On 17th July 2020 the Dutch team of Minosia Labyrinth hosted an online multiplier event to promote the new educational tool on migration. Although a live event was planned to meet up with different stakeholders, interested organizations, professionals and individuals, due to Covid-19 restrictions there was no other choice than to present the game online. However, participants from diverse organisations and professional fields joined the webinar “Introduction to Minosia Labyrinth”.
The webinar started with a short introduction of the team and the history of the project. We explained how the idea came to mind to develop a game like this and how the game was developed over the years with the international consortium. This part was followed by a presentation about the game itself. We explained the main introduction methods, such as game rules, reading the scripts and theatre methods to get into the role. With help of photos from our Try Out and Tutor Training and by showing the promo video, we explained the main elements and dimensions of the game experience. We concluded with an explanation about the 3 levels of debriefing, starting with the emotional reflection, to the individual reflection and concluding with the reflection on society.
After a short coffee break we continued with two former participants of the Tutor Training to talk about their impressions and experiences of Minosia Labyrinth. One of them is a social worker who played a role of a migrant in the game. She told us that the experience of the game made her understand better the complexity of the migration process and how power dynamics work out on the lives of people. She was impressed by the fact how the game made her really feel the frustration, discrimination and powerlessness. The other participant has own migration experience and played the role of an immigration officer. His experience showed that the game can as well be a powerful tool for people with migration experience to better understand the migration system they are subject of and process their personal integration experiences.
We continued the webinar with an explanation about the logistics of the game and the target groups, followed by an explanation on the handbook and toolkit. We concluded with a preview on the upcoming local tutor workshops we want to host in the Netherlands and several participants showed interest. The webinar was a very interesting experience in which we hope to have inspired different people and organisations to collaborate and apply the game in their daily lives and work.