Lofoten Game of the Future poses a platform for discussion, consideration and game strategy surrounding the possible futures of Lofoten. The game takes place in a public park located in Kabelvåg, Norway (a village in the Lofoten Islands).The park itself is transformed into a giant board game.

Rules of the game

Number of Players: 4+ (you can play in teams if you like)

Set Up
You need: Big dice, five carpet-like mats for every field: oil, fishing, tourism and wildlife (20 in all)
-One of each mat is layed top down and everyone takes one to determine who is to represent either oil, fishery, ..tourism or wildlife.

-Each player recieves 5 mats alike.
-Each player throws the dice, the highest throw chooses starting location, lowest number starts the game

How to Play
-Start the game at the 4 corners of the park. The park is the gameboard.
-You are the piece, and hold your mats

Play
-Throw the dice and walk along the stones according to the score - you cannot step on the same stone twice, ..but are allowed to move backwards.
-Once you have moved throw your mat towards the pond -the objective is to get as many of your own mats ..in the pond as possible.
*If you throw one of your own outside of the path it is out of the game.
**If you land on the mats of other people you can trow them out of the game.
***The game ends when all mats are in the pond or out of the game.

End of game:
The individual winner is the person/industry with most mats in the pond.
The collective future of Lofoten is determined by what mats end up in the pond.
Players can interpret and discuss the result from the combination.

The game is Open Source, change it as you like!




The Future of Lofoten remains untold.

Currently fishing is the number one industry in Lofoten, second only to Oil which is Norway's number one industry. Set in an environmentally unique location, Lofoten offers a diverse set of pleasures. The islanders are constantly addressing the notion of survival within this extreme and remote location. At the moment the island depends on its location for income; fishing, oil, and tourism. Due to environmental issues and over-fishing, this fragile ecology of the economy and environment has been challenged to strike a balance between preservation, conservation and survival.

Big interests are at stake and in the comming years decicions will be made that heavily affects the future and direction of the island community. Some of the interests are directly oppositional as you can read below. The game: "Lofoten Game of the Future" plays these interests out against each other to open for discussion on possible combinations, and different outcomes for the future.



1) The oil industry is lobbying heavily to get rights to use the oil resources outside of Lofoten, this could bring wealth to Lofoten, but also damage the natural resources and fishing which the island is dependant on.

2) Tourism in Lofoten is underdeveloped compared to other places. The future question is: Will international corporations bring luxury hotels and mass tourism or can a sustainable tourism be imagined that benefits the local community and culture?

3) Fishing which has been the traditional source of income for the island is undergoing changes. Big trawlers are buying the fish kvotas and often unloading in other countries, in addition possibly damaging wildlife with their trawls. Policy changes on a national level could make costal fishery viable again and thereby support a living fishing community.

4) The nature and wildlife of lofoten is unike any in Norway and the world. Currently, the possibility of Lofoten being protected and declaired a UNESCO world heritage site is being examined. This would limit the possibility for the oil industry and maybe fishing and would radically change the outlook. One would have to invent industry and tourism that would not damage the environment.