NotZero

NotZero: Learn from historical Net Zero actions as a Climate Anthropologist

Credit: Oliver Bates, Adam Tyler, and Marcia Smith

NotZero is part of the Net0i research project funded by the EPSRC. NotZero is currently an early prototype.

NotZero is inspired by storytelling games like Fiasco, and is a hack of Solarpunk futures. We designed this game to build worlds and tell stories that encourage reflection on how people who currently have limited agency in hierarchical and bureaucratic organisations could help (or hinder) organisations as they increasingly use ICT and data to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. It also helps us think about the different impacts that Net Zero policy or ICT intervention might have on different people within an organisation. 

You play as Climate Anthropologists from the future researching how organisations responded to net zero policies. Cards are turned over to describe polices that an organisation responded to, as well as the characters who were involved in these responses. 

Through the three phases of the game, players describe how the characters would respond to an event and document this on the board. 

Through the game, the players build on the prompts and responses in each phase to tell a story of what happened to this organisation and how it used ICT when it responded to a climate change policy or event. Throughout Net0i we’ve observed that very few stakeholder groups are actively involved in energy demand reduction; that the influences of organisation policy change are often opaque; digital interventions are often detached from the experiences of building users; and, there’s a lack of shared perspectives between stakeholders i.e. energy managers aren’t actively thinking about office workers, and vice versa. 

The game looks to draw attention to how people within an organisation have interest, power, and agency to help with energy challenges and interventions. We wanted to explore what dynamics might arise if different kinds of stakeholders were involved in energy system decision making, whilst also increasing the awareness to players that different people (and their perspectives) are valuable in intervention design and energy system futures. Our hope that, through the storytelling gameplay, players get to imagine other people’s perspectives and the rich variety of people’s roles, experiences and ideas can help organisations deal with climate crises, codesign impactful ICT interventions, and respond to energy policy.