Location-specific forms of agroforestry management can reduce problems in the forest–water–people nexus, by balancing upstream and downstream interests, but social and ecological finetuning is needed. New ways of achieving shared understanding of the underlying ecological and social-ecological relations is needed to adapt and contextualize generic solutions. Addressing these challenges between thirteen cases of tropical agroforestry scenario development across three continents requires exploration of generic aspects of issues, knowledge and participative approaches. Participative projects with local stakeholders increasingly use ‘serious gaming’. Although helpful, serious games so far (1) appear to be ad hoc, case dependent, with poorly defined extrapolation domains, (2) require heavy research investment, (3) have untested cultural limitations and (4) lack clarity on where and how they can be used in policy making. We classify the main forest–water–people nexus issues and the types of land-use solutions that shape local discourses and that are to be brought to life in the games. Four ‘prototype’ games will be further used to test hypotheses about the four problems identified constraining game use. The resulting generic forest–water–people games will be the outcome of the project “Scenario evaluation for sustainable agroforestry management through forest-water-people games” (SESAM), for which this article provides a preview.

Production landscapes depend on, but also affect, ecosystem services. In the Rejoso watershed (East Java, Indonesia), uncontrolled groundwater use for paddies reduces flow of lowland pressure-driven artesian springs that supply drinking water to urban stakeholders. Analysis of the water balance suggested that the decline by about 30% in spring discharge in the past decades is attributed for 47 and 53%, respectively, to upland degradation and lowland groundwater abstraction. Consequently, current spring restoration efforts support upland agroforestry development while aiming to reduce lowland groundwater wasting. To clarify spatial and social targeting of lowland interventions five clusters (replicable patterns) of lowland paddy farming were distinguished from spatial data on, among other factors, reliance on river versus artesian wells delivering groundwater, use of crop rotation, rice yield, fertiliser rates and intensity of rodent control. A survey of farming households (461 respondents), complemented and verified through in-depth interviews and group discussions, identified opportunities for interventions and associated risks. Changes in artesian well design, allowing outflow control, can support water-saving, sustainable paddy cultivation methods. With rodents as a major yield-reducing factor, solutions likely depend on more synchronized planting calendars and thus on collective action for effectiveness at scale. Interventions based on this design are currently tested.

Restoring hydrological functions affected by economic development trajectories faces social and economic challenges. Given that stakeholders often only have a partial understanding of functioning socio-hydrological systems, it is expected that knowledge sharing will help them to become more aware of the consequences of their land use choices and options to manage water collectively. This facilitates the collective learning tools needed to represent the essential social and technical aspects of a socio-hydrological system in simple terms. However, data-driven simplification can lead to very site-specific models that are difficult to adapt to different conditions. To address these issues, this study aims to develop a highly adaptable serious game based on process understanding to make it easily applicable to any situation and to facilitate co-learning among stakeholders regarding complex socio-hydrological problems. We developed and tested a serious game that revolves around a simple water balance and economic accounting, with environmental and financial consequences for land users. The game is based on process understanding of the system, allowing for both relevant site specificity and generic replicability. Here, we describe the development of the Water: Use, Resources and Sustainability (H₂Ours) game and explore its capacity to visualise, discuss and explore issues at the landscape level. The H₂Ours game was designed using a combination of the Actors, Resources, Dynamics and Interaction (ARDI) and Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact and Responses (DPSIR) frameworks. The design steps for constructing the game led to a generic version and two localised versions for two different landscapes in Indonesia: a mountain slope to lowland paddy landscape impacting groundwater availability in East Java and a peatland with drainage rewetting, oil palm conversion and fire as issues triggering responses in West Kalimantan. Based on an evaluation referring to credibility, salience and legitimacy criteria, the H₂Ours game met its purpose as a tool for knowledge transfer, learning and action triggering. We discuss the steps that can lead to re-designing and adaptation of the game to other landscapes and their policy-relevant issues.

Restoring hydrological functions affected by economic development trajectories faces social and economic challenges. Given that stakeholders often have a partial understanding of socio-hydrological systems, it is expected that knowledge sharing among them will help to enhance their understanding of the socio-hydrological system and the consequences of land-use choices. A tool that simplifies the social-hydrological system but still accommodates the crucial part of the social and technical aspects is needed to facilitate collective learning. However, a simplification process has a risk that leads to very site-specific and difficult to adopt for different conditions. To address those issues, this study aims to develop a highly adaptable serious game to make it easily applied to any situation in order to facilitate co-learning among stakeholders regarding complex socio-hydrological problems. We designed a ‘serious’ game that revolves around a simple water balance and economic accounting, with environmental and financial consequences for the land users and balancing between relevant site-specificity and generic replicability of the game design. Here, we describe the development of the game and explore its capacity to visualize, discuss and explore Water: Use, Resources and Sustainability (‘H₂Ours’) issues at the landscape scale. The game design for the H₂Ours game was based on a combination of the Actors, Resources, Dynamics and Interaction (ARDI) and the Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact, and Responses (DPSIR) frameworks. The design steps for constructing the game led to a generic version, and two localized versions for two different landscapes in Indonesia: a mountain slope to lowland paddy landscape impacting groundwater availability in East Java, and a peatland with drainage-rewetting, oil palm conversion and fire as issues triggering responses in West Kalimantan. Based on evaluation referring to credibility, salience and legitimacy criteria, the H₂Ours game can meet its purpose as a tool for knowledge transfer, learning and triggering action. We provide clear steps in designing and adapting the game to another area, which will facilitate the wider application and adaptation of the basic game design to other landscapes and policy-relevant issues.

Before Cyclone Senyar made landfall on Sumatra in November 2025, it drew moisture from across the South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand, and the Indian Ocean. The substantial damage its heavy rainfall caused on the NE and W coasts of Sumatra urges us to rethink the relationships between climate, forests, hydrology, land use, human presence, and vulnerability. Cyclones will recur, but flood damage does not have to be repeated. The simple narrative that “deforestation causes floods” is not adequate for guiding a “building back better” strategy. To account for the space-time pattern of Senyar effects with its multiple landfalls, we reviewed key concepts and framing of the links between ocean temperature, atmospheric moisture transport, rainfall extremes, saturation of existing buffers (“sponges”), river flow, and flooding. We hypothesize how atmospheric roughness slowing down rivers in the sky can induce congestion and precipitation. Surface infiltration and water retention in the soil profile matter. Mid- and downstream flow delays due to sponge effects depend on land cover beyond what a simple forest–non-forest terminology can represent. Rather than indiscriminate tree planting, adaptation efforts to avoid future disasters should balance reductions in human exposure (effective land use planning) and efforts to reduce hazards by restoring and managing vegetation and drainage systems.