The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the University of California, Berkeley Risk and Security Lab (BRSL) cordially invite you to attend an event introducing serious gaming to Member State representatives.
Serious gaming is a technique which can be used to understand the complexity of decision making and which can help policymakers examine hypothetical scenarios and understand and assess how specific decisions can lead to different impacts and consequences.
As part of this event, BRSL will be facilitating a serious game called “SIGNAL”. SIGNAL is a turn-based strategy board game designed to study decision-making concerning the use of conventional and nuclear weapons. The objective is to explore how weapons capabilities shape player behavior and the resulting impacts on strategic stability and the potential for escalation in a crisis. In SIGNAL, players choose courses of action that a hypothetical nation might follow, using economic, military, and diplomatic means. Players may choose to cooperate with or compete against the other players in the virtual world to grow their infrastructure and gain resources while avoiding loss of home territory to conventional militarized invasions or nuclear war. The game proceeds in rounds, with players maneuvering their forces within a map-based environment.
This event will allow Member State representatives to familiarize themselves with serious gaming through their participation in SIGNAL, either as a player or as an observer. The event will take place under Chatham House Rules.
WHEN & WHERE
Wednesday 6 December, 09.00 – 12.30 CET.
In-person only, in H-building, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
A light lunch will be provided from 12.30 -13.30 CET, alongside an outbrief of the game.
PARTICIPANTS
This event is specifically for representatives from Member State delegations. Please note that due to logistical constraints, a maximum of 50 individuals will be allowed to participate. This includes up to 45 players, with the remainder of the participants being observers, i.e., non-playing participants but who can still observe the gameplay. When submitting your RSVP, you will be asked to indicate your preference for participating or for observing the game.
RSVP
Registration is mandatory. Please register your attendance through this registration link. You will receive a confirmation of your attendance as well as the location of the event on Monday 4 December. If you registered and can no longer attend, please inform us as soon as possible so we may allocate your space to someone else.
For any questions or further queries please contact the UNIDIR Security and Technology Programme (sectec-unidir@un.org).