College of Public Policy, HBKU

POLICY EDUCATION AND
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Pedagogical Innovations in Policy Education

Presenters

Dr. Evren Tok

Dr. Evren Tok

Associate Dean for Community Engagement
College of Public Policy, HBKU

Mehreen Jadoon

Mehreen Jadoon

MGHP student · Teaching Assistant
College of Public Policy, HBKU

Hands-on policy education: Move policy learning from knowing to applying.

Game based education provides a safe space to test choices, hear different perspectives and explore options beyond classroom.

01Digital simulation
PolicyQuest preview

Evidence. Negotiation. Action.

PolicyQuest

A collaborative policy simulation where student teams turn evidence into responses to real policy challenges.

How the experience flows

  1. Enter a policy mission
  2. Study the evidence
  3. Negotiate priorities
  4. Build a shared solution
Designed for classrooms and workshopsEnter the game ↗
QR code for PolicyQuestSCAN TO PLAY
02Guided digital studio

From a complex problem to an evidence-informed solution.

Policy Lab Studio

A guided team workspace that structures the journey of developing and documenting an evidence-informed policy proposal.

How the experience flows

  1. Register a team
  2. Frame the challenge
  3. Work through guided stages
  4. Develop the proposal
Team workspace with facilitator accessEnter the game ↗
QR code for Policy Lab StudioSCAN TO PLAY
03Printable team toolkit
Qatar Policy Co-design Toolkit previewQatar Policy Co-design Toolkit supporting view

Understand. Imagine. Create. Decide.

Qatar Policy Co-design Toolkit

A facilitated tabletop experience that helps policy teams explore a challenge through diverse perspectives and co-create ideas.

How the experience flows

  1. Choose a challenge card
  2. Use the activity deck
  3. Capture ideas around the board
  4. Use wisdom cards to reflect
41 printable pages · board, placards and cardsOpen the toolkit ↓
04Table-top simulation
The Floor preview

Manage flow. Lead teams. Decide under pressure.

The Floor

An intense emergency-department simulation that develops clinical leadership, teamwork and operational decision-making under pressure.

How the experience flows

  1. Set up the ED floor and team roles
  2. Introduce the scenario and patients
  3. Manage flow, resources and changing events
  4. Debrief decisions, teamwork and safety
90 minutes · 12–14 participants · facilitated team playEnter the game ↗
QR code for The FloorSCAN TO PLAY
05Team-based board game
Policy Majlis previewPolicy Majlis supporting view

Negotiate. Adapt. Shape policy together.

Policy Majlis

A collaborative board game that turns policy complexity into active negotiation, strategic thinking and collective problem-solving.

How the experience flows

  1. Choose a goal across seven development areas
  2. Use solution cards to move toward the goal
  3. Respond to ethical triggers and challenge cards
  4. Adapt to events, trade-offs and connected consequences
7 development areas · negotiation · ethical decision-makingOpen the toolkit ↓Facilitated board game
06Facilitated policy-design workshop
Equity-Centered Policy Design previewEquity-Centered Policy Design supporting view

Acknowledge. Aspire. Connect. Apply.

Equity-Centered Policy Design

A ten-step collaborative canvas that helps policy students define equity, connect aspirations to evidence and translate global insights into locally grounded policy.

How the experience flows

  1. Map equity through power, identity and context
  2. Define a student-centered equity aspiration
  3. Connect the aspiration to research and evidence
  4. Build a policy story grounded in Qatar
10 guided steps · A0 team canvas · evidence-to-contextOpen the toolkit ↓Facilitated board game
07Political debate card game
Policy Odyssey previewPolicy Odyssey supporting viewPolicy Odyssey cards, rules and box

Tackle problems. Defend solutions. Win the vote.

Policy Odyssey

A lively political card game that develops policy argumentation, creative reasoning and confident debate through unexpected problem-solution pairings.

How the experience flows

  1. Draw a Problem card
  2. Choose your strongest Solution card
  3. Justify why it is the best policy
  4. Hear every argument and vote for the winner
21 Problem cards · 32 Solution cards · ages 14+Enter the game ↗
QR code for Policy OdysseySCAN TO PLAY
08Creative metaphor toolkit
Imaginaries: New Metaphors preview

See differently. Connect unexpectedly. Reframe complexity.

Imaginaries: New Metaphors

A facilitated card toolkit that uses images, concepts and metaphor to help groups reframe complex policy and development questions.

How the experience flows

  1. Choose a concept central to the challenge
  2. Select an image and explore its qualities
  3. Map unexpected connections into a metaphor
  4. Record insights, questions and new possibilities
100 image cards · 50 concept cards · guided worksheetsOpen the toolkit ↓Facilitated board game
09Facilitated systems-thinking map
Polarity Management previewPolarity Management supporting view

Name the tension. See the whole. Work with both.

Polarity Management

A participatory mapping experience that helps groups manage enduring policy tensions through dynamic both-and thinking rather than either-or choices.

How the experience flows

  1. Name the challenge and its two interdependent poles
  2. Map the benefits and over-focus risks of each
  3. Define the greater purpose and early warnings
  4. Agree actions that sustain the upsides of both
Both-and thinking · 4-quadrant map · action planningOpen the toolkit ↓Facilitated board game
10Systems-thinking build
LEGO Serious Play: Confronting Complexity preview

Build the issue. Connect the system. Narrow the question.

LEGO Serious Play: Confronting Complexity

A LEGO Serious Play experience that helps students visualize interconnected policy challenges, define problems before solutions and turn broad systems into researchable questions.

How the experience flows

  1. Build a model of a policy interest and desired change
  2. Connect models into a shared systems landscape
  3. Define the problem, actors and consequences
  4. Narrow variables, boundaries and research focus
Individual models · shared landscape · research designOpen the toolkit ↓Facilitated board game
11Interdisciplinary LEGO workshop
LEGO Serious Play: Building Connections previewLEGO Serious Play: Building Connections supporting view

Make disciplines visible. Connect ideas. Build together.

LEGO Serious Play: Building Connections

A collaborative LEGO Serious Play workshop that makes the connections among ethics, economics, policy design and research methods tangible.

How the experience flows

  1. Build key learning from one core discipline
  2. Explain its theories and practical applications
  3. Connect four models around a shared policy trend
  4. Reflect on complementarities and the role of ethics
4 core disciplines · team models · integrated policy thinkingOpen the toolkit ↓Facilitated board game
12AI-assisted game design studio
Serious Play Game Generator preview

Course material in. Classroom-ready games out.

Serious Play Game Generator

An educator-facing studio that turns course materials into editable board and card games where students apply concepts, make decisions and learn through play.

How the experience flows

  1. Upload slides, readings or a syllabus
  2. Confirm learners, outcomes and class logistics
  3. Review the learning tension and suggested mechanics
  4. Choose, edit, download and share a game prototype
Board and card games · educator editable · higher educationEnter the game ↗
QR code for Serious Play Game GeneratorSCAN TO PLAY
Policy Education and Experiential Learning

Policy education transforms when students stop merely analysing systems and start practising how to change them.

Let us keep policy learning active, collaborative and deeply human.

Thank you.
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