A group of researchers and representatives from the Malå Hub, in Sweden, teamed up to prepare a programme for the Malå 20235 Future Forum event.

In a variety of ways, the forum addressed actors at different levels and sectors: politics at national/EU level, local politicians, forestry, reindeer husbandry, the mining industry, young people and the local population. Over two days (3-4 June 2024), a range of interlinking activities were carried out with the stated aim of anchoring and further developing the work carried out so far. 

The setting for ”Building bridges”

In this context, the opportunity was taken to convey the progress around the development of a serious digital game in representing current land use issues (conflicting land use interests) in the Malå region.

Serious games are primarily created for purposes other than entertainment, such as learning or skills development. Representatives from the forestry sector and representatives from the municipality gave inputs to a constructive discussion on modifications, target groups, and the usefulness of the game. The importance of striking a good balance between recognising or showing that there are conflicts without deepening them was highlighted. 

The presentation and feedback resulted in new collaborations with the local municipality and forestry sector. These stakeholders have provided open source map resources and contacts with professional colleagues to provide additional map details of the forest terrain in the area.

In addition, they have highlighted the challenges they face in their industries in terms of land use, particularly with regard to reindeer herding and political constraints. The new contacts made are also willing to be part of the project’s peer review committee and provide continuous feedback on the game’s further development.

Game development of “Building bridges”

During the forum one of the highlights was a linkage to Nila School’s Open Day. Here Mehmet Erk conducted workshops with Year 7 students (2 classes) to design characters for the game. The characters were to be based on inspiring local role models (so-called Malå Heroes) from the perspective of the young people. The pupils had been asked in advance to describe their “local hero” both in writing and in the form of a drawing.

Under Mehmet’s guidance, they then learned 3D modelling and each created a character concept, which was then integrated into a version of the game “Bridging Worlds”.

This was then presented to the rest of the students, school staff/municipal employees at the open house event.

Mehmet’s workshops have raised the digital literacy of the young people and engaged them in a discussion about how their own community (Malå) can be represented. The characters created by the students represent a spectrum of professions, ages, genders and beliefs. Based on the students’ work, the characters will be professionally designed to become permanent non-playable characters (NPCs) in the final published game.

The playable output of the workshop will be downloadable for Windows computers, along with a detailed report of the workshop on the project website.

Clcik here to explore the demo.