ImmenCité
ImmenCité! is a board game about life on the street. Development of the game started at the end of 2015. Above all, it is meant as an entertaining way to raise awareness about the issue of extreme poverty through the discovery of the reality faced on a daily basis by homeless people, which is quite unimaginable for the general public. The project stems from a homeless person’s observation: people who don’t live on the street have no idea what living on the street is really like.
The goal of this game is twofold: make the general public aware of this reality, and let homeless people share their experiences. They are the very conceivers of the game, with their stories, positive or negative, their tricks of the trade, and their knowledge of this way of life. The game is as realistic as possible and allows a character to develop in response to event cards, which represent stories and situations from the real-life experience of homeless people.
In 2019, DoucheFLUX has been looking for a partner to market its board game. A partnership was also established with Cultures & Santé, which will contribute its expertise in the creation of educational tools related to promoting health. In 2022, ImmenCité has finally be available to the general public in its best shape!
Practical information
- The game can be rented through the Cultures & Santé network. It is best played with a facilitator.
- Also available on loan via DoucheFLUX. We can organize an awareness-raising activity with the game (in classes, in your company, etc.)
- Do you want to become a facilitator? You want to borrow the game? Do you want to organise an activity in your establishment? Contact us!
Rue de la Bascule
“Many homeless people have chosen to be homeless. Many homeless people are, in part at least, responsible for their situation. And society cannot take away their responsibility to the extent that it guarantees them, no matter what they do or have done, a home!
We often hear this kind of comment. The reality is actually much more complex.
After the success of ImmenCité, the board game that helps people understand the realities of surviving on the streets, a new initiative has been launched to raise public awareness of the causes of homelessness: Rue de la Bascule.
The result of a second collaboration between DoucheFLUX and Cultures & Santé, “Rue de la Bascule” is an awareness-raising tool that helps to better understand the diversity of life situations that can lead to homelessness, and the solutions to remedy them. Through cards and facilitator-led discussions, players can discover the causes of homelessness, classified into four main themes: structural (social assistance, immigration, housing, economy), institutional (public and support services), relational (sexual, marital and family violence, separation) and personal (mental health, illness, addictions, accidents and incidents).
Rue de la Bascule was designed to raise awareness among a wide audience: young people (from 14 years old), adults, and more specifically professionals and volunteers in the voluntary sector, social action and education.
“We are convinced that awareness-raising is the first step towards collective awareness and concrete action to fight against homelessness”, explains Marilou Galichet, from the tool’s development team. “With this tool, we hope that players will be able to better understand the causes that make everyone tip over one day and the challenges faced by homeless people”.
Practical information
- Rue de la Bascule is available for download on the Cultures & Santé website, and can be rented on request from its network of documentation centres.