Mobility is a Serious Game

Citylab partner, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Prof. Cathy Macharis) has played a key role in developing this exciting new board game, which simulates future scenarios to generate new mobility solutions. “Mobility systems are changing rapidly and people tend to get stuck in their own roles and beliefs of what should be done. Conceptualising the future is also not always easy. The game investigates how people, organisations and companies could find solutions for common mobility issues while having fun."

When looking to solve freight problems affecting urban areas, many stakeholders need to be consulted, all of whom often having conflicting objectives. In the Citylab project, the MAMCA (multi actor multi criteria analysis) process was used to investigate to what extent a range of urban freight management innovations might be applicable across different cities, given the objectives and needs of the various stakeholders involved (goods receivers, shippers, logistics service providers, citizens and authorities). Understanding the needs and issues faced by these different stakeholders, and how they impact on each other can be difficult. The research undertaken as part of the Citylab project has shown that gaining a consensus on the important factors influencing decision making and collaborative working is vital if freight problems are to be positively addressed. The game allows stakeholders to consider up-and-coming innovations in citylogistics over the short, medium and long-term, such as autonomous vehicles, droids and drones and how they might react to them given the views and needs of their fellow stakeholder players. Collaboration with other players is encouraged and can lead to rewards as part of the game.

Game slides (PDF presentation): www.citylab-project.eu/presentations/mobility_game.pdf

Game download (external site): https://theshift.be/en/library/serious-game-helps-people-work-together-on-mobility

Price: €25 (or free of charge download)

Time to play: About 2 hours

Knowledge needed to play: Not essential but helpful if someone can introduce challenges in mobility

Contact for further information: Professor Cathy Macharis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Cathy.Macharis@vub.be, Website: mobi.vub.ac.be

Game developed by:

Cathy Macharis (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
Karin De Schepper (Inland Navigation Europe)
Steven Vanden Brande (Durabrik building company)
Guibert Boone (Fockedey transport company)
Miguel Vertriest (Flanders’ sustainable mobility network - Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit)
Koen De Maesschalck (Colruyt Group)