Experience the circular economy through play: Simulation game development for the nutrient turnaround launched

At the end of November 2021, a project team from the Faculty of Sustainable Business at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) began work on the REGION.innovativ - zirkulierBAR research project. The aim is to create a real-world laboratory for sustainable regional circular economy in the field of agriculture and water management. HNEE and its partner Ulrich Creative Simulations (UCS) are focussing on the development of a simulation game.

At the end of November, HNEE project team members Katja Searles and Hannah Wiemers came together for the first time with their partner and simulation game expert Dr Markus Ulrich (UCS) to present their work as part of the research project zirkulierBAR research project. Their task in the project is to promote skills in the circular economy in the municipalities of Eberswalde and Barnim through the playful method of the simulation game and to strengthen inter-municipal cooperation. The starting point of the research project is the pilot plant of the Eberswalde-based company Finizio. Together with Kreiswerke Barnim (KWB), this company has been operating the first pilot plant for the recycling of contents from dry toilets in Germany since 2018, in line with the motto "After us, humus".
What are simulation games?
In simulation games, participants are placed in a situation that represents a highly simplified image of reality. As if it were real, they negotiate and make decisions during the course of the game and experience first-hand the long-term consequences of these decisions. Time passes quickly, round after round. In addition to the actual game, a particular value of the simulation game method lies in the debriefing. In this final part of the simulation game, participants reflect on what they have experienced and apply it to their own working reality.

The zirkulierBAR simulation game is led by Jutta Knopf, head of the HNEE Master's programme in Sustainable Management. It is aimed at employees in local authorities and their partners in the field of nutrient transition.

About zirkulierBAR
zirkulierBAR is a research project funded by the BMBF. The aim is to refine contents from dry toilets into quality-assured recycled fertilisers and thus close the nutrient cycle. The focus is on demonstrating to local authorities that a water-free sanitary system offers a cost- and resource-saving alternative to conventional water flushing in structurally weak areas. In the future, a bio-waste cycle model could replace linear disposal via the sewage system.

Funding
The REGION.innovativ joint project zirkulierBAR is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "Innovation & Structural Change" programme family and is also part of the BMBF's "Research for Sustainability" ("Forschung für Nachhaltigkeit", FONA) strategy due to the "Circular Economy" topic area.

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