Transformative Play Initiative Seminar 2025: Games, Conflict, and Education

Erasmus+ ROCKET is co-organizing a seminar for educators, practitioner, and researchers in Visby, Sweden on June 12-13, 2025!

The Transformative Play Initiative at Uppsala University’s Department of Game Design is co-hosting a two-day seminar on Games, Conflict, and Education directly following the Gotland Game Conference (GGC) in Visby, Sweden together with the Erasmus+ ROCKET consortium.

The seminar invites educators, researchers, and design practitioners to present work related to conflicts within games, their associated communities, and/or game-based learning environments. Such conflicts can be central to the game, e.g., in the setting, mechanics, or themes. Alternatively, presenters can focus on conflicts arising within these leisure and educational environments, e.g., due to issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. While critical work is welcome, a special interest is placed on games that aim to practice prosocial skills aimed to increase peace and justice through analog role-playing games or other formats, e.g. resolution, or transformation.

For more information, click here: https://tinyurl.com/3uxywbxy
To RSVP on Facebook, click here: https://tinyurl.com/5a6e7e4p

The seminar will be hybrid, meaning attendance is possible online and in-person at Campus Gotland in Visby. Presentations will be streamed through Zoom, recorded and uploaded both to our archive and our YouTube for posterity.

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Keynote Speakers

First keynoter is David J. Smith! He will speak about “Lessons Learned in Experiential Education for Humanitarian Action: How Simulation Can Foster Professional Pathways.”

David will share his experiences over 20 years in developing and offering experiential learning opportunities to advance peacebuilding and humanitarian education. He will share the work of the Forage Center, teaching at the Carter School, and look at the future of experiential and simulation-based learning. He will address the challenges of teaching skills needed for “in person” activities and professional pursuits in a training world that is increasingly virtual.

David J. Smith is the president of the Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education, a U.S. based NGO that offers experiential based training for high school, college, and university students. He is adjunct faculty at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and sits on the board of the humanitarian action master’s degree program at the Joan B. Kroc School at the University of San Diego. He has written three books including Peace Jobs: A Student’s Guide to Starting a Career Working for Peace (IAP 2016) and served at the U.S. Institute of Peace as a senior program manager.