Alenka presented our research at Harvard and MIT

Alenka just returned from Harvard and MIT, where she presented our research on digital games and civic engagement. She worked with the Ash Center for Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and became a Democracy Fellow (2013) in the team led by Prof. Archon Fung. Here she is in her office at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

On March 15^th she presented our research on playful public participation in urban planning to the group of democracy fellows led by Prof. Fung. The title of her presentation was: Serious Games for Urban Planning: Example of the B3 Game. Thank you all for the valuable comments on the presentation and thank you too Prof. Archon Fung and your team for the great hospitality.

On March 20^th she presented our research at the MIT Urban Planning, MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program, The Education Arcade MIT in the group of Prof. Eric Klopfer and Dr. Scot Osterweil. The title of her presentation was: Digital Serious Games for Civic Engagement in Urban Planning: Example of the B3 Game. Prof. Klopfer presented the activities of his research group and their internal organizational structure. Very interesting! Thank you! Here are some impressions from this event.

Alenka also had several very inspiring discussions with Dr. Konstantin Mitgutsch (MIT Game Lab). He is one of the main organizers of the 7th Vienna Games Conference – FROG13  in Vienna. Alenka joined the program committee of this conference. Follow us on the website:http://bupp.at/en/service-en/frog/frog-2013/.

During her stay at the Harvard Kennedy School she also met Prof. Eric Gordon, with whom she has similar research interests. He is managing the Engagement Game Lab and has been successful in promoting games and game-based participation in urban planning. She discussed the use of different tools for public participation with Prof. Ann Forsyth, Professor of Urban Planning and Director of the Masters in Urban Planning Degree Program at Harvard Graduate School of Design.

What a surprise – at a public lecture on e-learning at MIT, Alenka accidentally met her old professional friend, Prof. Monica Wachowicz, Professor of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Canada. What a pleasant surprise!

The MIT Museum offers very interesting and inspiring ideas. Alenka enjoyed the presentations there.