Green Quest: Sustainability Through Negotiation

Renewable energy sounds like an obvious part of a sustainable future, but the decisions behind it are rarely simple. Where should a wind farm be built? What happens to the people already living there? How should biodiversity, tourism, local livelihoods, energy needs and economic development be balanced? And perhaps most importantly, who gets to decide what a “sustainable” solution actually looks like?

These are the questions at the heart of Green Quest: The Inerbantosa Wind Farm Negotiation, a simulation game developed for youth workers and educators who want to explore sustainability through experience rather than another presentation. Participants enter the fictional coastal region of Inerbantosa, where a multinational renewable-energy company has proposed a major wind farm. The project promises renewable electricity, investment and green jobs, but it also raises concerns about biodiversity, agriculture, tourism, land use and local participation. 

Instead of discussing the situation from the outside, participants become the people responsible for deciding what happens next. Six stakeholder groups enter the negotiation: the wind farm developer, environmental organisations, the Tourism Chamber, the State Development Agency, competing energy companies and local farmers. Each has different priorities and confidential information about what outcomes matter most to them. 

When everyone wants something different

The negotiation covers five areas, including the scale of the project, economic conditions, tourism concerns, benefits for communities and environmental impact. Participants move through three negotiation rounds and try to build enough support for a final agreement. Each stakeholder also has a confidential scoring system, so an option that is extremely valuable to one party may be almost irrelevant to another. 

This is where Green Quest becomes much more than a discussion about wind energy. Participants quickly discover that repeating their ideal position usually does not lead to an agreement. They have to understand what other groups actually need, identify where interests overlap and decide which compromises they can accept. A participant may realise that another stakeholder does not actually oppose their main priority and that exchanging concessions across different issues can create a solution that works for both sides.

The manual highlights this as one of the strongest learning points from the simulation. Joint gains are often available, but they can be missed when participants assume that everyone else's priorities are in direct conflict with their own. Successful negotiations tend to involve active listening, clearer communication of underlying interests and creative package-building across several issues rather than negotiating each question separately. 

Trust also becomes part of the experience. Participants can make informal agreements during the negotiation, but they are not technically required to keep those promises when the vote comes. That creates interesting conversations about credibility, alliances and how easily cooperation can break down when there is no formal mechanism enforcing trust. 

More than learning about renewable energy

From a youth worker's perspective, one of the strengths of Green Quest is that the sustainability topic becomes a framework for practising a much wider set of competences. Participants negotiate, communicate interests, build coalitions, analyse information, solve problems and experience a situation from a perspective that may be completely different from their own.

The game does not have one correct ending. A very environmentally ambitious proposal may create serious challenges for another stakeholder, while an economically attractive agreement may leave environmental or social concerns unresolved. This reflects one of the central messages of the simulation: sustainability is not automatically a win-win situation. Renewable-energy projects can reduce emissions while simultaneously creating questions about biodiversity, land use, livelihoods and fairness. 

The scoring system makes these tensions particularly visible. Participants need to understand their priorities before entering the negotiation, but they also need to remain flexible. The lessons identified in the Facilitator Manual include brainstorming before committing to one solution, being transparent about underlying interests, using credible evidence, protecting relationships even during disagreement and understanding how coalitions influence the final outcome. 

Bringing Green Quest into your youth work

Green Quest can work with a relatively small group. The simulation requires a minimum of six participants plus a facilitator and can be scaled by assigning several participants to each stakeholder role. Groups of 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 or 36 work particularly well. 

Preparation is important because participants need enough time to understand both the general situation and their confidential stakeholder information. The manual recommends allowing substantial reading time before the game and at least 90 minutes for the three negotiation rounds themselves. If possible, the general background can even be shared before the session so participants arrive already familiar with the situation. 

For larger groups, small practical choices make facilitation easier. The manual suggests colour-coding stakeholder roles and using matching role badges, name tags or table cards so participants can quickly identify who represents whom during negotiations. This can also make it easier for quieter participants to navigate the activity and approach other stakeholders. 

Most importantly, leave enough time for reflection after the final vote. Whether participants reached an agreement or failed completely, both outcomes give you something valuable to discuss. Which coalitions formed? Who influenced the process? Who was excluded? What created trust or damaged it? Which compromises seemed fair? The Facilitator Manual encourages comparing successful and unsuccessful groups to understand which behaviours and strategies shaped their outcomes. 

For youth workers, Green Quest offers a way to take sustainability out of the abstract. Participants do not simply hear that environmental, social and economic priorities need to be balanced. They actually have to try to balance them themselves. And that is often where the most interesting learning begins.

Explore the Green Quest Simulation Game & Facilitator Manual

Erasmus+ Small scale partnership

Green Quest - The Simulation Game

Project No.  2024-1-LV02-KA210-YOU-000243276

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.