I help researchers and business get people talking about complex problems by using "serious games". Games are fun, and they reflect complex real-world systems: they help to get people around the table, and put something meaningful on it for them to talk about.
What I can help with
I am available as a consultant to work on:
- Designing and using games to:
- Enable discussion of complex issues (e.g. the Common Good Game)
- Get more meaning out of research stakeholder workshops (e.g. the UK fresh fruit and vegetable game)
- Help stakeholders connect with research results (e.g. SimBasin)
- Facilitating serious gaming workshops
- Running River Basin Game sessions with adults and children
- Serious game design courses and workshops
My background
I graduated in Civil Engineering in 2013, and then studied a joint MSc in Flood Risk Management at IHE Delft, TU Dresden and UPC (Barcelona). Since graduation, I worked for The Nature Conservancy and IHE Delft on projects including the SimBasin water resources computer game and the IHE Delft Hydroinformatics Lab.
Since October 2017 I have been working as a freelance serious games consultant. At the moment I am working on designing board games about fresh fruit and vegetable supply with the University of Oxford, and about the common good with Shell. I also run training and teaching workshops and courses, including River Basin Game sessions for all ages and serious game design courses.
Publications
I also peer-review articles for academic journals.
Lankford, B. A. and Craven, J. (2020). Rapid Games Designing; Constructing a Dynamic Metaphor to Explore Complex Systems and Abstract Concepts. Sustainability, 12(17), 7200.
Bhattacharya, B. et al. (2018). Hydrological and erosion modelling of the Brahmaputra basin using global datasets. 13th International Hydroinformatics Conference, Palermo.
Craven, J., Angarita, H., Corzo, G. and Vásquez, D. (2017). Development and testing of a river basin management simulation game for integrated management of the Magdalena-Cauca river basin. Environmental Modelling & Software, 90, pp. 78-88.
Craven, J., Corzo, G., Karimi, P., and Dastgheib, A. (2017). Using serious gaming to transfer knowledge and develop soft skills in postgraduate education. EGU General Assembly, Vienna.
Angarita, H., Craven, J., Caggiano, F. and Corzo, G. (2016). SimBasin: A serious gaming framework for integrated and cooperative decision-making in water management. AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco.
Craven, J., Angarita, H., Corzo, G. and Vásquez, D. (2016). SimBasin: serious gaming for integrated management in the Magdalena-Cauca basin, Colombia. EGU General Assembly, Vienna.
Craven, J., Giné, R., Jiménez, A. and Pérez, A. (2013). Introducing hygiene elements into sanitation monitoring. WEDC International Conference, Nakuru.