Aqua Republica

Prema BhautooDHI Water & Environment

82% of the world are trying to improve

the use of water resources

35% of the world have sufficient training

in water resources management

Source: UN Water Status Report on The Application of Integrated Approaches to Water

Resources Management 2012

How can we promote and encourage training in water

resources management?

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Overview

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• Aqua Republica is a DHI and United Nation

Environment Program (UNEP) project that aims to

promote sustainable water resources

management by sharing knowledge, raising

awareness and building capacity in water

resources management through serious gaming.

• Participants can experience making decisions in

managing a catchment in an interactive and

engaging way, and in doing so learn about the

connectivity and importance of water resources,

as well as the need for careful management.

Key Partners

Domain water (technical and policy) knowledge

+

Gaming knowledge

Game developmentTechnical knowledge Policy knowledge

DHI is an independent, international

consulting and research

organization, with deep industry

knowledge and competences within

the fields of water, environment and

health.

Serious Games Interactive is an award-

winning, research-based developer of

games, simulations and virtual worlds.

SGI contributes with unique gaming

competences.

UNEP provides leadership and

partnerships for the environment by

inspiring, informing, and enabling nations

& people to improve quality of life without

com-promising that of future generations.

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Who is it for?

Entry level water managers and policy makers, as well as universities, schools

and anyone who is interested in, or should be interested in, sustainable

development.

Why is there a need?

There are critical connections between social and economic developments and

environmental sustainability, with water being an essential building block.

Unfortunately these linkages are not widely recognized.

Organisation of UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge

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What is the game concept?

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Online gaming competition for high school

Teams of 2 students compete

Supervision by a teacher for Q&A

Teams can play and compete over the course of a few weeks

Winners get prizes from the water companies at the close of the competition

Serious games as a tool

Aqua Republica is nothing like Halo 5, COD or WOW

it is designed for a specific purpose other than entertainment.

Serious games are not new, we have an example of analog river game. However digital

games, including real data and real life scenarios are new and innovative ways of teaching.

Solving complex problems collaboratively

Achieving predictive modelling and real time visualisation

Increasing 120% more self learning and 109% more retention of knowledge,

compared to traditional methods*

Providing a flexible and scalable learning environment

*Source: ADL Research & Evaluation Team

How do you learn from games?

Actions by

player

Changes in

Game

Environment

Evaluation by

player

Learning by

Playing

Did you know?

The average age of

the gamer today is

37.

I hear and I forget

I see and I remember

I do and I understand

- Confucius

Adopting the Design Rules

Seriousgame for

water

River basin Physical

science

Human

Interactions

Well defined area – river basin, Set of Rules – Physical science in a river

basin, Struggles – human interactions in a river basin.

Promoting Game!

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The UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge Competition Series has proven to be an exciting

way to engage school children and teachers.

What started out as a small competition in 4 countries in 2013 involving about

100 students, has grown to include over 10 countries and more than 3500

students in Asia Pacific.

Curtin University hosts the Australian gateway to the EcoChallenge headed by

Kim Flintoff: http://ecochallengeaustralia.com.au/

Where has it been done before?

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The Water Challenge is inspired by the UNEP-DHI Eco Challenge

(www.the-eco-challenge.org)

2013

100 students

4 countries

2014

860 students

9 countries

2015

2000 students

12 countries

Winner 2013 from Chiang Mai,

Thailand

Winner 2014 from Hong Kong

Homantin Government Secondary School

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What were the results?“I might add, the experience

and the learning that went on

was incredible. From watching

the students helping out with

computer issues to the

discussion that took place as

to the best methods of

building a sustainable

environment it was truly

brilliant.“ - Australian teacher

“Thank you for designing a game

that has engaged in the

students' learning and thank you

for the opportunity for teachers like

me, who can see how such well-

designed games can bring about so

much educational value to our

students” - Michele Tang, Senior

Teacher, Singapore

“Wow! This is a lot of fun and

we are learning so much about

water, it’s uses and how

important it is. Why can’t more

of our lessons be like this?” –

Timothy Yip, 14, United Christian

College, Hong Kong

Students competing in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Students competing in

Brunei

Students in Perth, Australia

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DHI’s Partnership Model

Test of concept workshop with

board game prototype

Aqua Republica in water management

courses

Partnering with different organisations to develop unique

versions of the game for various purposes.

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• First unique version for DanidaHigh school version to highlight water and ecosystems

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• Unique version for Middle Olifants South AfricaStakeholder engagement on irrigation and water shortages issues

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• Unique version for Cap-Net UNDPSupplement for high school water education in Kenya and Argentina highlighting nexus and transboundary

water issues

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• Singapore versionHighlighting Singapore’s stuggles and achievements in water management

How do YOU start using Aqua Republica

Contact me for the link to the Singapore version

http://unepdhiecochallenge2015.aquarepublica.com/login and I will

provide you with a password.

Ideas

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We would love to hear from you with any ideas on how we can

promote Aqua Republica in Australia?

Example: University Water Wars – traveling roadshow to all major cities

throughout Australia, inviting high schools and university students to compete.

Students compete for 4 hours, the winning team from each City then complete

online at the end of the year in a showdown. The final 2 teams are flown to

Brisbane all expenses paid for the final match which is streamed live.

Contact me and discuss your ideas and lets start gaming!

Prema Bhautoo – prb@dhigroup.com

GAME OVER