This half-day workshop introduces an interactive game board with the human-centered AI of urban heritage gamification to support inclusive and informed decision-making in the context of adapting to climate change. Standing at the intersection of cultural heritage, environmental humanities, and AI, the game is framed as a shared platform that tries to model climate-associated scenarios affecting heritage-rich urbanized districts in the MEASA (Middle East, Africa, South Asia) region.

The workshop draws on innovative Responsible AI and co-design practices to craft an experience centered on cultural context, local understanding, and agency of stakeholders. The game employs generative AI, natural language understanding, and prediction of scenarios to produce customized experiences in which the players must make hard trade-offs between urban resilience, heritage conservation, and socio-environmental justice.

The players will enjoy first-hand experience of the game as users and co-creators, making decisions in real-time, with prompts and data visualizations created by the AI. The game will be transnational and geographically adaptable, with room to allow players to modify some aspects specific to regional climate problems and local heritage typology.

workshop structure

Introduction & Theoretical Context (30 mins):

Introduction to human-centered AI, gamifying cultural heritage, and climate-aware city planning. Overview of associated research in the form of published articles on AI in architectural heritage learning.

Game Mechanic and AI Integration (30 mins):

Demonstration of AI capabilities in the board game—how the prompts are formulated, how the decisions are stored, and how the climate/heritage data are incorporated in gameplay.

Hands-On Gameplay Session: 1 hour:

They play the game in small groups and assume the roles of the stakeholders (climate activist, area resident, urban planner, heritage authority). They will be confronted with such issues as sea-level rise affecting heritage sites, scarcity of water in vernacular settlements, or green infrastructure works clashing with preservation sites.

Co-Design and Feedback (30 mins):

The users take into account the game narrative structure, responsiveness of AI, and relevance to research or local environments. A short idea generation session will call for proposals to adapt or enhance the tool, and particularly in Indigenous, regional, or diaspora heritage settings.

Wrap-Up & Discussion (30 minutes):

Additional discussion regarding how AI-augmented tools may be utilized in cultural stewardship and civic engagement ethics. Discussion of the game as research tool, educational tool, or policy simulation.

This workshop supports DHA2025’s theme “Digital Archipelagos” by analyzing how networked but fragmented knowledges—digital, environmental, and cultural—can be used to inform action in conjunction with one another. It calls for shifting from top-down data frameworks to culturally embedded, human-centered AI engagements that preserve heritage values in the context of climate danger.

Target Audience:

Digital humanists, heritage experts, urbanists, teachers, game designers, and professionals engaging in the intersection of AI, sustainability, and cultural stewardship