<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[PAXsims]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://paxsims.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Rex Brynen]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://paxsims.wordpress.com/author/rexjbrynen/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Simulations miscellany, 22 May&nbsp;2013]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Some recent (and not so recent) simulation-related news that might be of interest:</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">* * *</p>
<p>It would appear that it been a good month or so for simulated disaster. The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative held their <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/hsi-simulation-2013/" target="_blank">annual disaster simulation</a> on April 26-28. In Toronto, the <a href="http://www.cugh.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/News/Disaster%20Program%202013.pdf" target="_blank">Canadian </a><a href="http://www.cugh.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/News/Disaster%20Program%202013.pdf" target="_blank">Disaster and Humanitarian Response Training Program</a> took place May 8-19, including a simulated complex humanitarian crisis in Simlandia. The University of Denver will be having its <a href="http://blogs.du.edu/today/news/crisis-simulation-gives-students-experience-in-disaster-relief" target="_blank">crisis simulation exercise</a> on May 26-27.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve <a href="https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/serious-gaming-the-challenges-of-humanitarian-preparedness/" target="_blank">reported previously</a> on the creative use of games by the <a href="http://www.climatecentre.org" target="_blank">Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre</a>. However, we entirely missed mentioning the recent &#8220;<a href="http://www.climatecentre.org/site/paying-for-predictions" target="_blank">Paying for Predictions</a>&#8221; online game competition (now closed), or the November 2012 report of the <a href="http://www.bu.edu/pardee/files/2012/11/Games-for-a-New-Climate-TF-Nov2012.pdf" target="_blank">Pardee Center Task Force on Games for a New Climate</a> (a joint project of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre and Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future).</p>
<p>The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre will be hosting the <a href="http://www.kaiptc.org/Media-Room/News/The-West-Africa-Peacebuilding-Institute-(WAPI-2013.aspx" target="_blank">2013 The West Africa Peacebuilding Institute</a> in Accra, Ghana on 2-20 September 2013. Roleplays and simulations will be an important part of the curriculum.</p>
<p>The United States Institute of Peace, as usual, has a number of <a href="http://www.usip.org/academy/courses/date" target="_blank">forthcoming conflict-related courses</a> that involve simulation and role-play components.</p>
<p>The US website of Médecins Sans Frontières now features a <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/events/refugeecamp/guide/" target="_blank">virtual refugee camp</a>.</p>
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