The analog, card-based knowledge and discussion game SHARING WATER - The Game offers well-founded, up-to-date and networked knowledge about water as a resource that invites players to think, talk and participate.

The Alpine region - especially Austria and Switzerland - is the geographical focus area, but a great deal of basic knowledge in the areas of ecology and water justice also makes global connections and systemic interactions recognizable.

For whom and why?
The game is aimed at young people and adults. Sharing Water aims to raise awareness of the need for careful and sustainable use of water and to make people understand the vital importance of preserving biodiversity and protecting the climate. The questions "What role does water play for life?" and "What role does water justice play for our societies?" are at the heart of our research.

Insightful knowledge, fact-based discussions and inspiring teamwork are the guiding principles of this game, which leads to true aha-experiences through amazement, joy and bubbling creativity.

Background to the project:
The Sharing Water Project (2019-2023) combined field research in four European source regions, interviews with scientists and artistic research. As a result of the project, the Sharing Water Events took place in Vienna in 2022/23, engaging in interdisciplinary exchange in workshops and public events on the question of what fair and sustainable sharing of water entails.

The topics of the project and the network of science, art, economy and water governance that was created in this project form the basis for the resulting knowledge and discussion game and are constantly being expanded.

The idea of an analog card game as a knowledge transfer tool was inspired by tests of the playdecide game “BLUE GOLD” by Ecsite in workshops in 2022/23.

More Knowledge about Water
Special focus will be placed on current initiatives and the national legal situation on water protection/management and water management in the Alpine countries of Austria and Switzerland, as well as supranational regulations of the EU and agreements of the United Nations (SDGs).

Secondly, ecological and technological innovations that purify water, desalinate it or make it particularly economical to use are topics of concern.

Artistic initiatives and visionary projects will form the third field of focus of the game. They make water issues socially visible, open horizons for imagination and implement committed impulses for a change in the way we deal with water.