Collaborate, Communicate, and Navigate Ethical Considerations with the Ethical Sharing Card Game

The Creative Commons Ethics of Open Sharing Working Group under the Open Culture Platform has identified some of the tricky ethical considerations regarding the opening up of cultural heritage. The working group decided to come up with a gamified approach to dealing with some of these to ensure well-informed and balanced decisions.

The Ethical Sharing card game was published at the Working Group’s Webinar in April 2023. It is based on the observations of the Ethics of Open Sharing working group that have been turned into a card game to encourage cultural heritage professionals to navigate ethical considerations. The cards are an adaptation of the MOI playing cards, a project by NEMO (Network of European Museum Organisations). The Finnish Heritage Agency has supported the creation of the cards.

At the webinar with Wiki Loves Living Heritage and Let’s Connect on April 14, 2023, we invited the following guest speakers to discuss the intricacies of open sharing from their important perspectives.

• Melissa Shaginoff • Alaska office of the Arctic Studies Center (Smithsonian)
• Shailili Zamora Aray • Centro de Documentación Indígena No’lhametwet
• Patricia Adjei • First Nations Arts and Culture director (Australia Council for the Arts)
• Mehtab Khan • Wikimedia Initiative on Intermediaries and Information (Yale Law School)

You can watch the recording of the webinar here: Ethics of Open Sharing with Creative Commons & Wiki Loves Living Heritage

The working group strongly believes that the card game will help institutions to make a well-informed decision on openly sharing their collections and work.

The card game:

• encourages critical thinking: The card game encourages players to think critically about the ethical considerations involved in open sharing. By playing the game, players are presented with a variety of scenarios and are forced to consider the potential consequences of their actions. This can help them to develop their critical thinking skills and become more informed decision-makers.
• provides a fun and engaging learning experience: The game is designed to be fun and engaging, which can help to make the learning experience more enjoyable. By making the learning experience more enjoyable, players are more likely to be engaged and retain what they have learned.
• helps to balance competing interests: The game helps players to balance competing interests when considering open sharing. By considering the interests of all stakeholders involved, players can make more informed decisions that take into account the needs of everyone involved.
• builds awareness of cultural heritage: The game can help to build awareness of cultural heritage and the importance of preserving it. By learning about cultural heritage and the potential consequences of open sharing, players can become more aware of the value of cultural heritage and why it is important to protect it.
• encourages collaboration and communication: The game encourages players to work together and communicate with each other to reach a consensus. This can help to build teamwork skills and encourage players to collaborate more effectively in other contexts.

Here is a general guide on how to play the Ethical Sharing card game:

Objective:

The objective of the game is to navigate tricky ethical considerations when considering open sharing and to reach a consensus with other players.

Players:

The game is ideally played with 2–6 players. Larger groups are possible too but note that having good discussions may become a bit more complex.

Setup:

The game can be played based on the card type (policy & strategy or tactics & practices). However, this is a flexible requirement.

Shuffle the deck of Ethical Sharing cards. Each player is dealt five cards.

Gameplay:

• The first player selects one of their cards and reads it out loud to the group.
• The player explains their thoughts on the scenario presented by the card, including the potential consequences of open sharing.
• The other players can then ask questions, provide feedback, and offer their own opinions.
• The group then discusses the scenario until they reach a consensus.
• Once a consensus is reached, the player who played the card places it face down in a discard pile and draws a new card.
• The next player then takes their turn and the process repeats.

Game End:

The game ends when all the cards have been played and the group has reached a consensus on each scenario.

Scoring:

There is no scoring in the game. The objective is to reach a consensus on each scenario and to learn from the discussion and opinions of other players.

The Ethical Sharing card game is designed to encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and communication when navigating tricky ethical considerations when considering open sharing. The game is meant to be a fun and engaging way to learn about the potential consequences of open sharing and to reach a consensus with other players.

Co-leads

• Isaac Oloruntimilehin
• Bart Magnus

Members

• Edith Leblanc
• Amanda Figueroa
• Shanna Hollich
• Susanna Ånäs
• Prof. MI Subhani
• Björn Wijers
• Brigitte Vézina
• Kathryn Kure
• Suzanna Marazza
• Ngozi Osuchukwu
• Lucy Crompton-Reid
• Freyja van den Boom
• Stuart Prior
• Jorijn Neyrinck