The Incorporation of the 2030 Agenda in the Design of Local Policies for Social Transformation in Disadvantaged Urban Areas

Shall we play together? Game-based learning for engagement and classroom climate in Spanish socially deprived communities

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of a game-based learning (GBL) program on the classroom climate and engagement of high schools in socially deprived communities in Spain.

Methods

The study included 277 students from two secondary schools located in Southern Spain, situated in Zones in Need of Social Transformation. Sampling was non-probabilistic and accidental, based on the accessibility of the school and the willingness of the management and teaching staff to participate in the GBL program. The study employed a control group and two experimental groups (cooperative games group only and cooperative and competitive games group) to compare pre-test and post-test data in both groups. The Brief Class Climate Scale and Engagement Inventory, validated in academic literature, were used as assessment instruments.

Results

The study used a series of ANOVA tests to compare the experimental groups with the control group. The results indicated statistically significant changes in all study variables. In all cases, the experimental groups demonstrated greater benefits than the control group.

Discussion and conclusion

The study findings reveal that games can provide significant benefits to students, regardless of whether they are cooperative or competitive. The study provides evidence of the benefits of GBL in high schools located in socially deprived communities in Spain.

Contributions of Intercultural Socioenvironmental Justice to the 2030 Agenda in the Colombian Caribbean

The 2030 Agenda has influenced the design of public policies in Colombia and other countries in the region, but there are many gaps in the way a global policy can be interpreted and adapted to the territories. Thus, this article aims to critically evaluate the public policy of sustainability implemented in the Colombian Caribbean and to suggest contributions from an intercultural socioenvironmental justice perspective. For this purpose, the public policy of sustainability that orients the plans for the use of insular ecosystems in Cartagena de Indias has been examined and confronted with local evidence that shows significant changes in the forms of life and ecological degradation in multi-temporally analysed coverages. Methodologically, this research is based on three aspects: the theoretical discussion of the notions of sustainability and justice in public policies, spatial databases to analyse the transformation of landscapes and ethnographic work with Afro-descendant peoples to recognise their socioecological systems. We found that the public policy of territorial planning aligned with the 2030 Agenda nominally includes a rights approach, but management practices or governance structures do not consider the very high asymmetry in land tenure, the growing private and non-participatory regulation of coasts and the sea or the exclusion of Afro-descendant peoples who claim tenure and autonomy rights. Then, we propose integrated dimensions of sustainability that overcome the socioecological negativity observed and articulate criteria of intercultural justice in public, social and environmental policies.