Activities

Planning games

The Working Group "Spatial Planning" uses the simulation game method to explore different planning cultures and to promote cross-border exchanges between planners and spatial planning students. Several simulation games have already been developed and produced.

May 2017 | Simulation Game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with planners during the workshop "Borders and planning cultures". »

Simulation Game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with planners during the workshop "Borders and planning cultures" (May 2017)

Organization: WG Spatial Planning, University of the Greater Region / UniGR-Center for Border Studies | Location: Maison de la Grande Region, Esch-sur-Alzette | Date: 18.+ 19.05.2017 

Each geographical entity of the Greater Region has its own models, traditions and regulations on spatial planning, i.e. different “planning cultures”. Working, studying, participating in cultural events and shopping are just a few of the cross-border activities. They reflect both the dynamics of the Greater Region and the issues at stake for planners. How can cross-border spatial development be effectively managed to meet future social, economic and environmental challenges?

At the initiative of the members of the UniGR “Spatial Planning” working group, around thirty researchers and planners from the border region met on 18 and 19 May at the Maison de la Grande Région to provide some answers to this question. They then took part in a simulation game that aimed to jointly develop a planning concept for a cross-border eco-region. The scientific method of the simulation game enabled the researchers to filter planning practices and cultures. The numerous empirical results of the two half-day workshops will be evaluated by the researchers, jointly published in academic journals and used in their respective research projects. The numerous approaches of this workshop have been integrated in a “Policy Paper” designed for decision-makers in the Greater Region.

The working group would like to thank the partner institutions that facilitated this workshop:

• ASKO Europa-Stiftung- Geography and Spatial Planning Institute,
• University of Luxembourg
• Maison des Sciences de l'Homme,
• Université de Lorraine
• Maison de la Grande Région
• UniGR-Center for Border Studies

July 2017 | Second edition of the simulation game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with students from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Masterseminar

Second edition of the simulation game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX + with students from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Masterseminar (July 2017)

Organization: Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (TUK): Beate Caesar, Lena Albert | Location: Kaiserslautern | Datum: 27/06/17 

After the first edition of the simulation game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with the participation of planners of the Greater Region in May 2017, a second edition with 15 students from the Spatial and Environmental Planning departments took place in June 2017. The simulation was integrated into the seminar “Cross-border cooperation”, proposed by the department “Internationale Planungssysteme (IPS)” (international planning systems), and was carried out in a shortened form. As the time dedicated to the actual implementation was only 1h 30 min, the students had to familiarize themselves with the distributed material before the simulation game was carried out. The French-language information material was translated into German in advance, as the group was made up of German students and a student from Luxembourg.

The purpose of the workshops was to familiarise the students with the different axes and objectives of the planning documents for the slopes of the Greater Region - Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and especially Luxembourg, Wallonia and French region Lorraine or the Grand Est - and to enable them to slip into the role of planners in the different countries. Their task was to implement the objectives of the partner regions in the best possible way and to develop a common concept for ECO-REGIO in discussion with the other partner regions. This gave them an initial insight into the different planning cultures of the partner regions and enabled them to experience the challenges of coordinating cross-border spatial planning.

June 2019 | New simulation game with students from Metz (University of Lorraine) and Kaiserslautern (TUK)

 New simulation game with students from Metz (University of Lorraine) and Kaiserslautern (TUK) (June 2019)

Organization: Technische Universität Kaiserslautern & Université de Lorraine: Students of the Master and Bachelor 2019 study projects of the department "Internationale Planungssysteme" specialising in Spatial and Environmental Planning, TUK I supervisors: Beate Caesar, Jakob Schackmar (TUK), Grégory Hamez, Nicolas Dorkel (ULor) and Working Group Spatial Planning | Location: Kaiserslautern | Date: 20. + 21.06.2019

Within the framework of two study projects, students from the Department of Spatial and Environmental Planning developed their own simulation game for space science students of the Greater Region during the summer semester 2019 under the supervision of the Spatial Planning Working Group. On the one hand, the objective was to enable students from the universities of the Greater Region to engage in cross-border exchanges and to develop and promote cross-border projects in the field of competition and cooperation. In doing so, they were able to learn from each other, question their own planning methods, develop intercultural skills and take up challenges in the coordination of cross-border planning. On the other hand, the team of the TUK student organisation was able to gain an insight into the different approaches and priorities of the actors as well as the different cultural approaches to planning. The results resulted in a project report. The workshop encouraged cooperation and exchange in teaching between the partner universities and will be repeated in April 2020 due to the very positive feedback.

 

 

September 2019 | Third edition of the simulation game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with planners from the Greater Region 

Third edition of the simulation game ECO-REGIO SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with planners from the Greater Region (September 2019)

Organization: WG Spatial Planning Department, University of the Greater Region / UniGR-Center for Border Studies, Europäische Akademie Otzenhausen, Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll | Location: Europäische Akademie Otzenhausen, Nonnweiler | Date: 12. + 13.09.2019

The aim of the two-day seminar was to ensure that cross-border cooperation in the field of spatial planning is approached in an experimental way, with a view to mutual learning and reducing obstacles to cross-border spatial planning due to difficulties in understanding. The seminar also provided an opportunity for dialogue between researchers and planners. The main questions to be answered during the simulation game were the following: What are the similarities in spatial planning? What aspects hinder or impede cross-border cooperation and spatial planning? In which areas is cross-border cooperation essential? The results of this research serve as a basis for researchers to explore the importance of different planning cultures within the border area.

Overall, the simulation game was welcomed by the planners. The simulation was an opportunity to implement cross-border spatial planning in an operational way and to tackle national barriers, something that rarely if ever happens in this form. It appeared that the planners, despite the fictional nature of the workshops, were able to draw parallels with their real practices and chose similar methodological approaches.

In the reflection phases that followed the workshop, the observed behaviour of the planners could be compared to actual planning practice. The planners were pleased to be able to meet planners from neighbouring countries during the seminar and to learn more about planning in other countries as well as in cross-border contexts. In addition, common ground in planning practice could be identified and misunderstandings/disagreements reduced, which is not possible in everyday practice due to the lack of opportunities to maintain intensive contact with colleagues from border regions. The researchers of the Working Group Spatial Planning are using the observations and results collected to draw conclusions about the planning cultures of the countries.

January 2021 | Second edition of the simulation game with spatial planning students from the Greater Region

Second edition of the simulation game with spatial planning students from the Greater Region (January 2021)

Organization: Université de Lorraine, WG Spatial Planning: Master students of the Université de Lorraine I Supervisors: Grégory Hamez, Mathias Boquet, Nicolas Dorkel (ULor) and WG Spatial Planning | Location: online | Date: 7. + 8.01.2021

Information to follow...

February 2022 | Advanced training on planning cultures and cross-border spatial planning with fourth implementation of the simulation game ECO-REGIO-SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with planning practitioners, politicians and students from the Greater Region

Advanced training on planning cultures and cross-border spatial planning with fourth implementation of the simulation game ECO-REGIO-SAAR-LOR-LUX+ with planning practitioners, politicians and students from the Greater Region (February 2022)

Organization: Technische Universität Kaiserslautern / Université de Liège / WG Spatial Planning / UniGr-Center for Border Studies | Location: Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg | Date: 10. + 11.02.2022

On February 10 and 11, 2022, a two-day online workshop was held on the topic of planning cultures and cross-border spatial planning in the Greater Region.

About 50 participants took part in the event, consisting of students, planning practitioners and politicians from the entire Greater Region (Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Luxembourg, Grand-Est and Wallonia). This interactive and cross-border training included lectures and discussions as well as a business game aimed at developing a cross-border ecoregion through the revitalization of a fictitious industrial wasteland.
The simulation allowed to explore the different approaches in spatial planning within the Greater Region as well as the challenges in the cross-border context, a hitherto underdeveloped field of education and research, to which the working group "Spatial Planning" of the INTERREG project UniGR- Center for Border Studies is dedicated.

The simulation game has already been carried out several times in a similar way. A special feature this time, however, was that in addition to practitioners, politicians and students of spatial planning were also involved. Parallel to the learning process designed for the participants, the researchers collected a lot of data that will be analyzed, processed and communicated through further education, policy papers, projects and scientific publications.

Due to pandemic-related constraints, the simulation took place in online mode, unlike usual. This presented a major technical and logistical challenge. During the implementation, it was important to the organizing team to organize an interactive and communicative event despite the general conditions. The initial assessment of the event is very positive from the point of view of both the participants and the researchers. The event is a good example of how cross-border cooperation can overcome obstacles.

Would you like to participate in simulation games in other contexts?

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