BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam//NONSGML v1.0//EN NAME:Winter School - Serious Gaming for Household Disaster Resilience METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20261201T000000 DTEND:20261204T235900 DTSTAMP:20261201T000000 UID:2026/winter-school-serious-gam@8F96275E-9F55-4B3F-A143-836282E12573 CREATED:20260602T085906 LOCATION:Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1105 1081 HV Amsterdam SUMMARY:Winter School - Serious Gaming for Household Disaster Resilience X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

This is a joint winter school organized and hosted by the University of Twente and of the Vr ije Universiteit Amsterdam.

School Description:

In this winter school, you will be guided in a group to crea te your own serious game for household disaster resilience, Winter Sc hool exploring the dilemmas and opportunities involved in addressing household resilience. You will work together with an interdisciplinar y team of experts to reflect on the different challenges, using inter active methods.

Within the context of disaster resilience, a bi g challenge currently is translating the scientific knowledge into to ols that local communities can genuinely use. Serious games provide a powerful tool to translate this knowledge. Through this interactive and playful yet serious format, real-world dilemmas can be learnt abo ut in a way that is accessible and engaging for the public. But creat ing such a game requires careful consideration.

Throughout the program, you will address questions such as: How do we design a game that realistically reflects the lived experiences of households? How can scientific knowledge be translated using a game in a way that is both accessible and educational? How can the insights from the game t hen be made in a way that can bring forth genuine community action?

Through hands-on workshops, expert lecturers, collaborative exer cises and playtesting sessions you will be able to evaluate already e xisting preparedness games, explore different methods of co-designing , and assess risks and (unintended) consequences in order to  pr operly weigh ethical dilemmas into mechanics.

By the end of the three-day Winter School, each participant (or group) will have creat ed a playable prototype for their serious game, grounded in their own professional context. Certain prototypes developed during the Winter School may be selected to be developed and polished further, being p resented at a relevant expo or festival, offering the participants fu rther visibility and feedback from experts, inspiring even more innov ation.

Practical information:

Dates & Location:December 1- 4, 2026
LevelMA/PhD/Post doc/practitioners
Fees:< p>€ 0 VU & UT students 

€ 50 KUNO members

� � 50 (other students)

€ 150 (practitioners)

€ 0 pract itioners from EEAC countries


Fees include a 3-day Wi nter School at the University of Twente, including lunch and 1 dinner in Enschede. Fees do not cover accommodation.

Academic coordinators:

Dr. Nathan Clark, Faculty of Organisational Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

< p>Dr. Eefje Hendriks, Faculty of Geo-information and Earth Observatio n Science, University of Twente

Academ ic team:

Prof. dr. Kees Boersma

dr. Steven Forrest

Prof. dr. Marc van den Homberg

Prof. dr. Johannes Flacke

dr. Michael Nagenborg

dr. Carissa Champlin

dr. Janneke Ettema

Questions and Conta ct Details:serious.gaming.ws@gmail.com

Requirements

The winte r school is designed for:

Applicants are expected to have a back ground in disaster science or related disciplines, as well as a good command of the English language (B2/C1) to actively participate in th e discussions and to present their own work in English.

Learning Outcomes:

After the school, participants wil l be able to:

The winter school will offer a combin ation of:

Workload

U pon successful completion of the programme, the winter school offers a Certificate of Attendance. After successfully completing the assign ment, they will receive their Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload in hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities i n their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding c redits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be ha ppy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in a ddition to the certificate of attendance.

Application p rocedure

To apply, please fill out the online applicat ion form. Please note that you will be asked to upload the following document:

Th e deadline for application is 1 September 2026. Selection will be bas ed on the fit between the prospective participants’ CVs and motivat ion and the topic of the school. Keep in mind that there’s a limite d number of participants. Payments will be taken only once participat ion is confirmed.

Sign up via this link

DESCRIPTION: School Description: In this winter schoo l, you will be guided in a group to create your own serious game for household disaster resilience, Winter School exploring the dilemmas a nd opportunities involved in addressing household resilience. You wil l work together with an interdisciplinary team of experts to reflect on the different challenges, using interactive methods. Within the co ntext of disaster resilience, a big challenge currently is translatin g the scientific knowledge into tools that local communities can genu inely use. Serious games provide a powerful tool to translate this kn owledge. Through this interactive and playful yet serious format, rea l-world dilemmas can be learnt about in a way that is accessible and engaging for the public. But creating such a game requires careful co nsideration. Throughout the program, you will address questions such as: How do we design a game that realistically reflects the lived exp eriences of households? How can scientific knowledge be translated us ing a game in a way that is both accessible and educational? How can the insights from the game then be made in a way that can bring forth genuine community action? Through hands-on workshops, expert lecture rs, collaborative exercises and playtesting sessions you will be able to evaluate already existing preparedness games, explore different m ethods of co-designing, and assess risks and (unintended) consequence s in order to  properly weigh ethical dilemmas into mechanics. B y the end of the three-day Winter School, each participant (or group) will have created a playable prototype for their serious game, groun ded in their own professional context. Certain prototypes developed d uring the Winter School may be selected to be developed and polished further, being presented at a relevant expo or festival, offering the participants further visibility and feedback from experts, inspiring even more innovation. Practical information:
Dates & Location:Dece mber 1-4, 2026
LevelMA/P hD/Postdoc/practitioners
Fees:€ 0 VU & UT students € 50 KUNO members€ 50 (othe r students)€ 150 (practitioners)€ 0 practitioners from EEAC count ries
Fees include a 3-day Winter School at the University of Twent e, including lunch and 1 dinner in Enschede. Fees do not cover accomm odation.
Academic coordinators:Dr. Nathan Clark, Faculty of Organisational Science, Vrije Uni versiteit AmsterdamDr. Eefje Hendriks, Faculty of Geo-information and Earth Observation Science, University of Twente
< strong>Academic team:Prof. dr. Kees Boersmadr. Stev en ForrestProf. dr. Marc van den HombergProf. dr. Johannes Flackedr. Michael Nagenborgdr. Carissa Champlindr. Janneke Ettema
Questions and Contact Details:serious .gaming.ws@gmail.com
Requirements The winter school is designed for:
  • Excellent MA students willing to either engage in a career as a disa ster risk reduction experts or in a PhD on the topic
  • Academ ic Researchers: PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and established researchers specializing in crisis and disaster management, organiza tional networks, or institutional resilience
  • Other external stakeholders: national and local policy-makers (both in civil societ y organizations and government agencies)
Applicants are exp ected to have a background in disaster science or related disciplines , as well as a good command of the English language (B2/C1) to active ly participate in the discussions and to present their own work in En glish. Learning Outcomes: After the school, particip ants will be able to:
  • Analyse the central dilemmas when add ressing household disaster resilience
  • Translate scientific insights into local community knowledge, using serious gaming
    • < li>Reflect on the strengths and shortcomings of existing preparedness games
  • Strengthen their network in the field of disaster st udies and serious gaming
The winter school will offer a com bination of:
  • lectures on theoretical approaches and methods relating to disaster risk management and serious gaming
  • in teractive learning activities with lecturers and practitioners
  • problem-based learning in small groups (group projects to develop serious games tailored to a local context)
  • panel discussio ns with leading experts in the field
Workload
  • Preparation (including reading – the time spent on pr eparation depends on the students’ background): max 14 hours
  • Contact hours (class and online activities): 25 hours
  • G roup projects: 17 hours
  • Total = 56 hours
Upon suc cessful completion of the programme, the winter school offers a Certi ficate of Attendance. After successfully completing the assignment, t hey will receive their Certificate of Attendance that mentions the wo rkload in hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance. Application procedure To apply, please fill out the online application form. Please no te that you will be asked to upload the following document:
  • Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages)
The deadline for applicati on is 1 September 2026. Selection will be based on the fit between th e prospective participants’ CVs and motivation and the topic of the school. Keep in mind that there’s a limited number of participants . Payments will be taken only once participation is confirmed. Sign up via thi s link This is a joint winter school organized and hosted by the University of Twente and of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR