Dr Bertie Russell, Dr Iolanda Bianchi, and Dr Keir Milburn
Funding period: 1 September 2025 – 31 March 2026
Type of funding:
Other Grants
Partner organisations: Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain), Universidad de Barcelona (Spain), and Abundance.
Lead organisers: Dr Bertie Russell, Dr Iolanda Bianchi, Universidad de Barcelona, and Dr Keir Milburn
Contact: Dr Bertie Russell
This research project was funded by a Knowledge Mobilisation Award grant.
Abstract:
The focus of this Knowledge Mobilisation Award is the development of a game-based methodology, with the goal of supporting communities to develop contextually appropriate understandings of the opportunities, challenges and objectives of democratic public ownership (DPO).
The concept of DPO builds from practical efforts of (especially municipalist) social movements to radically democratise ownership of a broad range of assets – ranging from water utilities to energy production to cultural hubs to food systems. Building on the learning from the USF Seminar Series – New Municipalism, Democratic Ownership and the Politics of the Common – this project acknowledges that there are no ‘off-the-shelf’ models of democratic public ownership. Instead, the shape and character of social mobilisations play an integral role in defining the character of such institutions.
This poses particular challenges for both communicating the possibilities of democratic public ownership and for developing participatory research strategies that can both support and learn from incipient efforts to implement models of democratic public ownership. This project addresses this challenge through exploring the potential for, and working to develop, a role-playing game as a pedagogical tool that is supportive of both learning and community organising.
Working in collaboration with the UK-based organisation Abundance, this project draws on the experience of Dr Keir Milburn’s eight years of experience designing and running pedagogical and political strategy games as co-director of Red Plenty Games. The most recent example of their work is Cooperation Nelson, a game that “challenges players to collectively manage local resources—both real and imagined—to secure a brighter future for Nelson”. The importance of pedagogical games to training and group formation is threefold. Firstly, it is educative, guiding participants to understand key tenets of municipalist DPO. Secondly, it helps develop shared narratives and understandings, essential in group formation. Thirdly, it supports a shared understanding of the local context, a first step towards guided action.