On September 9, 2024, eight young participants gathered at the Pop-Up Store in Erfurt to test a new educational tool developed under the PLANET4B project. Moderated by Vladislav Artiukhov, the session focused on piloting the Food-Governance Game, an interactive role-playing activity designed to simulate decision-making around biodiversity, food systems, and environmental trade-offs. Set in a relaxed and welcoming space, the group dove into the game’s dynamic mechanics—managing production, shaping policies, and balancing competing interests across fictional yet realistic governance challenges. Participants assumed diverse roles, from local farmers to policymakers, and quickly found themselves negotiating over land use, ecosystem health, and social justice.
Photos from the event capture the lively atmosphere: concentrated faces, animated discussions, and gameboards filled with policy tiles, risk cards, and strategic choices. The simulation encouraged participants to consider how biodiversity is influenced by everyday decisions—and how systemic change often requires cooperation and a shift in values. The piloting session not only tested the game’s usability but also sparked conversations about fairness, inclusion, and sustainability in real-life governance. Many participants expressed interest in taking part in future sessions and using the game as a tool for peer education and civic dialogue.
This event marked another step in the Learning Community’s commitment to experiential learning and youth-led innovation, combining serious topics with engaging formats to build understanding and action around biodiversity.
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For more information about the project or to explore opportunities for collaboration, visit the PLANET4B website or email planet4b@zirs.uni-halle.de.
About PLANET4B Project
Horizon Europe research project PLANET4B aims to understand and influence decision making affecting biodiversity and to map existing knowledge that explains why certain decisions are made, to understand better how biodiversity can be prioritised in our decision-making.
PLANET4B receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101082212.
This project is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee.
This project receives funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
Contact person:
Maryna Bykova, CGE Erfurt e.V.
