors to a greater extent than anyone else. This winner is the person who has developed a wide mix of adaptive projects across all five sectors. The winner is determined by reviewing the Development Tracker. 4. MOST FLEXIBLE DEVELOPER! The player with the highest number of open development connection points including all development projects of the player s district plus development cards in hand. This prize is for keeping options open for unexpected change and being open to development opportunities that come your way. 5. BEST CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION DEVELOPER! Players choose the winner of this category through critical reflection and discussion of each district s development. This is a very hard prize to win. The winner of this category is able to explain to others why his or her decisions were most flexible and forward looking and most adaptable to climate- change related events. Any player who manages to win all the prizes will truly have proved that they have understood how to employ FFDM strategies in a way they can use in their real work. 8

CHAPTER THREE: Playing the FFDM Game I. HOW A ROUND IS PLAYED The player with the lowest number on his/her District Card begins. This player begins each round for the duration of the game. Each player will take one turn per round. To begin, all players place their Marker on year 7 of the District Card timeline. Each turn has the following steps: 1. Move the Timeline Marker 1 year to the left. 2. Choose one of four possible actions. (See Box 1 for more details) i. Draw a card ii. Begin a development project iii. Continue a development project iv. Invest in a Group Project 3. Resolve consequences of each action. - Some completed projects offer a player Development Points. The number of Development Points gained by completing a project is shown inside the house icon. - Some completed projects offer a player the change to draw one or more cards. - Some completed projects offer shields against future events. It is important to read the development cards in order to understand how to resolve the consequences of each action. 4. Repeat steps (1-3) until the cycle is over. At the end of each cycle, Events may Box 1. Four Possible Options to Play i. Draw a Development Card A player always has the option to draw a new card, but he/she cannot place it on the district until a subsequent turn. After a card is drawn, the player s turn is over. ii. Begin a project To play a Development Card (begin a project), a player must match a Card s connection points with a connection point on your District Card. Each Connection Point is different, and can form a circle, square, star or diamond. When a player begins a development project, he/she must Briefly explain to teammates why they are initiating this development project. Place one investment unit on a Development Card iii. Continue a development project A player can choose to place another Investment Unit on a card with a view to completing a development project. One Investment Unit can be added per turn. Completing each Development Card requires a different number of Investment Units, indicated by the black dots on the card. iv. Invest in Group Project A player can choose to place an investment unit on another player s Group Project development card, with a view to benefitting from the shared advantages that development card may offer. 9

occur that will impact each player s district development. See Section II for more details on this. II. EVENT CARDS & THE IMPACT WHEEL A. Event Cards The Event Cards indicate a probability a certain event occurring at the end of the 7- year Planning and Investment Cycle. All sectors are vulnerable to these Events. Players are faced with the challenge of developing their districts in a way that is climate- resilient. 1. Three Event Cards are drawn at the beginning of every 7- year Planning and Investment Cycle. Two of the Event Cards are placed on the table face up and the third card is placed face down. The card that is face down represents uncertainty about what we may expect in a changing climate even though there may be a forecast of either adverse or good conditions ahead, we simply do not know what the future holds. 2. All three cards are shuffled at the end of each 7- year Investment & Planning Cycle. The hidden Event Card is not revealed. 3. A player is invited to draw one Event Card from the deck: the card drawn will be the Event that affects all players districts. 4. When the Event Card is revealed i. If it is good conditions, proceed to draw three new cards (2 up, 1 down) and begin the next cycle. ii. If an extreme event is drawn, find out what type of impact the event will have, and how severe it will be! For this we use the Impact Wheel. 5. Invite a player to spin the Impact Wheel if an extreme Event Card is drawn. Some players may be protected; others will not be protected and pay the consequences... B. Impact Wheel The Impact Wheel determines how a district may be impacted by an extreme event. The Impact Wheel has three types of negative outcomes: 1. Lose Development Options Cards (cards in hand) 2. Lose Turns 3. Lose Development Projects already completed or underway in your district... 10

The Impact Wheel also contains numbers, which determine the severity of events. For example: If the ticker lands on the number 3, a player needs at least three Shields from that type of shock in order to be protected. If the ticker lands on a 3 and a player has only have 2 protection Shields, she will still feel the impact but it will be less intense she will only suffer 1 setback instead of three (3-2=1). Box 2. Determining Severity of an Event some examples Let s say the Event is drought and the wheel lands on Lose Options with a number 3. This means the impact of drought is equal to the loss of 3 unused Development Cards at hand, however, if a player has two Shields of protection for drought she only loses 1 unused Development Card. If the spin stops at Lose a Turn with a number 2, that means that a player loses 2 turns, and begins the next Cycle with her Timeline Marker not on 7, but on 5. The facilitator should spin the wheel and explain the outcome - link the intensity number to the number of Shields needed for protection from the particular Event. IDENTIFY players who are not protected & IMPLEMENT the impact of the Event. If the facilitator must remove Development Cards, only Development Cards at the end of a chain may be removed. Provide an explanation to the each player that justifies your choice of Development Card to remove, without allowing players to contest your choice. Any points gained by completing a development project are lost when a Development Card is removed from a district due to an Event. Note: Development Cards shields do not provide any protection until the project is completed. For the practice round and first three rounds of real game play, use the Impact Wheel with numbers 1-3. Keep the Climate Change Wheel a secret until the final round (Game Cycle 4)! (See Section V for more on Climate Change Wheel). III. CREATING LOCAL EVENT CARDS At the end of the Game Cycle 1, players will create new Event Cards. 11

The Events in this deck include normal conditions and current or known threats to development. What about future unpredictable, uncertain and unknown threats to - and opportunities for development? Based on what we know about our changing climate, what types of threats do you think we may face more of? What kinds of events are likely to become more intense in the future? What are some unknowns - maybe not directly due to climate change but perhaps aggravated by it - that could potentially threaten or cause set- backs in your district s development trajectory? Invite players to give examples of future climate and non- climate related events that could impact development. After each player suggests a possible future event, ask the group: How do you all think this possible threat or opportunity could impact development, and which Sector(s) would be most affected? Get several answers. What are some unforeseen, highly unlikely but possible, or completely 'unimaginable' events that you think could happen in the future to negatively / positively impact development? Get more answers. Give players 5 blank Event Cards. Some cards have a shield (point to Shield Key on the table) corresponding to known threats, and some have a question mark, representing future uncertainty or unknown threats. On the cards with Shields, write an event and impact that relates to that type of threat. Cards with a question mark should be filled out with unforeseen events and impacts that seem highly unlikely but could have significant consequences if they occurred in the future. These may also be fortuitous positive events, for example resulting from vast improvements in Local Adaptive Capacity! Do not only write the word of the event (e.g. corruption ), please be sure to convey the cause and effect story - for example rise in corruption leads to lack of donor funding. This means that the impact of corruption is a decline in donor funding. Ask players to discuss amongst themselves and fill in the blank cards with their own event and impact ideas. For the next Cycle, remove one good Event cards, randomly select and add one new Local Event Card to the deck. To simulate increasing frequency of more extreme, unpredictable or unusual events due to climate change, repeat the removal of two good Event cards, replacing them with two new Local Event cards after each of the 2 remaining cycles in the game. 12

IV. REVIEW GAME STRATEGIES After the Game Cycle 1, distribute slips of paper and ask players to reflect on and write down their starting strategy. Facilitate discussion among the players to find out how each strategy relates to different ways of winning. Ask players to turn over their slip of paper and reflect on how their strategy may have changed since the beginning of the game. Facilitate discussion about why strategies changed and nominate one player to report the most important points raised by the team. V. CLIMATE CHANGE WHEEL At end of Game Cycle 3, because the climate is changing : replace the Impact Wheel with the Climate Change Wheel (contains the number 4, representing the most severe level of impact). 13

CHAPTER FOUR: Scoring & Winners To determine winners, facilitate reporting and compiling of winning scores from each region (team) on the Scorecard and elicit feedback on players strategy in the game. Encourage applause! Each player should calculate his/her score for the first four winning categories. Scores of winning District Officials should be compiled on a scorecard such as the one below. Each of the Regional Winners (highest scorers for each winning category) should be circled. The sample scorecard below can be used to determine the winners of each district. Note this example is for five players; with four players remove the fifth column. 14

I. DETERMINING WINNERS 1. BEST SECTOR DEVELOPER: the player with the most development in her District s Priority Sector (ie, who has planned in the longest- term way). The winner of this category will have moved the highest up the Development Tracker in her priority sector. 2. BEST GROUP DEVELOPER: the player who has initiated and completed the most Group Projects (ie, who has collaborated most with other districts / agencies) in his or her own district. If there is a tie, the player who has initiated the most Group Projects in his/her own district and invested the most in other players group projects is the overall winner. 3. BEST DIVERSITY DEVELOPER: the player who has invested the most across all sectors. The winner is determined by identifying the player whose lowest Development Marker is higher than all other players lowest Development Marker (ie, who has developed the widest mix of adaptive climate change Projects in all sectors). If no player in a Region has invested across all sectors, there is no winner for this category. 4. MOST FLEXIBLE DEVELOPER: The player who has the highest sum of open connection points on her Development Cards in hand, and development projects under construction or completed on the District Card (ie, who has kept their options open ready for unexpected change more than anyone else). One winners for each of these categories have been determined at the Regional Level. Use the scorecard at each table to record the winners of each category. Use the scorecard on a flip chart to determine and score the Overall Winners (Country Level). To determine the winner of the category BEST CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION DEVELOPER, ask players to carefully assess their own and each other s district s development and decide amongst themselves who they think this winner of this category should be. Nominate one person who deserves the Climate Change Adaptation Developer prize in the Region and be prepared to explain to the rest of the groups why this person deserves the prize. Review all Regions district development and compare with neighboring Regions development. Representatives from each Region should be invited to share in plenary format why they nominated their representative for the Best CCA Developer prize. All players should listen and raise questions, counter- arguments, and/or expressions of agreement during this time. Note to facilitator: A clear- cut winner may not emerge for this category but that is OK. The discussion and debate amongst players should be encouraged, as this is important for learning. 15

II. REFLECTING ON GAME PLAY STRATEGIES Now let s return to those pieces of paper where you wrote down your starting strategy. Turn it over and think about how your strategy may have changed over the course of the game. If it changed - or did not change - write down your thoughts as to how and why. 16

CHAPTER FIVE: Summary - Order of Play Practice Cycle 1: first 7- year Investment & Planning Cycle (=7 rounds) is a Practice Cycle: Facilitator provides clarification answering player questions arising from game play. Draw Development Cards Draw Event Cards Play 7 rounds Reveal Event Spin Impact Wheel Resolve all consequences of Event s impact Reset the game after Practice Cycle 1 and tell players the Practice Cycle is over and now we will play 4 cycles for real. Game Cycle 1: first 7- year cycle Draw Development Cards Draw Event Cards Play 7 rounds Reveal Event Spin Impact Wheel Resolve all consequences of Event s impact Reflection session on Climate Change Create Local Event Cards Game Cycle 2: second 7- year cycle Draw Event Cards (replace good card with one Local Event Card deck from Cycle 1) Play 7 rounds (Note: Timeline may be extended for some players if any earned additional turns - - instruct these players to start at 8 or 9 on Timeline). Reveal Event Spin Impact Wheel Resolve all consequences of Event s impact Distribute paper for strategy reflection. Players write starting strategy and share with each other Game Cycle 3: third 7- year cycle Draw Event Cards (replace good card with one Local Event Card deck from Cycle 2) Play 7 rounds (Note: Timeline may be extended for some players if any earned additional turns - - instruct these players to start at 8 or 9 on Timeline). Reveal Event Spin Impact Wheel 17

Resolve all consequences of Event s impact Review game strategies being employed Game Cycle 4: fourth 7- year cycle Draw Event Cards (replace good card with one Local Event Card deck from Cycle 3) Play 7 rounds (Note: Timeline may be extended for some players if any earned additional turns - - instruct these players to start at 8 or 9 on Timeline). Reveal Event Spin Climate Change Wheel Resolve all consequences of Event s impact Score & Determine Winners 18

ANNEX I Understanding Specific Development Cards Completing this Group Project earns 1 development point for the initiator of the project. Upon completion of this Group Project, all investors will have the advantage of viewing the next three Event Cards from the Event Card deck. In addition, they will each draw one development card. Viewing the next three Event Cards offers the benefit of allowing players to know what events can be expected at the end of the next round and what type of protection to invest in during the next cycle. Completing this Group Project earns 3 Development Points for the initiator of the project. Upon completion of this Group Project, all investors will receive the advantage of gaining two turns. This means that on the next cycle, rather than beginning on year 7, investors of this Group Project will begin with their Timeline Markers on number 9 (or, adjust accordingly if the player has lost time as a consequence of Impact Wheel at end of current cycle). 19

Completing this Group Project earns 0 Development Points for the initiator of the project. Upon completion of the Group Project, all investors will receive the advantage of viewing the next four Event Cards and discarding one of the four. This means that on the next cycle, these investors will know the risks they will face and, during the current cycle, they may prepare to protect themselves against these expected risks. Completing this Project earns 1 Development Points for the initiator of the project. And will draw 2 development cards. In the event of a drought, this card is automatically destroyed unless it is connected to a card with a drought protection shield. 20

Completing this Project earns 1 Development Points for the initiator of the project. In the event of flood, this card is automatically destroyed unless it is connected to a card with a flood protection shield. Game Designed by: Antidote Games and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre together with partners from the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance Acknowledgements: This game was developed as part of the Africa Climate Change Research Alliance Phase I project, with support from the American Red Cross (International Services Team), and from a research grant to the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN Action Lab Innovation Fund). As such, this game is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Netherlands Directorate- General for International Cooperation (DGIS) for the benefit of developing countries. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, DGIS or the entities managing the delivery of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, which can accept no responsibility or liability for such views, completeness or accuracy of the information or for any reliance placed on them. We also acknowledge the remarkable contribution of farmers and local authorities, who not only engaged in game play and the discussions that ensued, but provided constructive feedback on how to improve the game- based approach to learning and dialogue. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA 21