IRGA 2023 - SolX

Whether it’s farmland, gardens, or a paved street, the soils around us are an integral part of our daily lives. Yet we rarely notice them because we generally see only the surface beneath our feet. Soil is the Earth’s surface layer. Ranging in thickness from a few centimeters to several meters, soil is formed by the weathering of rocks and the addition of organic matter by living organisms (i.e., plants and animals).

Soils are ecosystems that harbor a great diversity and abundance of living organisms. These organisms play a key role in soil functioning, which is essential for the maintenance of terrestrial ecosystems and provides numerous services to humans. For example, soils (i) support the production of 95% of human food, (ii) store large amounts of carbon, which helps regulate the climate, (iv) ensure the proper functioning of the water cycle, and (v) recycle nutrients.

Globally, one-third of the world’s soils are degraded, which undermines their functioning and the ecosystem services they provide. To mitigate threats to soils and promote their restoration, it is essential to enable the general public (i) to better understand how soils function and (ii) to identify ways to act toward more sustainable consumption of soil-derived products. Given that most of the food we eat comes from crops grown on soil, choosing products from sustainably managed soils seems to be a way to promote sound agricultural practices.

Mirroring the Climate Fresque and in response to the need for awareness and education about soils, ADEME and AFEShave developed the Soil Fresque, a collaborative serious game that helps players discover how soils function and the services they provide, as well as address the threats they face. Based on the Soil Mural, we have developed an online, single-player serious game called SolX, which provides an overview of what soil is, its functions and services, and helps identify the threats affecting it.

Objective

The goal of the SolX project (named after the game) is (i) to promote a better understanding of soils among the general public through the creation of a digital version of the “Fresque du Sol,” (ii) while studying the impact of this gamified tool on the general public’s knowledge of and consumption habits regarding soil-derived products. The originality of the SolX project lies in its interdisciplinary nature, at the intersection of soil science and management science.

The first phase of the project involved creating group concept maps (GCMs). These maps sought to represent ideas related to how to strengthen the connection between the consumption of soil-derived products and the soil itself, among two different audiences (experts and citizens).

The second phase of this project was to develop the serious game SolX, a digital, single-player adaptation of the Fresque du Sol, using the GenaGame platform. This phase also involved studying the impact of the SolX game on raising public awareness of sustainable soil management, and testing models that explain and detail the effects of the digital serious game on consumer behavior regarding products derived from the soil.

From a soil science perspective, the research question focuses on examining the role of serious games in individuals’ understanding of how soils function. From a marketing perspective, the research question isto examine how the online gaming experience influences the adoption of more sustainable behaviors regarding the consumption of soil-derived products.

The Team