ABSTRACT
The outcomes of the Harboring Uncertainty project suggest that role-play simulation (RPS) exercises can provide valuable insights and learning opportunities. RPS exercises are being used in various contexts to help groups advance climate adaptation planning by facilitating both individual and social learning, catalyzing collective action, providing venues for the brainstorming of new ideas and exploring how stakeholders might react in various hypothetical yet entirely plausible circumstances. Numerous RPS exercises have been developed for use in a wide variety of contexts when multi-stakeholder groups are facing shared challenges. Serious games engage participants to tackle fictional yet realistic challenges that generate insights with real-world implications. One of the most prominent claims made of RPS exercises, and serious games in general, is that they can provide forums for the rapid, yet vivid, introduction of emerging issues, like the risks posed by climate change. Uncertainty is a pervasive factor in decision-making, especially in the context of climate adaptation.
