Flood Snakes & Ladders was originally developed in 2009 by Lancaster University researchers from the Hull Floods Project. Using real data from the project, the game was designed as a training tool for front-line workers to provide an insight into the difficulties that families encounter during the long-term recovery from a disaster. The idea for the game came from one adult research participant who said that recovering from a flood was ‘…a bit like a game of snakes & ladders – you think you’re making progress and then you have a massive setback and have to go back to square one!’ Based on this comment, the team designed the game to simulate the ‘backwards and forwards’ nature of recovery.
The game was re-developed to present the experience of flooding from a child’s perspective as a result of the Lancaster University team’s later project: Children, Young People and Flooding: Recovery and Resilience. This version of the game was originally presented by the children involved in the project at stakeholder events in Staines-upon-Thames and South Ferriby. It was reprised by the children at the 2015 British Damage Management Association national conference and in its current form is used extensively by Flood Risk Engagement Advisors from the Environment Agency in their community resilience building work.
For further information about Lancaster University’s research into the social effects of flooding, check out:
