As Participa City reaches an important stage, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the members of the German Steering Group, Larissa S. and Jiutsang K., for their valuable contribution to the project.
The group provided an important external perspective throughout the development of the Participa City game and its learning materials. Bringing personal experiences of discrimination together with professional, academic, and cultural perspectives, the members helped the project team examine the materials from the viewpoint of people and communities affected by racism and discrimination.
From critical incidents to learning materials
During the meetings, the Steering Group reviewed critical incidents and discussed their relevance, realism, and educational potential. Their reflections confirmed the value of using real-life-inspired situations as a starting point for learning and discussion.
Shaping the card deck
The Steering Group played an important role in reviewing and improving the card-based learning materials. The cards include incident cards, sector action cards, survivor cards, and everybody cards, each offering a different perspective on racism, discrimination, and possible responses.
The members provided particularly valuable feedback on the clarity, relevance, and feasibility of the recommendations. They encouraged the project team to make the purpose and potential benefits of each action more explicit, to take power relations within institutions into account, and to ensure that the recommendations were realistic and supportive.
Improving access to the game
The Steering Group also reviewed how the game and its materials are presented to potential users. Their recommendations focused on usability, accessibility, and the role of the facilitator.
They emphasised the importance of introducing Participa City clearly on the website and presenting the Trainer Manual before users access the individual game materials. They also recommended providing short introductions to the scenarios, improving the FAQs, clarifying the video tutorial, and making the facilitator’s responsibilities and the preparation process more visible. These suggestions helped the project team improve the way trainers can navigate, understand, and use the Participa City resources.
Connecting the game with wider change
The discussions also addressed racism and discrimination prevention in higher education. The Steering Group highlighted the need for awareness-raising and training for university management and leading professors, greater diversity in selection committees, and empowerment measures such as mentoring programmes for members of minority groups.
The German project team is deeply grateful to Larissa Socrier and Jiutsang Khiamniungan for their openness, commitment, expertise, and thoughtful feedback. Their contribution supported a more inclusive and participatory development process and helped us improve not only the game materials, but also the way Participa City can be introduced, facilitated, and used in practice.
Thank you for helping us make Participa City more relevant, accessible, realistic, and meaningful.