Commons Board Game

23

25

24

FINISH

22

11

10

12

PLAYERS

citizen 1

Choose a token, roll the dice and try to reach the goal before anyone else. Good luck!

13

21

citizen 2

Manage your commons

START

citizen 3

board game

14

20

+info

citizen 4

19

15

"Can you co-exist on a commons, or will you fall victim to privitization and governmental regulation?

16

18

17

LOST YOUR TURN

YOU ARE SOOOOOO CLOSE, TOO BAD YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT ROUND

scarcity

There is a beautiful flower plant on the east side of the commons. The flowers were beginning to bloom when you were there Friday night, so you decided you would return the next day to pick some for your house. However, when you returned the next day all of the flowers were picked and there were none left for you. The rest of the members had already picked them, leaving you with none. Go back one space for being too slow.

neoliberalism

Powerful members of your community are wanting to privatize the commons that many people like you depend on. They have started talking to government officials on how to purchase the land and have hired surveyors to give a quote on how much fencing in the entire commons would cost. You blame neoliberalism constructs for this mindset and begin to form a group of concerned citizens to voice their concerns for losing access to the commons. Return to space 4 and work on formulating your plan to influence the government.

HUMAN NATURE

What is natural? Well according to members of your community, selfish and greedy use of resources is…This is looking like a tragedy of the commons. You need to either talk to members of your community or surrender to privatization or government regulation. C’mon, be better. Stay at this spot and think about what you have done.

The game can be played by 2 to 4 players. Each player must choose a chip (yellow, blue, red or green) and roll the dice. The player who gets the highest number will be the one to start the game. To play, each participant must roll the dice and move their piece to the corresponding square. In each square there are scenarios regarding your commons. Read the description on each card and move accordingly. On the board there are also 6 special squares (in gray with the number in black) in which the player loses a turn without playing. The player who reaches the finish line first wins.

environmental pillar

You talked to your neighbor who is over-exploiting the resources which should be shared amongst all members. You saved your commons from over-grazing from their large population cattle farm. You are working towards sustainability through the environmental pillar. The environment needs more courageous advocates like you. Stay here a while and gloat.

systems thinking

You hear from your community that there has been an increase in the number of seed plants. Many of the members blame this on the season, but you know the problem is not that simple. You begin to explain that the environment of the commons is a complex system and the use of ground for farming has pushed out many rodents who typically keep these plant species in check. Intrigued, your community members listen to your entire explanation of systems thinking, move 3 spaces forward for spreading awareness.

LOST YOUR TURN

WOW...HOW UNFORTUNATE

LOST YOUR TURN

YOU KIND OF WANT TO AVOID THE GRAY SPACES

population growth

Uh oh! Your cattle farmer neighbors have experienced immense population growth in their herd. They have decided to continue bringing ALL of their cattle to the field that is considered part of your commons. This population increase is too much for the smaller plot of land to handle. If you do not do something quickly, you will fall victim to overgrazing. What are you going to do? say something: move to space 5 mind your business, it is a common resource after all: move to space 9

LOST YOUR TURN

TRY TO ROLE A BETTER NUMBER NEXT TIME

economies

There were discussions of adding a public bench to the commons space so that members could sit down and enjoy the beauty of your shared space. However, when it came time to decide logistics, no one could decide on how to fund this project. One member mentioned applying for a state grant, but another member quickly refused the involvement of the government for the project and got extremely upset. The grant is the only way the group could agree on funding besides for the one individual who wants the state to have 0 influence in the finances of the commons. Stay here and try to mitigate the issue.

malthusian theory

The members have decided that they want a lot of butterflies to fly around the commons in the spring, so they bring in a small population of butterflies to live in the commons. What they didn’t realize is that there are only a few species of plants that the butterflies will eat, and they reproduce very quickly. Within 2 weeks, the population of butterflies has grown practically exponentially, while food has not not been able to keep up with this rate. The butterflies begin to die due to lack of resources, and the rest of the population migrates to an area with more plants. Your community is not out several hundred dollars for importing the butterflies, and with a lot of leafless plants. Move back to space 7 for not using systems thinking to prevent this.

malthusian theory

Several members of the community grow food on the ground of the commons to provide for their families. However, as these families keep growing, they are needing to produce more food. These considerate families have stated that they will not use any more room, and will just try to use the same amount of space to provide enough food for everyone in their families. However, they quickly realize that the rate at which they are growing is much faster than the amount of food that they can provide. Are there any solutions? Should they use more space? Should they rely on other resources outside of your commons? Stay here and think about these questions.

food systems

A group has come together to start digging up berry bushes, because they want to clear up more space for recreation in the commons. What seems like an innocent space creation project could really disrupt the food chain for animals that depend on those berries for food. Despite your own best intentions, you really want to have more free space in the commons, so you keep your mouth shut. A few months after the project's completion, the population of deer and rabbit in the area has drastically dropped, causing your grasses to grow super high due to lack of grazers. The guilt has officially sunk in, so go back to space 23.

subtractability

It has begun to start getting cold and everyone has been rushing to utilize the last of the soil resources of the commons for the season. The individuals with transportation and free time in their schedules were able to get to the commons frequently and quickly to use much of the soil in the commons. However, this left individuals with less accessibility having very little room for resource use, given that the soil was already exhausted. Move back to space 8, because you were unable to get the resources you needed.

systems thinking

Some individuals who use the commons have expressed frustration towards a specific family who tends to use the resources of the commons more frequently than most. They immediately rush to judge this family as greedy and inconsiderate. After spending some time observing their behavior, you realize the family is actually using the commons quite frequently, because they are very dependent on its resources. With the father making a long commute on foot, and the wife and children staying at home to try and provide in any way they can, the commons are keeping them going. This realization makes you realize that their use of the commons is much more intense than greediness and is much more complicated. Move forward 2 spots for being considerate and not jumping to conclusions.

CO-OP FORMATION

You and surrounding communities came together and formed a co-op that advocates and enforces sustainable uses of your common’s resources. This is related to the three pillars of sustainability through human’s social pillar in their ability to come together as a community to fight for their commons. Great Job coming together as a team! Go ahead and move up 2 spaces!

scarcity

The lovely apple tree that lays place on your commons has begun to produce apples. You notice the apples growing as you are on your walk to work. By the time you walk home, you realize every apple on the lower branches has already been picked and there are none left for you. As upset as you are, you realize that there is nothing you can do, because the commons are open to everyone and resources are first come, first serve. The scarcity of apples has caused you to go home apple-less. You have been through enough, so just stay where you are and think about how good some apples would taste.

food systems

While walking amongst your commons area, you start to notice dead birds every so often. You start to question what could be affecting them so heavily, when you notice it looks as though they have hardly eaten, and likely died of starvation. This immediately reminds you of how you have noticed such a decline in insects, likely due to the increase of chemicals used in the farming of the commons. You decide to create awareness on this issue and advocate for change. Move to spot 20.

What is natural?

One day at the commons, you realize that there is an individual who is spreading an excess of manure over the soil. When you approach the individual and express your worry for the phosphorus and possible eutrophication in the nearby river. Their response is, “calm down, it’s just manure. I will dump as much as I want, It’s natural after all.” You realize there is nothing you can do, since it is a shared space so you turn around and walk away shaking your head. Move up 3 spots for speaking up.

commodity chains

Members of your commons have noticed trees and greenery around the riverbank have started growing abnormally. Someone suggests that it could have something to do with the large-scale production factory upstream that has been rumored to be a heavy polluter. Members are concerned that the pollution is going to continue to disrupt the natural growth of the commons. After calling for a community meeting, everyone decides to boycott products produced by the company. Stay here and observe the effects of this decision.

economies

Every year a donation is taken up by members to provide funds for any housekeeping the commons might need. However, due to inflation, members are contributing less and less each year. Some members have stopped donating all together. Certain members have become upset, because they think everyone who uses the commons should be supporting it financially. Even though some members cannot afford to donate to the commons, you suggest that those members perhaps donate in other ways. These examples include trash pickup, weed maintenance, and other tasks. Now the hard part is trying to convince everyone to agree with you. But go ahead and stay where you are for having good intentions.

subtractability

It was discovered that an elderberry bush lies on the west side of your commons. Upon hearing this news, everyone rushed to the bush to grab some of the nutrient-heavy berries for free. Luckily, you were there to grab some for yourself, but as you were walking home you saw multiple families making their way to the bush, despite there being none left. You realized that not every member of this community would be able to take home some elderberries, because they were all taken. However, if you did not grab any yourself, you would be in their same position. Is there any way to manage these resources so that they are shared evenly? What does evenly even mean? Stay where you are and ponder these questions.

LOST YOUR TURN

DON'T WORRY YOU STILL GET A TURN...NEXT ROUND

LOST YOUR TURN

THAT IS REAL UNLUCKY...MAYBE TRY HARDER NEXT TIME?