Good ideas are desperately needed.

How do you get started and how do you assess a good idea?

Studio Renate Boere has been nominated for the Challenge Haagse Vernieuwers 2018 with the game ‘The Idea Generator’, the first educational game that quickly generates ideas and offers tools to arrive at (design) solutions.

This game stimulates the formation of ideas about social issues in a fun way.

In the society in which we live, innovation is essential to solve complex problems. Think of international issues concerning themes such as privacy, loss of biodiversity, human trafficking, scarcity of raw materials and poverty. That is not easy. New good ideas are urgently needed to make a profit in all kinds of areas. People often want to do something but have no idea how! ‘The Idea Generator’ can be the first step to success.

How does it work?

The goal of the game is to provide everyone who would like to contribute to a sustainable society with insight into how you could do that and what you need for it, in an accessible way, within 10 steps and a maximum of half an hour. You are challenged to start small, but to think bigger.

There is also an English version of the game.

‘The Idea Generator’ in education

If we win the Challenge Haagse Vernieuwers, we can actually produce the game and offer it to our most important target group: young people.

This game helps a young generation to think interdisciplinary, creative and solution-oriented. An important skill in today’s society. In addition, the involvement in social problems will increase because they have experienced that they can do something about it themselves. As the Chinese saying goes: Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

Developing ideas is not part of the curriculum in secondary education. (1) This game offers the opportunity for a teacher to touch on the subject once and to give the students an accessible glimpse into the world of the designer, independent entrepreneurship and the development of ideas for a positive contribution to society.

‘The Idea Generator’ meets all the requirements of a good educational game.

Using gamification to stimulate innovation

According to Wim Veen, professor of education and technology at TU Delft (2), educational games teach collaboration, setting goals, strategic thinking and problem solving.

The game has a goal, is challenging, offers a level structure, has a high autonomous value, is concluded with structured feedback and is always themed. According to game didactician Martijn Koops (3) these are the ingredients that a good educational game meets.

‘The Idea Generator’ emerged from the ‘Beyond Design Thinking’ method (4). This is a study by Renate Boere into the do’s and don’ts of self-initiating projects.

Player Reactions

‘This game is an ideal way to learn how to come up with ideas for solving social problems. You also learn to present and assess!’ – Dick Aukes advisor and coach young starting (creative) entrepreneurs, The Hague

‘Wow! Now I realize what it takes to create and realize a solution for a social problem.’ – Wilco van der Leeuw, student at the Minerva Academy in Groningen

‘An important value of the game is that you actually learn to write down and express your own ideas.’ – Ed van Hinte, design critic, author, teacher and industrial designer, The Hague

‘This fun educational game cleverly generates ownership of a project within the entire team and provides tools to find solutions. This way you can quickly get everyone on the same page. A much better solution than sitting in a hut on the heath with colleagues.’ – Mireille Giele, student Master Design, Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam

Challenge Haagse Vernieuwers 2018

‘The world is becoming increasingly complex,’ says alderman Karsten Klein. ‘Issues such as safety, energy, climate and food security are becoming increasingly international in nature. At the same time, these issues affect the city’s residents.’ That is why the municipality of The Hague strives to encourage startups, organizations and students to contribute to solving global issues. Every year, it organizes the Challenge Haagse Vernieuwers. Winning ideas are rewarded with prizes between €5,000 and €30,000. (5)

The importance of innovation and creativity at the top of the political agenda

‘Winning the prize would give a fantastic boost to realize our global challenge, we want to encourage people as much as possible to come up with and realize innovative ideas and thus contribute together to a better world’ – Renate Boere, initiator and art director at Studio Renate Boere