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The continued rising of the global average temperature is expected to have profound effects on a number of environmental, social and economic issues, including agricultural production and food security. The food production models of the Intergovernmental ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental problems are manifold and differ in nature, scale, and complexity. Learning which policies to employ to address them, or policy learning, often consists of simply ‘muddling through’, moving forward on a trial-and-error basis. Policy experiments are one particular way to circumvent learning by trial-and-error. Like simulation games experiments may offer a promising alternative. Experiments and games let participants explore the consequences of (future) decisions and institutional designs in a structured and safe environment. Both methods may also allow for ‘bridging the gap’ to integrate insights from various methods and approaches, adding an interactive and experiential element to the quantitative or conceptual insights gained from modeling and/or scenario exercises. This paper explores to which extent and how experiments and policy simulation games can be used to enhance policy learning. In the first part of the paper we discuss the complexity of modern environmental problems and the role of policy learning in solving them. We then sketch out the quaternary typologies of policy problems and discuss whether or not games and policy experiments are suitable in addressing complex, unstructured policy problems. In the last part of the paper, we introduce empirical evidence. A literature review will illuminate the potential of both methods. We also describe the policy simulation “gaming future EU climate policy” that we are developing and show how the preliminary outcomes of the game can contribute to the enhancement of policy learning. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]