Knowledge Capital Workshop Fes, Summer 2016: TATEWARI Board Game

A workshop titled “TATEWARI Board Game” was held on August 13, with 15 individuals from six participating families—including elementary school children from grades 3 to 6 and their parents.

The TATEWARI game is based on the idea that the skills of cooperation and dialogue with others are essential for carrying out interdisciplinary research. This game encourages the players to not compete against each other, but establish business together, sharing information as well as resources with one another. Unlike other competitive board games, in TATEWARI, either all the players win or all of them lose.

At first we worried if the children would be able to understand the game’s complex rules, but they exceeded our expectations by learning the rules and quickly getting a hang of the games. Some children even explained the rules to their surprisingly puzzled parents.

After having the children play the game, Dr Masakazu Higuchi (iCeMS Program-Specific Assistant Professor) commented, “The keys to playing TATEWARI are strategy and cooperation. We conduct our research along with many people from a variety of universities or companies. Sharing our ideas and expertise enables us to have good communication. To achieve the goal of our researches, the strategy of cooperating with collaborators is essential. Playing and sometimes arguing with your friends will be good practice for each and every one of you.”

Text and Photo: iCeMS Science Communication Group