In New Zealand, researchers and members of the Māori community have designed a board game to help them manage the flood risk to their "marae" (meeting place). The marae is where a local Māori hapū (community) holds regular gatherings and ceremonies and even though the location seems perfect on paper with green hills and close to the ocean, it's at very high risk of flooding. To be able to tackle the risk in the best way and adapt to a changing climate the hapū of Tangoio Marae have been using a special tool, a board game called Marae-opoly. They have designed the game in partnership with researchers from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research with the explicit goal of helping the hapū decide how to manage the flood risk to their marae. The researchers from NIWA contributed scientific data about known flood risks and projected climate change effects, the hapū brought their own experiences. “Most people struggle with being able to integrate all of the different streams of information that they need in order to make robust climate change adaptation decisions in an unknown future,” says Paula Blackett, a social scientist at NIWA. Games make that kind of information more manageable and let people experience it on a small scale. The game allows for a wide range of opinions to be voiced and favours inclusivity. Marae-opoly helped the Māori community of Tangoio Marae better assess the risk to their meeting place and how their actions affected possible outcomes. It was a low-stakes trial for an important decision — and after weighing all the options, the community took their decision for real. They will be moving the marae. A very interesting serious game approach to climate adaptation and community-based decision making! It could definitely be replicated in other indigenous communities threatened by climate change. Read more: https://niwa.co.nz/natural-hazards/our-services/serious-games-as-a-tool-to-engage-people https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-021-00998-9