ÖFSE organized a training workshop for representatives of development agencies and development consultants on using innovative strategies – namely, social simulation – to jumpstart the stakeholder participation process. Participants played the Nexus game in the morning and then spent the afternoon debriefing about their experience with the game and learning about the theoretical underpinnings of social simulation.

Participants praised the game as being engaging but also asked thoughtful questions about how and when the game should be integrated into projects – at the start? At the end? And also how and who should be invited. There were many questions about whether the right stakeholders would be in the room for the game and whether they would behave in a way that they normally would for their organization, or whether they would be immersed in the game and behave in a different way.

Participants also asked about how the game experience could be used further – whether or not the engagement would lead to better scenario planning, or whether it would be thought of as an independent aspect of the project.