Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-16522-300405
Abstract
Board games themed around environmental topics are promising tools for promoting awareness of complex sustainability issues, as the materiality, sociality, and multidimensionality of gameplay can help overcome some of the inherent limitations of more traditional learning formats. To explore the potential relevance of board games for communicating about agrifood system topics in particular, we designed and tested a game called Companion: An Agroecological Adventure, in which players take on the role of community gardeners who must apply both social and ecological principles of agroecology to cultivate a thriving garden plot. In this paper, we present the results of a study in which a group of 50 undergraduate students in an introductory agroecology course at Syracuse University learned, played, and provided qualitative feedback on the game. Our analysis of student comments demonstrates that by immersing players in a simulated environment and providing them with the agency to make and reflect on decisions, playing Companion effectively stimulated student learning about the characteristics of small-scale sustainable agroecosystems. At the same time, the process of playing the game also promoted the development of a variety of relevant skills and competencies, especially students’ ability to think critically, contextually, and holistically about local agrifood systems and their place within them. These results demonstrate that by bringing the spirit of experiential education into the classroom, playing agroecology games can facilitate the type of transformative learning that is critical for promoting meaningful food system reform.
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Ecology & Society, v. 30, issue 4, art. 5
Scholar Commons Citation
Das, Ashmita; Capito-Hernandez, Julie; and Jiménez-Soto, Estelí, "Teaching Agroecology Through Play: A Board Game on Companion Planting Using Agroecological Principles" (2025). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 2420.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2420
