6. Euro Caching
Paperchase in the 21st Century or Looking for Help in the European Economic Area
Source:
Key Figures
_ Target Group: adolescents with interests in Europe, no previous experience required
_ Participants:ca. 9-24 Persons
_ Expenditure of Time: ca. 4,5 – 5h
_ Groups:3 Groups (optimal) / max. 4 Groups (1 pause station without negotiating party)
_ Objective: First contact with the European Economic Area (EEA), differentiation between the EU and EFTA confederation of states, insights into the complexity of negotiations between states and confederations of states by means of conditions, restrictions and conflicts of interests. First learning developments in strategies of negotiations. Exploration of the venue.
_Source: Profondo e.V., Mona Qaiser
Scenario
Imagine living in Utopia. Utopia is an unknown and undiscovered island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You are part of a big community that has constructed its own political system implementing a multi-generation council.
Your community is independent and self-sufficient. Your only contacts to the world beyond Utopia – the Divided World, consisting of the known continents – take place through emigrated friends and relatives. But apart from them, nobody in the Divided World knows about you or Utopia. Upon leaving, every emigrant has to swear an oath to never talk about his origins, to never talk about the secret island in order to protect it.
Recently an earthquake troubled the island. The big mine collapsed and gigantic craters ripped Utopia apart, essentially destroying it. The calculations of your island experts say that Utopia is about to sink. There is not much time left until the whole island and its inhabitants will drown. So, to save yourself and your people you need the help of the Divided World.
The multi-generation council convenes a crisis meeting and decides to send you, its youngest members and loyal supporters, to ______(country of the venue). Some of the old emigrants, amongst them friends and relatives, have settled in the Divided World years ago and meanwhile hold influential positions. They will support you looking for help.
And thus your journey begins…
Upon arriving in the Divided World and in ______(country of the venue) you reunite with your old allies. They recommend you to not only seek help in ______(country of the venue) but also consult potential influential alliances in the EU and other states as that would be the only way to guarantee sufficient connections and political power to save Utopia as quickly as possible.
Not only the people of Utopia but also its rich natural resources shall be saved. Utopia has an abundance of oil, precious metals and unique medicinal plants. Decisions about the distribution of these resources and a new home for the Utopians should be made quickly and to the advantage of those involved. One last advice: Be aware of deceiving offers – all that glitters is not gold.
Now it is up to you to win ______(country of the venue), the EU and other states for your request. Save Utopia, the Utopians and the rich resources of your island.
Task
To act as quickly as possible, part yourselves into 3 equally sized groups and start searching for help. The old Utopian emigrants give every group coded locations where you meet an important representative of an institution, state, government etc. This representative will be of help to you and may negotiate first contracts with you.
Be prepared! You are now on your journey in the European Economic Area. Use this to your advantage and act accordingly! You will need to haggle over help, further connections and details of the rescue and immigration of your people.
The Utopian multi-generation council has given you the permission to trade in the following natural resources:
_Metals: 10 Gold Bars; 100Kg Silver and 10Kg Platinum_Medicinal Herbs: 10Kg unknown and dried herbs that can cure life-threatening diseases; 5 bags with seeds of the unknown medicinal plants
_Oils: Unknown but large amounts around the whole island; 100% of territorial claims can be signed over to interested parties
Attention! Negotiate with confidence and in all conscience! It is not (!) enough to save your people; you also need trustworthy assurances concerning their immigration and their rights in cooperating states. Utopias natural resources are your last resort.
On the Course of Events:
Binding negotiations on immigration will be communicated with possible contracting parties; resources are to be written down on a contract paper. These resources will only be withdrawn from the stock supplies if the concerning group has decided in favor of a certain immigration contract by the end of the game. In the end the contracts in question as well as the notes on (and by now probably diminished) resource values will be handed to the moderator for the closing evaluation.
Objective of the Game
The group that not only saves Utopia’s people under fair conditions and with help from the European Economic Area but also helps them to a well-considered new home country wins the game. As a special appreciation of their work the multi-generation council will gift them a treasure from the former secret island Utopia.
Schedule
Blocks / Contents / Expenditure of TimeI. / Introduction
- What is a scenario? Short introduction of basic behavioral rules.
- What are the EFTA states? Simple and short introduction of the confederation of states.
- What is this experimental game about? Short overview in terms of content.
- Answering the participants’ questions.
- What is GEO-Caching? Introduction of the technology and rules.
II. / Start of Play
- Reading the scenario.
- Group formation.
- Development of a first negotiation strategy.
- Handing out the first clue/the first coordinate.
III. / Departure to the Paperchase
The participants will follow clues 1-3 and build diplomatic connections, learn about structures and make arrangements with the purpose of saving their own people quickly and best possible.
Clues
The clues are coordinates that lead to the “political personalities”.
The encounter with all 3 stations is recommended in order to reach the game`s objective.
Intended time for interactions between each of the negotiating parties is 30min. / ca. 120 min.
(depends on local distances)
IV. / Presenting the Contracts
- The groups internally choose one of the negotiated contracts.
- One person of each group presents its contract to the plenum.
V. / Pause for the Participants and Evaluation
The moderator collects the group assessments from the contract partners as well as the respective contracts. The assessments of the contracts and of the contract partners are assembled and calculated. / 15 min.
VI. / Presentation of Awards and Reflection of the Game
- The moderator presents the results and gives out the treasures. The game ends.
- Reflection: What was good, what was problematic? Discuss the component of corruption in the game. Discuss the relevance of material and immaterial goods in the game.
Resources Value-Card[1]
GROUP: ______
GOLD (in bars)
1 /1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1
PLATINUM (in Kg)
1 /1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1
SILVER (in Kg)
10 /10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10
MEDICINAL HERBS (in Kg)
1 /1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1 /
1
SEEDS (in bags)
0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5 / 0,5OILS(in %)
10 /10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10 /
10
The Role and Tasks of the „Old Allies“ (Negotiating Parties at the Stations)[2]
Specialized Role Cards
The roles of the „old allies“ – who give out clues and negotiate with the groups – may on the one hand be played by external professionals and experts such as local Members of Parliament or Members of the European Parliament. On the other hand adolescent members of different European projects or political representatives of the younger personnel such as the Young-European-Professionals of the Civil Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung) or adolescents of JUGEND für Europa’s EuroPeer-Project would be imaginable. As participants, politicians and politically committed youths will contribute to the game through different perspectives and experiences as well as through knowledge of Europe.
Depending on the invited guests, the role cards will have to be slightly adjusted to the particular application. In the run-up to the game the invited guests shall be informed about their function and role; maybe they even have further ideas on how to interpret and develop their roles.
Fundamental Instructions for the Old Allies
_1. Everything is a Matter of Negotiation:
First and foremost the group has to search for help and gather information regarding new coordinates. You, as the Old Allies, do not give out information without dedicated engagement of the group.
You are allowed to be corrupted (at least you really are an old ally) – but you have to indicate the illegal quality of such actions subsequent to your negotiations.
Ideological arguments concerning for example democratic duties (or words to that effect) shall be rewarded by you not demanding further material goods in order to give the group the information they need to advance.
_2. Procedure for Encounter with each Group:
- Initially you communicate your personal price for certain information and signal your willingness to negotiate.
(Should you let yourself be corrupted by material goods, delete the corresponding values on the group’s Resource Value card and list this action later on in the group’s evaluation scale.)
- Afterwards you give out your information and start negotiating the immigration of the Utopian people.
- After this the results will be put down (short and crisp) on a contract paper.
(In case of resources being involved in the negotiation at this point they will not (!) be deleted from the group’s Resource Value card, because the contract will only be valid and binding should the group decide on it at the end of the game.)
- Now you negotiate your personal price for the next coordinates (unless you are at the last station).
(Should you now let yourself be corrupted by material goods, delete the corresponding values on the group’s Resource Value card and list this action later on in the group’s evaluation scale.)
- You can give out the coordinates now.
- Following this you fill in the evaluation scale for the group and add up the points.
- At the end of this phase everyone meets in the seminar room for a joint reflection and secondary round of talks.
_ 3. Concrete Role Descriptions:
Role card 1: Oskar Willigus, member of the EFTA secretary’s office in Geneva
This role’s objective is to illustrate the EFTA states’ willingness to let new citizens immigrate and allow them to build their own small country on an estate in Iceland – provided that this new country commits to joining the EFTA and not the EU.
Concrete information for the group: naming and negotiating conditions for the Utopian’s immigration.
Concrete coordinate: Fixed point leading to "Simur Bartschock".
Role card 2: Simur Bartschock, member of the Young European Federalists (YEF) in Germany
This role shall illustrate that an alliance with either EFTA states or the EU is equally recommendable and gives ideas on cooperations with both confederations. Simur Bartschock is a neutral and consultative person who weighs up advantages and disadvantages of either side, develops negotiating strategies and reflects former and following negotiations. This role reacts sensitively to each group and helps out by critically and controversially analysing and discussing their strategies and arguments. It’s main objective – besides supporting and challenging the group’s opinions and perspectives – is forcing them to make well-considered rational decisions. Bartschock needs to adapt his advice individually depending on the time in process in which the group reaches his station.
Concrete information for the group: Reminding the group that joining each confederation of states has its advantages and disadvantages; working with them to discover these advantages and disadvantages.
Concrete coordinate: Fixed point leading to “Lila Fennigen”.
Role card 3: Lila Fennigen, member of the European Commission in Brussels
This role illustrates that the EU’s interest in welcoming the Utopians is dependent on several conditions, such as selling all Utopian rights of disposition to the EU after their immigration. In case of the negotiations not being sufficiently profitable for the EU, it is imaginable to think about how the EU can support the group to join the EFTA – this way, the EU would avoid expenses that are necessarily involved in an immigration process. How this role, Lila Fennigen (the EU representative), reacts to the group may be influenced by the course of negotiations.
Concrete information for the group: Naming and negotiating conditions that would allow the Utopian people to join the EU.
Concrete coordinate: Fixed point leading to "Oskar Willigus"
Advice on the Evaluation[3]
The participating groups do not know how their negotiations will be evaluated. Every “political player” at each station rates each group with help of a standardised list of criteria. Furthermore every valid and binding contract will be evaluated with an equally standardised list of criteria and contribute to the overall evaluation.
With help of the standardised lists of criteria and scales on time and trade values (see attachment) the results will be converted into points and added up.
The group that gets the most points in the overall evaluation wins the game and receives a special prize (a treasure) from the Utopian multi-generation council as well as the Utopian people.
Additional Notes[4]
_ Technology in the Game: Following the idea of “GeoCaching”, the paperchase in this game is built around new technologies like smartphones, navigation assistants and similar (routes have to be discovered independently by using GPS coordinates).
Should the relevant technology not be at hand, one can fall back upon classical means of way finding like compasses and maps and concrete names of locations.
_Determining Three Places for Negotiations: Upon conceptualizing the game, three locations have to be chosen for the participants’ negotiations to take place in. It is advantageous when it’s possible to discover the seminar place this way. But the stations may also be located in one of the nearby buildings. In this case some good riddles should be thought of, since the appeal of discovering routes and places would be non-existent.
_Number of Groups: Normally the game starts when the participants split up into three groups. Should there be four groups, a fourth location has to be installed as a pause station – preferably a room, where coffee/tea/beverages are offered. This will be unfortunate for the first group to arrive at the pause station; they should be encouraged to reflect their strategy in order to gain an advantage over the other groups.
List of Criteria for the Evaluation of the Contracts[5]
The evaluation of the contract’s contents focuses on three perspectives: 1. Cedeing, 2. Demanding, 3. Giving and Taking.
Status / Concrete Situation / ValuationCedeing / The group handed over material goods from the Resource Value-Card for a particular immigration condition. / – –
Cedeing / The group promised material goods for the future (when successful: “if...then”). / +
Demanding / The group did not pay in material goods or made promises, but unilaterally demanded a particular immigration condition (e.g. through legitimizing arguments). / +
Giving and Taking / The group offered immaterial values for a particular immigration condition. / + +
Giving / The group offered immaterial values without demanding a particular immigration condition / + + +
Legend:
"–" = -10 points"+" = 10 points
The legend can of course be differentiated further in the future. Generally the groups’ negotiations will be evaluated positively where possible; at least the negotiations are ends in themselves, as they illustrate the qualitative delicacies of political communications.
Whether the items on the available list of criteria are reasonable may be discussed with the participants in the aftermath of the game. This way it would be possible to lead to personal and general moral concepts as well as rights and responsibilities that come with European citizenship and the confederations of states. Furthermore it can be shown at this point that material goods do have their value in political negotiations but that they are also, on closer examination, not quite as important as immaterial goods like knowledge, understanding of democracy, loyalty, solidarity and so on – especially when the main objective is to save a nation and integrate their people into a new society.
List of Criteria for the Evaluation of the Negotiations[6]
GROUP: ______
1) General Competences
10= very bad, 100= very good; check when applicable
Criteria / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 1001. / Assertiveness
2. / Willingness to Compromise
3. / Negotiation Climate
4. / Diplomacy during Negotiation
Points:______
2) Time Factor
Check when applicable
Points / Duration of the Negotiations / x+ 20 / 0-10 min.
+ 10 / 11 - 20 min.
+/- 0 / 21 - 30 min.
- 10 / > 30 min.
Points:______
3) Trade of Resources
Check when applicable
Goods / Expenses25 Pkt. / 20 Pkt. / 15 Pkt. / 10 Pkt. / 5 Pkt.
Gold / 00-02
Bars / 03-04
Bars / 05-06
Bars / 07-08
Bars / 09-10
Bars
Check
Platinum / 00-02
kg / 03-04
kg / 05-06
kg / 07-08
kg / 09-10
kg
Check
Silver / 00-20
kg / 21-40
kg / 41-60
kg / 61-80
kg / 81-100
kg
Check
Oils / 00-20
% / 21-40
% / 41-60
% / 61-80
% / 81-100
%
Check
Herbs / 00-02
kg / 03-04
kg / 05-06
kg / 07-08
kg / 09-10
kg
Check
Seeds / 0/1
bags / 2
bags / 3
bags / 4
bags / 5
bags
Check
Points:______
4) Result
Insert points and calculate
General Competences / Time Factor / Trade of Resources / Total PointsPTS: / PTS: / PTS: / PTS:
[1]Paper for every group.
[2]Additional information for the moderator and the „old allies“ (negotiating parties at the stations).
[3]Paper for the moderator.
[4]Paper for the moderator.
[5]Paper for the moderator.
[6]Paper for negotiating parties (experts at the stations)