A class in the third grade of secondary school (economics), embarked on a journey of RISK & RACE.
The RISK & RACE game is an engaging and hands-on way to learn about the opportunities and challenges of the circular economy. It is a table top board game, developed for professional and higher education. It is designed to induce an entrepreneurial mind-set and introduce players to entrepreneurial decision-making and circular economy business models. And of course, it is also fun and challenging, just as a game should be!
An adapted version for secondary school students
A class in the third grade of secondary school (economics), embarked on a journey of RISK & RACE. The sessions took place over 5 weeks and were supervised by VITO.
Throughout the gameplay, the students gained insight into:
- The difference between linear and circular business models.
- Circular economy strategies, such as circular product design, recycling and remanufacturing.
- Circular business models, such as pay-per-use and take-back systems.
- The effects of investments on their business performance and resilience against external events.
For the students it was a fun game experience on circular economy and entrepreneurship. For VITO it gave the opportunity to collect student feedback, reflect and finetune the game in order to create an adapted version, suitable for the target group of secondary school students.
Some of the reactions:
“The game gives you the opportunity to introduce you to leadership in a company and what choices are involved.”
“I thought it was a very fun game, it was nice to be able to do business yourself. We were introduced to reality.”
“I enjoyed playing in teams, because you could discuss with one other which investments we were going to make to make a profit. Also the event cards were very fun, as they caused excitement in the game.”
“I have learned that you really have to invest in better production methods first, even if you lose money. Later on you can produce more or more sustainable, and that profit will follow automatically.”
“I found this game very instructive. We’ve learned about the important decisions a company has to make.”
“It is fun to play games during class that are related to the lesson. This way you learn in a different and fun way.”
A new prototype
Currently, a card game is being developed, with the support of EIT Raw Materials, translating the RISK & RACE experience into a simplified and shorter gameplay, fit for use in secondary education and STEM courses. The card game was presented to its first testing audience at TEDxUHasselt on 24th March 2018. Class testings of the new prototype will be held in the course of April and May. Not only Flemish schools are involved, also secondary schools in Germany and Italy will be playtesting the new cardgame. At the end of 2018, we hope to launch a ready-to-use version and a valuable tool for teachers to teach highschool students about entrepreneurship and circular economy. To be continued.
Risk & Race was developed in collaboration with Wuppertal Institute, VTT, TUDelft and In the loop Games with the support of EIT Raw Materials.
