It's been a great semester here at the Engagement Game Lab. Our project team has been working hard to bring our plans and ideas into reality. In the next week, we will launch an internal alpha version of the game and continue developing until our public launch in April 2011. We will share our progress along the way.
What excites us the most, though, is working with our partner communities to launch Community PlanIt (CPI) games across the country. We'd like begin by introducing two of our partner communities for the project:
Philadelphia, PA: We are partnering with The Village of Arts and Humanities to bring CPI to North Philadelphia. The Village maintains 12 art parks and over 1 million square feet (!) of vacant land, while also providing after-school programming in digital media and the arts. We're excited to work with The Village to help Philly residents engage in planning and developing these important neighborhood spaces.
Akron, OH: Working with The Civic Commons, we will launch CPI to help residents plan for developments in the important University Park neighborhood in Akron. The Civic Commons is a new organization in Northeast Ohio dedicated to strengthening democratic processes through social media and innovative engagement processes. Check out this video describing their mission.
Community PlanIt Introduction from our graduate researchers Evan Leek and Nathaniel Hansen.
We are also excited to announce our partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Asian Community Development Corporation to launch CPI locally in North Quincy. As a recent Boston Globe article explains, the game will be used to diversify participation in the planning process.
As our development process picks up, please check back for frequent updates about our progress. We are very excited to share this work with you, and appreciate any comments, questions, or feedback. Until next time!
