IYCE Program Update

24 April 2012

IYCE Objectives:• Utilize the power of innovative technology, including

serious games, to empower, engage and educate youthand assist them in their transition to adulthood.

Concept:• City building game on Facebook• Players focus on building a healthy city

Development Outcomes

• Increase civic engagement among target beneficiaries • Increase capacity for systems thinking as a essential life

skill for Jordanian youth

IYCE Summary

Project Update

• Completed first draft of high concept document

• Jordanian developer, Aranim, selected

• Country Manager – Jordanian PR agency, Al Nasher, selected

• Civic engagement SME – Rama Halaseh of NDI, selected

• Relief International running the Games Working Group

Summary of High Concept Document

• Game Name: Our City

• Back story: You are a city council member who has been given authority by the mayor of a new city in Jordan to help build it up into a thriving metropolis.

• Hook: Build the ideal Jordanian city to express your vision of the future of Jordan

Summary of Theory of Change

Facebook game where youth learn how to build healthy communities/cities

Critical components:• Grounded in Systems Thinking: City building games allow players to

“...explore strategies for managing complex system such as cities…while contending with multiple variables” (Raphael et al, 2010)

• Fosters Effective Civic Engagement of Youth: Players can complete quests where they can “…make a difference in the civic life of (their) communities and develop the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference” (Tom Ehrlich)

However, will the skills youth learn and demonstrate in this game transfer over into the real world?

2012 Plan and Milestones

• Game design document completed by 14 May

• Develop and launch game by late summer

• Widen and deepen games working group involvement