Master's students started their education with ice breaking and sustainability games

The new master's students in urban agriculture, sustainable food systems and agroecology hit the fast lane in the ‘getting to know each other’ phase in the August block.

Challenging their comfort zone and increasing their self-awareness can best describe the experiences the new students gained from the Diversity Icebreaker Day.

Diversity Icebreaker is a research-based, DNV-certified (Det Norske Veritas) team tool that measures preferences. The purpose is to improve communication and interaction among the diversity of personalities. However, since the students didn't know each other that well beforehand, ‘improving’ wasn't a topic, but rather ‘putting in place’.

After a round of questions, the students were placed in groups according to personality traits from rational to visionary. And throughout the day they had different exercises.

Studentene står i spillerommet og snakker sammen — The students are working on their assignments in Ice Breaking **Photo**: Aasmund Bunkholt

And getting to know each other quickly proved valuable when the students from two of the classes, the master's programmes in urban agriculture and sustainable food systems, set about making the island of Edison a more sustainable place to live.

Edison is not a real island, but a fictional island in the sustainability game FOODURE. The game is a kind of role-playing game, where each participant is given a role in the community on the island and together they create a story that has no beginning or end. The students create the story based on the role or person they are assigned to be and the tasks they had to solve.

The food system on Edison Island

In this case, the game was about the food system on the island. A food system is a system that encompasses the entire value circle for food, from production, processing, distribution, trade, consumption and the use of residual raw materials. Socio-economic conditions and consequences for the climate and environment are also included. Making the food system at Edison more sustainable was the task for the students in this simplified and limited mini version of the food systems out there in the real world.

Some were given the role of being large industrial food producers, others local food producers, working in interest organisations, being the authorities or in the government on the island. To a certain extent, the students were able to set the premises themselves, but in a controlled way, because they had task cards and roles they had to stick to.

The game lasted for four Edison years, or for the students, two days. In order to solve the tasks, the students had to constantly talk to each other across roles.

‘It was like an anthill as they ran around grabbing people and dealing to solve the tasks,’ says Hanne Fjerdingby Olsen, study programme manager for the master's degree in sustainable food systems and associate professor at NMBU.

Studentene står og prater rundt bordet med spillet — Activity around Edison Island, which was on the table in the centre. **Photo**: Aasmund Bunkholt

‘It was a simplified representation of the food system, but still a very complex and elaborate system,’ says Olsen.

Står ved spillebordet — Facilitator and game leader John Koeckert with co-facilitator August Aalstad and programme manager Hanne Fjerdingby Olsen **Photo**: Janne Karin Brodin

Ressurser i spillet på små plakater — Negotiations were tough, because there was money involved and resources that could be bought and sold. **Photo**: Janne Karin Brodin

With the experiences from Ice Breaking the students already knew each other. And the impression Olsen got is that they quickly got to know each other well, were confident in each other and had no problems talking to each other.

Rolletags / rolleskilt — The student keep the roles they were given throughout the game **Photo**: Janne Karin Brodin

Reflections, processing and increasing knowledge

After each round, or Edson year, the year was evaluated. Who had done what and the experiences they were left with. According to Olsen, there were slightly different types of involvement in the game.

'Some were more concerned with completing the assignments, while others were keen on winning stickers because there was an element of competition. Others were more immersed in the island's challenges'.

The gaming experience probably differed depending on the players' roles. Those who were capitalists struggled a bit. And those who were the authorities on the island found they received far too little resistance.

Small steps towards bigger changes

Although the game was very simplified, many of the same mechanisms they responded to also apply in real life. Not least the experience of how complex it is to bring about changes.

'You think you have the solution, but to make it happen, you need to get maybe 20 others on board', says Olsen.

The students also pointed out how important knowledge is, and that they felt a little helpless when they tried to achieve the task but did not quite understand how to proceed.

A wise point of view that emerged was how important it is to make changes through small steps, to make bigger changes. Breaking down big changes into smaller steps and then experiencing success in the small steps.

Had to define their own role

The students weren't given any in-depth training in the role they were to play, and it could be challenging if it was too far from their own personality, such as being and acting like a capitalist.

Hanna Noemi Lindner, who is studying for a master's degree in sustainable food systems, already knew a bit about the game and was really looking forward to playing.

‘It was an amazing experience to feel the reality of being part of a complex food system. We really had to see how things fit together.

Angelika Cylwa, who is studying for a master's degree in urban agriculture, found the game more fun than educational, and it got a little too spiritual at times.

‘But role-playing can be good and a good way to learn'.

Hanna Noemi Lindner og Angelika Cylwa står ved siden av hverandre — Hanna Noemi Lindner and Angelika Cylwa agreed that they got to know each other very well in a short time. **Photo**: Janne Karin Brodin

The two students also had slightly different views on how useful the game is for their future studies.

Cylwa thinks it was more the gaming experience than learning something new.

‘It's something we can look back on and think: ‘Remember when we did this and that?'

Lindner slightly disagrees, and thinks it was both educational and fun.

‘Perhaps the way we played the game wasn't very realistic, but it shows that when you're given a role, you don't necessarily have to play in the way that's expected, but bring your own values into the game.

And that fits in well with Olsen's observations.

‘There probably wasn't as much friction as in the real world, and everyone was nice to each other. Yes, they crashed the game, because they achieved solid sustainability, and that doesn't happen very often.

Next challenge: Longyearbyen

Consistently positive attitudes towards sustainable change and solutions for food systems and urban agriculture are very good starting points when the students' next case is to make Longyearbyen on Svalbard more sustainable.

‘We're working on preparing some good cases for the students to work on in the autumn,’ says Olsen.

It will be a bit like Edison Island. An isolated community that is dependent on outside resources. Svalbard is part of a larger food system, where most things are brought in to Longyearbyen, so it's not so exciting to look at Svalbard as a closed food system. But the cases are looking for the students' innovative solutions for Svalbard as part of a food system.

‘It's possible to look at this Arctic region and the issues it faces in terms of self-sufficiency and the possibility of hunting and fishing, and see the opportunity in a wider perspective,’ says Olsen.