The Lessons Learned team was invited down to Toronto to present our simulation as a workshop at the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies Annual Conference in May.
Given the large number of concurrent workshops, a drop-in drop-out format, and an inability to have participants pre-register, I came prepared with a presentation in case we were unable to carry out a full run of the simulation.
We dutifully transformed the room into the fictional city of “New Haven”, but in the end, the team and I simply presented the simulation scenario and went over some of the briefings, exploring mechanics and how the various stakeholders interact to bring out learning objectives. We also included a conversation about the history and development of simulation-based methods and ways in which the methods can be applied to teaching in refugee-related contexts.
Thanks to CARFMS for having us out, to our volunteers for their flexibility, and to our engaged audience! It was great to be able to share our work in a new context and look forward to expanding our work with CARFMS next year.