Keynote at the SEGAH 2026 Conference

Description

This talk explores how purposeful play and community-engaged design can be harnessed to co-create impactful solutions for human development. Grounded in the award-winning GameChangers initiative and insights from Sylvester’s book, Game Science in Hybrid Learning Spaces, the presentation draws on work with underserved communities across Southeast Asia and Europe, from educators and students to disabled artisans and community leaders. Through projects like CreativeCulture, ACES, DALI, I-HEDU, and FAiR, we’ll examine how empathy, agency, creativity, and frugality shape the co-design of playful resources, learning spaces, and professional practices. While rooted in education and socio-economic impact, these approaches extend to wider human-centric domains including health, wellbeing, and digital inclusion. The talk will introduce a mechanics- and values-mapping framework that enables communities, not just designers, to co-create playful, culturally relevant interventions. This talk invites reflection on how play, when guided by values and mutual engagement, can become a powerful driver of inclusive innovation and sustainable change.

Period	6 Aug 2025 → 8 Aug 2025
Event title	13th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health
Event type	Conference
Location	Manchester, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International