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Using Game Design to Inform a Plastics Treaty: Fostering Collaboration between Science, Machine Learning, and Policymaking

A Samuel Pottinger, Nivedita Biyani, Roland Geyer, Douglas J McCauley, Magali de Bruyn, Molly R Morse, Neil Nathan, Kevin Koy, Ciera Martinez

TL;DR

The paper presents an open-source, browser-based decision-support tool that uses game-design principles to bridge science and international policy on plastic pollution. It introduces a DSL-based modeling environment (with Monte Carlo capability) to enable rapid, policy-relevant exploration while maintaining user agency and multi-level reading. The authors articulate a design vocabulary—Hayashida tutorials, connected valleys, rumors, environmental explanations—alongside privacy-conscious deployment practices, and demonstrate deployment at treaty negotiations and public-facing venues. The work provides a practical example of how interactive, ludic interfaces can accelerate science-policy co-creation in a high-stakes, multi-stakeholder setting and outlines future directions including AI-assisted optimization and broader governance use-cases.

Abstract

Introduction: This multi-disciplinary case study details how an interactive decision support tool leverages game design to inform an international plastic pollution treaty. Design: Seeking to make our scientific findings more usable within the policy process, our interactive software supports manipulation of a mathematical model using techniques borrowed from games. These "ludic" approaches aim to enable user agency to find custom policy solutions, invite deep engagement with scientific results, serve audiences of diverse expertise, and accelerate scientific process to keep pace with intergovernmental negotiations. Implementation: Built in JavaScript and D3 with user-modifiable logic via an ANTLR domain specific language, this browser-based application offers adaptability and explorability for our machine learning results with privacy preserving architecture and offline capability. Demonstration: Policymakers and the supporting community engaged with this public simulation tool across multiple treaty-related events, investigating plastic waste outcomes under diverse and sometimes unexpected policy scenarios. Conclusion: Contextualizing our open source software within a broader lineage of digital media research, we reflect on this interactive modeling platform, considering how game design approaches may help facilitate collaboration at the science / policy nexus. Materials: Available on the public Internet, we host this browser-based decision support tool at global-plastics-tool.org, work also archived at zenodo.org/records/12615011 in a Docker container.

Using Game Design to Inform a Plastics Treaty: Fostering Collaboration between Science, Machine Learning, and Policymaking

TL;DR

The paper presents an open-source, browser-based decision-support tool that uses game-design principles to bridge science and international policy on plastic pollution. It introduces a DSL-based modeling environment (with Monte Carlo capability) to enable rapid, policy-relevant exploration while maintaining user agency and multi-level reading. The authors articulate a design vocabulary—Hayashida tutorials, connected valleys, rumors, environmental explanations—alongside privacy-conscious deployment practices, and demonstrate deployment at treaty negotiations and public-facing venues. The work provides a practical example of how interactive, ludic interfaces can accelerate science-policy co-creation in a high-stakes, multi-stakeholder setting and outlines future directions including AI-assisted optimization and broader governance use-cases.

Abstract

Introduction: This multi-disciplinary case study details how an interactive decision support tool leverages game design to inform an international plastic pollution treaty. Design: Seeking to make our scientific findings more usable within the policy process, our interactive software supports manipulation of a mathematical model using techniques borrowed from games. These "ludic" approaches aim to enable user agency to find custom policy solutions, invite deep engagement with scientific results, serve audiences of diverse expertise, and accelerate scientific process to keep pace with intergovernmental negotiations. Implementation: Built in JavaScript and D3 with user-modifiable logic via an ANTLR domain specific language, this browser-based application offers adaptability and explorability for our machine learning results with privacy preserving architecture and offline capability. Demonstration: Policymakers and the supporting community engaged with this public simulation tool across multiple treaty-related events, investigating plastic waste outcomes under diverse and sometimes unexpected policy scenarios. Conclusion: Contextualizing our open source software within a broader lineage of digital media research, we reflect on this interactive modeling platform, considering how game design approaches may help facilitate collaboration at the science / policy nexus. Materials: Available on the public Internet, we host this browser-based decision support tool at global-plastics-tool.org, work also archived at zenodo.org/records/12615011 in a Docker container.
Paper Structure (46 sections, 3 figures)

This paper contains 46 sections, 3 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Explorable explanations
  4. Scientific communications
  5. Related work
  6. Contribution
  7. Challenge 1: User agency
  8. Challenge 2: Approachability
  9. Challenge 3: Reading levels
  10. Challenge 4: Speed
  11. Design
  12. Design for user agency
  13. Design for multi-variate evaluation
  14. Design for levels of reading
  15. Design for speed
  16. ...and 31 more sections

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: Visualization structure embeds a Hayashida sequence. The initial business as usual analysis without interaction provides an introduction, the high level policy controls offer development, the details tab adds additional dimensionality for the twist, and the sliders refine initial policy selections for conclusion.
  • Figure 2: The details tab uses "valleys" to structure primary and secondary loops.
  • Figure 3: A tooltip describes a technical phrase and beacons deeper.