COMMISSIONS
The working commissions are the operational body of the GSRC which periodically reports on its activities to the Scientific Committee. To have information about commission and to participate to their work, contact the reference person.
External Communication
ReferentLeonardo Boncinelli(University of Florence)leonardo.boncinelli@unifi.it
Capitan AVIS
Capitan AVIS is a collaborative game to promote knowledge on the world of volunteering for blood and plasma donation. Thanks to its mechanics allows players to develop pro-social behaviors and knowledge related to transfusion. The commission has the purpose of coordinating the activities relating to the game design and the scientific impact evaluation of the project connected to the "Capitan AVIS" board game.
Cybertrails
Knowing the risks of the increasingly current and undervalued digital world in everyday life becomes essential for any user, from early adolescence to adulthood. A further obstacle is represented by the gender gap formed over the years in the IT security sector. Training the new generations therefore becomes of primary importance to obtain an increasingly aware and inclusive population.
In this context, based on the initiative of the Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per l'Informatica (CINI), the CyberTrials project is born. The aim of the project, addressed exclusively at female students - cisgender and transgender - of the Italian secondary schools, is to provide a free training program on cybersecurity issues, trying to clear gender prejudices. During the project students will participate in a gamified activity beside the frontal lessons. The purpose of the RPG, which is set in the world of cultural heritage, is to test in a practical way the notions learned during the lessons in a controlled and engaging context.
Funding and Projects
The main purpose of the commission is to identify funding opportunities and coordinate the participation of the GAME Science Research Center in national and international projects. The commission is also responsible for identifying the human resources to be committed to the project activities based on the professional skills of the members of the GSRC.
Game Design
The main purpose of the commission is to coordinate the activities and the projects related with game design. Moreover, the commission provides answers and advice to the ordinary members o the GSRC regarding the development and production of games.
Games and Biology
The main purpose of the commission is to analyze a selection of board games in the biological field from a scientific and educational point of view. The final outcomes of the research group are multiple and open to comparison. Basically, the commission wants to analyze the biological educational messages that are conveyed through game and evaluate them scientifically.
Game and History
The main purpose of the commission is to investigate all the possible intersections between Game and History, from the playful forms of public history to the playful didactics of history, up to understanding the playful medium and its use in academia as a vehicle for learning history.
Games and Organization for education in Detention Systems
The main purpose of the commission is to give an answer to the challenge posed by the need to innovate educational activities in detainment systems, undertaking the necessary exploration of the current state of the art to build a typical Game Science approach. It consists of standardized actions and communication to implement effective interventions/actions using replicable structured games, which are useful for improving behaviors and life skills in the various detainment contexts (prisons, reclusion systems and alternative detainment systems), both for penitentiary professionals and prisoners .
Game as a tool for inclusion in favor of individuals with SLD and disabilities
The main purpose of the commision is to identify boardgames and RPG accessible to students and other subjects with special educational needs, in particular with disabilities and SLDs, and to carry out investigations on those games to increasingly favor social inclusion of these subjects.
Games are excellent tools for inclusion but to allow this they must be accessible to everyone, like culture.
Game "Laura Bassi"
The main purpose of the commision is to bring together the professional skills necessary for the game design and implementation of the new board game of the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics - OGS on the "Laura Bassi" oceanographic research vessel.
Game on Scientific Diplomacy
The main purpose of the commission is to bring together the professional skills necessary to implement the game design and to develop the game on scientific diplomacy request by the Italian Ministry for Foreing Affairs (Ministero degli Affari Esteri)
Game Science Epistemology
The main purpose of the commission is to deal with the epistemological studies about game science, with particular attention to the definition of: main object of study, receivers, theoretical framework, research methodologies, specific language.
GSRC@Events
The main purpose of the commission is to organize the participation of the GAME Science Research Center at general events, such as exhibitions and invited activities.
The commission will be responsable, with different members of the following events:
GSRC@ FirenzeGioca
GSRC@ Lucca Comics & Games
GSRC@ Play - Festival del Gioco
Internal Communication
The main purpose of the commission is to implement and manage the necessary tools to facilitate the exchange and retrieval of information between the ordinary members of the GSRC, identifying the needs arising by the members and proposing adequate responses. The commission takes care, in the short term, of creating a list of recommended tools and preparing them for use by GSRC members.
Livorno 1921: the revolution at the congress
The main purpose of the commission is to create a board game dedicated to the Livorno Congress of 1921, a project funded by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers on the occasion of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Italian Communist Party
Research and education
The main purpose of the commission will be to propose research projects about game science, to evaluate the proposals of the ordinary members of the GSRC and implement educational sessions inside and outside the GSRC.
Research in Psychology of Games
The Commission's general aim is to preside over the centre's activities that fall within the framework of the potential intersections between gaming and psychology, including all its multiple declinations, using a focus on the person playing the game, a methodology derived primarily from the scientific literature in the field of psychology and expertise of the psychologist. The proximal objective of the Commission is the creation of a shared method that allows the impact assessment of the use of play as an intervention tool and the creation of a methodological/instrumental repository that serves as a reference for the entire community working in the field of play. The distal objective is the application to all future projects that require a contribution from the psychological framework applied to game and/or scientific activity, and the production of knowledge that provides tools for researchers to assess the human factor in game science.
Play4Change
The main purpose of the commission is to organize the Play4Change project, an award that rewards the research, development and use of Games for Social Change.
Play4Change intends to give visibility and value to projects which - through play - have a central element in education and personal growth, not in terms of acquiring knowledge specific to the disciplines (we could say didactic), but rather of skills useful to read and to face the world and its complexity with greater sensitivity and awareness.
Position Paper on Game Science
Defining what Game Sciences are and what they deal with today in Italy is a complex activity, considering the fragmentation, multidisciplinarity and complexity of the research that is carried out in the academic field. One of the fundamental missions of the Game Science Research Center is to provide a disciplinary definition of Game Sciences, which helps to establish a point of reference on the discipline and which becomes an identity manifesto for those who transversally research in this area. The publication of a "Position Paper" which clearly indicates the "what", "how" and "when" as a vision shared by all the academic components that in various capacities populate the cultural and scientific discussion of the Center, is therefore the main objective of this commission.
Science, Scientific Citizenship and Game
The main purpose of the commission is to promote, evaluate and disseminate educational practices based on game and on scientific citizenship understood as knowledge and democratic participation in the scientific processes. This commission intends to enhance the products and activities already in place and in the long term to buid shared products and paths.
The game, its nature and its possible philosophical foundation
The main purpose of the commission is to deal with foundational and theoretical issues about games. The proposed theme will be investigated both in relation to how it takes shape in general play mechanics, and in relation to concrete examples.
Law and games
The main purpose of the Law and Games commission is to map and discuss legal profiles of games, with a particular focus on video games and e-sports. These topics will be investigated both at a theoretical and at a practical level.
Equity
The commission's objective is to foster and endorse initiatives that advocate for fairness in game design—including visual aesthetics, legibility, language, portrayal of roles, and user engagement—and in playful environments, such as personalized event badges and secure, inclusive spaces for play. Additionally, it seeks to discover collaborative opportunities with other GSRC commissions and to amalgamate diverse equity-related expertise.
Insert Coin. Video games culture for education and wellbeing
Starting from the assumption that video games are worthy of being the object of study and of an accurate and careful analysis of their characteristics, their mechanics, and their role in our society, the commission's general aim is to:
promote a scientific (pedagogical, psychological, technological) reflection around video games;
underline and study the overlapping elements between board games and video games;
promote research and initiatives which involve video games as a tool able to offer many incentives not only to entertainment, but also to learning, to critical thinking, and to the development of the whole person (citizenship education, active participation, physical and psychological wellbeing, etc.);
promote the culture of videogames among the GSRC members and support them in the choice of commercial video games suitable for the aims of their projects.
Early Access. A technical commission about Digital Games
The commission aims to promote the study and analysis of digital games from a more technical perspective.
By its nature, a videogame is a software solution that the user can interact with in real-time.
During the creation of a digital game, technical contribution is fundamental. The commission will have the dual goal of:
promoting scientific research from the merely technical and computer science point of view in videogame development;
contributing to the development of digital games and collaborating with other GRSC commissions in order to provide technical support.
