Democracy training through LARP to be studied in EU project

The researchers are motivated by the desire to identify the mechanisms that enable role play to serve as a means of learning about democratic processes. The photo shows a children's LARP produced by Europe4Youth.
Live action role-playing (LARP) games can be a means of enhancing democratic skills. An international Horizon project coordinated by Uppsala University now aims to deepen knowledge about live action role play.

Annika Waern, professor at the Department of Informatics and Media. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
Live-action role-playing games started out as a grassroots movement but have grown into something much bigger. Today, LARPs are organised by NGOs, museums, science centres and churches across Europe. They take place both in real life and online and are often about current issues in society.
“LARP has a capacity to promote democratic participation, both by training democratic skills, such as organising a meeting, and by promoting values such as equal participation, listening and taking turns. These are abilities and values that are important in building democratic dialogue,” says Annika Waern.
Waern is a professor at the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University and scientific coordinator of the Larpocracy project.
The researchers are motivated by the desire to identify the mechanisms that enable role play to serve as a means of learning about democratic processes.
Prepared to listen
One line of inquiry is to explore the concept of ‘deliberation’, in which participants explain their positions and arguments but must also be prepared to listen and try to understand.
“This derives from theories in political science and we aim to see how relevant they are for research and development in LARP,” Waern explains.

Participatory art project produced by ZU-Uk, one of several partners in the Horizon project.
The project will also include ethnographic studies investigating how LARP festivals are organised. These studies will employ a more open approach. Other activities in the project will explore ways of making it easier for people from marginalised backgrounds to make their voices heard in the public arena. One of the components here involves working with an artists’ collective in the UK.
“The project ranges from interviews and questionnaire surveys to ethnographic studies and art installations. One point of Horizon projects is that we can take a very broad approach. We are able to combine a thematic focus with a broad palette of methods,” Waern enthuses.
Many different parties
There are seven partners in the project. Some of the project’s events are planned to take place in relatively unsafe areas, where more resistance is expected (for example, in Brazil and Poland).
“The movement is characterised by a strong engagement in political issues. Scandinavian organisations have contacts with similar organisations in Belarus and on the West Bank, for example. In the Scandinavian tradition, there is great experience of role play on topical issues and of ‘playing to lose’, also daring to put oneself in situations that are difficult and troublesome,” says Waern.
“What we are going to investigate is: how do we bring about effective dialogue? How can people talk with one another despite different interests? Deliberation is about the ability to listen and create interaction.”
Useful in education and training
The researchers will also investigate areas in which LARP can play a useful role – for example, in education and training, at museums, in social media or in game development. The project will run for three years and a first meeting is planned in Uppsala in March.
“Uppsala University is not just coordinator but also the largest partner, with three different departments involved. The internal discussion has been important to get this to work,” Waern concludes.
In total, the project will be funded by a grant of SEK 33 million from EU Horizon. The researchers at Uppsala University will receive SEK 10 million over the three-year period.
Annica Hulth
The Larpocracy project
- The Horizon project “Larpocracy: Developing Spaces for Deliberation and Democratic Skills Through Role-playing” will run from January 2025 until December 2027.
- Coordinated by the Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University. Researchers from the Department of Game Design and the Department of Government will also participate.
- The consortium consists of Uppsala University, the University of Greenwich, Tampere University, the EU organisation Europe4Youth and the games companies ZU-UK, LARPifiers AMKE and Chaos League.