The CiFoS game: a serious game to redesign food systems for human and planetary health

Summary

Food systems are exceeding planetary boundaries and endanger both human and planetary health. Transforming these systems requires stakeholder engagement and constructive dialogue for acknowledging the diversity of views and values from different actors within the food system. Serious games have proven effective in fostering collaboration and exploring social-ecological dynamics, yet a holistic food system game linking planetary and human health remains absent. This paper presents the CiFoS Game, a serious game designed to explore food system transformation strategies, showing both the individual and collective impacts of diets, production choices and circularity principles on environment and human health. Co-designed with university students, food system experts, and game designers, the game was tested in multiple pilot sessions in different contexts. Throughout its development, multiple dynamics were added in a step-by-step process to enhance complexity, while improving and aligning already existing dynamics along the way. Results highlight its potential to facilitate learning and support discussions, connecting dietary and production choices to food sustainability challenges. By engaging stakeholders in interactive explorations of food system transformations, the CiFoS game can serve as a boundary crossing tool to foster dialogue, create common understanding and support collaboration towards sustainable food futures for human and planetary health.