Smart Technology and Gamification for Exploring the Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 3207
Special Issue Editors
Interests: coastal systems and ecosystem services; social-ecological modelling; system dynamics modelling; serious games and gamification; Bayesian modelling; decision support systems; app development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4066, Australia
Interests: systems dynamics modelling; operations research; natural resource management; decision support systems; water resources engineering; geospatial information systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
There is a growing realisation that research on social–ecological systems should integrate key drivers, processes and responses that interact within, and have feedback on, the system that is being investigated. Often, this integrative approach requires combining knowledge and data from a variety of sources, including the participation and collaboration of researchers from diverse domains, decision makers and other stakeholders. This holistic approach is particularly relevant for ‘wicked problems’ because it reflects the challenges in disentangling the suite of human- and natural-related drivers that are acting and interacting on the system.
Smartphones and touchscreen tablets (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality) have collectively emerged as an effective mechanism for participatory engagement and for bridging the gap between science and policy (uptake). Whilst much of the development of this smart and experiential technology has only occurred over the last decade, its already widespread use means that there is strong familiarity and acceptance amongst the community.
In parallel to this, gaming technology software such as Unity3D is becoming increasingly powerful in their capacity to create realistic and dynamic 3-dimensional ‘landscapes’. These landscapes provide an avenue for immersing the ‘user’ into a system where they can interact directly within the environment and see the consequences of their decisions manifest in front of them. These gaming software readily allow multiplayer modes so that the dynamics of the system are responding to the decisions of multiple users. Furthermore, coders have access to the algorithms controlling the system, entailing that elements of system dynamics, agent-based modelling and statistical relationships (for example) can be integrated into the game environment. In essence, gaming software provides a way of modellers and nonmodellers to engage in a visually rich numerical playground that can be used for exploring and managing social-ecological systems.
The purpose here is to provide an opportunity for researchers to share their research in this new frontier of using smart technology and gamification for exploring the sustainability of social–ecological systems.
The SI editors invite the submission of papers that provide research insights into the use of smart technology and/or gaming-style software for understanding and managing social–ecological systems.
Dr. Russell Richards
Prof. Dr. Oz Sahin
Dr. Hengky Salim
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- social–ecological systems
- gamification
- co-design
- experiential
- end-user engagement
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