GAMIFICATION OF PUBLIC POLICIES: CASE STUDIES IN HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND SECURITY

Objectives: Gamification in public policy is a recent development in academic literature. Research in this area has demonstrated an exciting way of building greater effectiveness in applying specific public policies. However, a broader look at the different public policies and how gamification can contribute has been little explored. Theoretical Reference : The studies identified are restricted to different areas of public policy but without a correlation between the other possibilities for building public value in the various areas. Based on this gap, we propose in our study to discuss different approaches and fields of public policy in applying game elements as a strategy to increase the generation of public value and citizen engagement. Methodology: The method used is a multiple case study. Data collection was secondary, starting from single case studies and carrying out the findings in a comparison process. Results and Discussion: We identified that the analysis and proper understanding of these cases reinforces the relevance of gamification as an innovative and effective strategy in promoting positive public policy actions, thus boosting public service improvement and citizens' active participation. Implications : The main implication of the results for practice is the presentation and discussion of different cases and ways of using gamification to leverage the effects and effectiveness of public policies, showing managers the potential gains of this practice. Originality : The article presents a multiple case study, in which the authors make a discussion not presented in the individual cases, showing the different possibilities of gamification for public policies.


INTRODUCTION
Sutton-Smith, a Harvard professor, was precise in stating that "games are typically interpreted as having value not only for their own sake but because of the other functions they serve in individual development and the culture of the social group."(Sutton- Smith, 1997, p. 18).It is precisely these other functions that games serve that interest our study.
According to Rodolpho Llin (1995, p. 57 apud Sutton-Smith, 1997, p. 21), humans are naturally attracted to play.This attraction is due to the property of the human brain, which has a single fundamental mechanism for dreaming and reality.The continuous communication between the cerebral cortex and thalamus exchanges images and sensations regardless of the presence of sensory stimuli.Thus, for our brain, reality is a dream limited by external reality.
This brain feature allows people to switch easily between playful and severe states.This is fundamental to understanding how gamification can, directly and indirectly, benefit or influence public policies.
This paper adopts the more generic concept of gamification, i.e., the process of using game elements in non-game contexts.The choice of the more generic concept is justified by the perception that the subdivisions of the concept add little to the debate that will be held.
The elements of gamification addressed in this work are (i)The difference between games and gamification; (ii)Understanding what game elements are, and (iii)Understanding the contexts in which they can be used.Studies on gamification in management and organizations are still scarce, and when they do exist, they focus on aspects such as methods or promotion rather than proving the results.This article seeks insights into the use of gamification in government service contexts, a field in which studies are even rarer.

Gamification and game mechanisms
Gamification can be used beyond just making an activity playful or fun.Brian Burke, when detailing the purpose of gamification processes, notes that it "has been applied to engage people in something that goes far beyond simple innovation.It is also being used to develop skills, change behaviors and enhance people's lives" (Burke, 2015, p. 16).When analyzing the main elements common to games, Burke mentions points, badges, scoreboards, the sequence of steps, recognizing the environment, and decoding the script.
Still, on the subject of elements, Flora Alves makes an essential point about the focus of gamification:

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One of the significant challenges, if not the greatest, when we decide to bring gamification into our reality is to develop "game thinking."Reducing gamification to counting points, handing out badges that symbolize success, and creating scoreboards with player placements is a significant pitfall (Alves, 2015, p. 51).
Harviainen and Hassan, referring to other authors, also add an essential warning regarding the need for games to be fun.This warning also applies to gamification processes: "Not all games are fun (Stenros, 2015), and fun is not the central goal of all gamification (Landers et al., 2018)."(Harviainen and Hassan, 2019, p.2) Despite this, knowing how we deal with pleasure and fun is essential to understanding their impact on our lives.When studying the importance of experiences for the psychic construction of happiness, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states: It's important to realize that seeking pleasure is a reflex response built into our genes to preserve the species, not for our benefit.The joy we feel when eating is an efficient way of ensuring that the body receives the nutrition it needs.The pleasure of sexual intercourse is an equally practical method for the genes to program the body to reproduce and thus guarantee the continuity of the genes.In reality, most of the time, your interest is simply manipulated by the invisible genetic code (Csikszentmihalyi, 2013, p. 16).
In the same book, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi proposes the theory of flow.In this theory, when a person feels that their abilities are being used to the full, they enter a psychological condition of total immersion called flow.For this psychological state to occur, challenging and meaningful tasks are necessary for the individual.According to this theory, the experience of flow is strongly associated with intense satisfaction and well-being.Thus, challenging experiences become pleasurable, creating a reinforcing cycle in the individual.And why is this important in this context?Few experiences lead human beings to a state of flow as often as games, which is why gamification is viewed with such expectation.
We can use gamification to motivate people to carry out tasks and engage in relevant experiences.In that case, we can make these tasks more enjoyable and rewarding, generating a sense of pleasure in those who carry them out.In this context, the challenge is to develop game thinking and not just focus on its elements.As Alves (2015) warned, game elements should not be the central concern of someone who wants to apply gamification.Therefore, it is necessary to understand what this warning means by understanding the most essential principles of gamification.
One of these principles is immediate feedback (although sometimes perceived as an element and sometimes as a principle).When understood as a principle, feedback is perceived more as a result to be pursued than as a static element to be used.To this end, it is assumed that it is vital for people's engagement, as it provides immediate information on individual performance and allows people to adjust their behaviors and strategies to achieve the desired result while remaining within the context of immersion proposed in Flow Theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 2013).
On the other hand, when feedback is perceived as an element or mechanism, its contribution to increasing the sense of control, empowerment, sense of accomplishment, and autonomy of the individual playing the game becomes clearer.As a principle or mechanism, constant and immediate feedback is undoubtedly essential for motivating people and defining their behavior.
Rewards are perhaps the best-known gamification principle.The power of rewards has been studied in Psychology since the 1910s, when John B. Watson postulated the principles of Behaviorist Theory, which, according to him, should focus only on observable and measurable behavior.Later, B.F. Skinner developed the concept of operant conditioning, suggesting that behavior is shaped through contingent rewards and punishments.Although important in gamification processes, rewards must be understood much deeper.
Brian Burke is adamant that rewards do not motivate people; what motivates them is the meaning they carry with them, in other words, the triumph of success.In his book, Burke cites studies by Daniel Pink that "extrinsic rewards are insufficient to sustain involvement" (Burke, 2015) and can even work in the opposite direction, reducing people's involvement.In most cases, there is a positive effect, but it is short-lived and unsustainable.As Pink's studies support, Burke's perception aligns very well with Csikszentmihalyi's conclusions.For all of them, involvement will be sustainable if and only if the individual perceives and receives intrinsic rewards.This goes back to the point that medals and points are not worthwhile but for what they represent and how individuals interpret them.
Another essential principle is challenges.Like immediate feedback, challenges are sometimes seen as a principle, sometimes as an element or technique of gamification.The fact is that, as predicted by Flow Theory, challenges are essential for encouraging people to participate.Burke also sheds light on this subject: People naturally already want to learn and grow (...).One way to motivate them is to present them with practical challenges, encourage them as they reach new levels, and 6 keep them emotionally involved to achieve the best result.And that's what gamification provides (Burke, 2015).
The extraordinary complexity of gamification processes regarding challenges lies precisely in the ability to balance increasing levels of difficulty with the progressive expansion of the person's personal skills without generating frustration.
Personalization is another important principle.In the 1980s, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan developed the self-determination theory.According to this theory, people have three fundamental psychological needs: (i)the need for autonomy; (ii)the need for competence; and (iii)the need for relationships.When, these needs are met, intrinsic motivation arises, i.e., people start doing activities because they are exciting and rewarding.According to the selfdetermination theory, when a person can personalize something, they choose meaningful and relevant elements that directly influence their sense of control and involvement with the activity.
Two other fundamental principles are competition and collaboration.These attributes are usually perceived as contradictory, but all games involve balancing the two sides of the coin.While competing against the opponent, the team (be it made up of several players or a single player and his coaching staff) must cooperate and develop synergistic actions.
The balanced relationship between competition and collaboration develops social bonds, contributing to a greater sense of belonging.According to self-determination theory, this sense of belonging is directly related to the need for relationships that all human beings feel.
Thus, the three fundamental psychological needs that the self-determination theory postulatesthe need for autonomy, the need for competence, and the need for relationship-are met directly in a gamification process, bringing about a deeper and more lasting involvement.

PUBLIC POLICY
Now that we have a better understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms and the principles of gamification, it is important to move on to a better understanding of the concept of public policy.Public policies occupy a significant place in modern society.The more complex these societies become; the more relevant public policies become.As Anderson (2013) rightly points out: Public policies confer advantages and disadvantages; they cause pleasure, irritation, and pain, and collectively, they have significant consequences for our well-being and happiness.They constitute a substantial part of our environment (Anderson, 2013, p. 1).
Public policies have characteristics that differentiate them from private decisions.The first characteristic in this sense is that public policies, because they are decisions based on the law, have the character of an obligation to do or not to do and are therefore considered authoritarian.Sanctions are usually attached to public policies for non-implementation, which is why they have a coercive character.Finally, public policies generally follow a process that goes through: (i) identifying the problem.(ii) setting the agenda, (iii) investigating the possibilities for intervention, (iv) selection of the intervention strategy, (v) implementation of the selected strategy, and (vi) evaluation involves the results, the theory of change, and other elements aimed at implementation.All these phases are called the public policy cycle.This cycle is similar to two famous management cycles, the PDCA and the incremental improvement cycle.All these cycles assume that mistakes and successes should lead to continuous improvement.This is where evaluation processes are critical input generators for planning processes.Ideally, evaluation should contribute to improving all the other phases of the public policy cycle.
Unfortunately, the evaluation phase is almost always underestimated and underused.This produces sub-optimal public policies, which suffer little or no improvement over time.It is no coincidence that the most developed countries are the best at evaluating public policies.This relationship necessarily involves the presence of better institutional capacities in these countries.
When the cycle is investigated in more detail but restricted to the technical conceptualizations presented above, it becomes clear that popular participation is not required.
In other words, all the public policy life cycle phases can be carried out in an autocratic, centralized manner without popular participation.However, in the Brazilian context and most countries worldwide, this possibility is limited by legal and technical issues.From a legal point of view, the 1988 Federal Constitution directly references the need for popular participation.Its first article is exhaustive: "All power emanates from the people, who exercise it through elected representatives or directly, under the terms of this Constitution." The constitutional command reproduced above clarifies that popular participation can occur indirectly (through representatives) and directly.Thus, it was evident that representative democracy is not enough to meet all of society's demands, and that is why direct popular participation is so meaningful.

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This concept is ratified by Articles 37,187,193,194,198,203,216,227,230,and ADCT Art.82 of the Federal Constitution itself, which provide for popular participation in the processes of formulating public agricultural policies, social policies, social security, health, social assistance, culture, childcare, integration of older adults and the fight against poverty.
However, this range of public policies should not be seen as excluding the others.On the contrary, the population's non-participation should be the exception in Brazil.
However, the issue of popular participation doesn't just survive because of the legal determination; there are significant technical advantages.Strengthening popular participation qualifies the theory of change that will serve as the basis for processes of social evolution.In addition, the process of involvement increases legitimacy.For these reasons, the limitations of the representative model and the need to seek, wherever possible, to involve citizens in the democratic process are evident.For all these reasons, popular participation plays a crucial role in all phases of the public policy cycle, from identifying problems to evaluating implemented policies.

GAMIFICATION AND PUBLIC POLICY
The essence of the gamification process lies in its ability to involve people and motivate them to engage and escape the alienation that routine often imposes.This process can encourage popular participation, which, as argued above, is indispensable for building good public policies.In the context of government services, gamification is used frequently to increase civic engagement and improve the quality of government services, although there are not many studies on this topic.

As Harviainen and Hassan pointed out:
Civic engagement is often considered monotonous, with no direct or immediate return for the citizen involved.Moreover, it is a severe activity with little pleasure, and individuals are unlikely to become actively and voluntarily involved (Harviainen and Hassan, 2015, p.4).
In this vein, could gamification change people's state of mind and make them more engaged in public policy?According to Koivisto and Hamari (2019), improved engagement is one of the results observed in empirical research on gamification.In a significant part of the literature, gamification is seen as a way of maximizing performance, and this perception will underpin the presentation and analysis of the cases.

METHODOLOGY
The research methodology was a multiple case study (Yin, 2015).To this end, we opted for an objectivist ontology (Cunliffe, 2011) and a functionalist positivist epistemology (Burrell and Morgam, 2019).To apply these choices, we identified a sample of nine different cases in areas considered fundamental to the well-being of the population (OECD, 2011), which served as the main guiding axis in organizing the cases.
The analysis of the cases was very descriptive, identifying the contribution to improving the effectiveness of the public policies to which they referred, seeking to point out how the gamification of the policy was beneficial to increasing positive results (Yin, 2019).The selected cases have in common that they are all linked to broader public policies and that they have the potential to be applied in a fairly universal way within several different countries and in various environments (Anderson, 2013;Harviainen and Hassan, 2015;Koivisto and Hamari, 2019).
Finally, the methodology and sample provided the basis for an interesting analysis, broadening the horizons of public policy gamification.In addition, choosing multiple cases as a method of selection and analysis made it possible to compare the different cases, opening a wider window than just the in-depth analysis of a single case.It is worth noting that, as the choice was for multiple cases, the study is based only on secondary data, with no primary data collected for analysis.In the same vein, the choice of multiple cases leads us to take a more generalist and less in-depth look at each case studied (Yin, 2019).

GAMIFICATION IN HEALTH
3.1 PAIN SQUAD Bruke (2015) presents the case of the Hospital for Children's Patients in Toronto, which needed to improve the accuracy of information regarding the treatment of children facing cancer.The traditional method of collecting data using standardized forms offered great economic and efficiency gains.However, because it was considered a boring and annoying activity, children and their parents abandoned the forms just when the pain, discomfort, and discomfort became more intense during treatment.This situation created a bias in the database that made it impossible for doctors to decide on the best treatment for each situation, always leading to sub-optimal results.In this context, the hospital tried a gamified strategy to solve the problem.It developed the "Pain Squad," a phone app designed to collect information from patients twice a day.The app portrayed all hospital patients as police officers whose mission was to capture and destroy pain.When a child completed the report three days a row, they rose in rank.A space called the Pain Squad headquarters was also created in the app, where the children could see their medals of honor and receive special missions.On completing the missions, the children were presented with videos of local TV characters who somehow flirted with the theme.The characters were carefully instructed to record the videos mentioning all the patents individually so that the app would present the child with the video that mentioned their patent, thus allowing the children to feel even more inside the story.
The results far exceeded expectations.The adherence rate for the periodic pain reports exceeded 90%, an unprecedented mark.In addition, as the data came from the parents' or children's cell phones, its integrity and accuracy also improved.A year after implementation, the Canadian government took the app to be used in other childhood cancer treatment units nationwide.
Although this example is fascinating, it can reinforce two misconceptions: (i) Although this example is fascinating, it can reinforce a misconception that every gamification process depends on cell phones, apps, and the digital world.Additionally, it can lead to reflections on the gamification of public policies in Brazil.The following case will show that it is wrong.

SUBMARINE X-RAY
The Fernandes Figueira Institute (IFF/Fiocruz), which is part of Fiocruz, faced great difficulty in carrying out imaging tests on children.The traditional white, cold, and lifeless environment and large equipment that made strange noises caused real panic in the children.
Fear led to frequent bouts of anxiety, which were expressed by crying and hostile behavior towards the staff.This situation increased the idle time of the equipment (which isn't cheap), reduced the number of people seen each day, made the children restless, and made it difficult to capture the images, forcing them to repeat the exams.This, along with increasing the average time taken to carry out the exams, increased the cost of the procedure.
It was then that a group of doctors decided to try a new approach to the problem.The aim was to put the child at the center of the experimental process.The institute invested in painting the examination and waiting rooms and the imaging equipment, transforming them into a scene from a seafaring adventure.This scenario was used in conjunction with a narrative that placed the children as the protagonists of a story at the bottom of the sea, thus characterizing a real-life game.
When patients entered the waiting room, they were surprised by the colorful walls and their characters and scenery.The nurses would then tell the child a story.In this story, the hero (the child) had to save a group of animals; to do so, he had to get into a submarine.However, so that the evil characters wouldn't find him/her during the submarine trip.The child had to stay quietly inside the submarine until the captain informed him that he could get out.The submarine in question was the previously dreaded X-ray machine.The walls filled with fish, water, and seaweed created a different environment from a hospital one and could transport children into a game.
Similar to the case of the Pain Squad, the Fernandes Figueira Institute's gamified solution focused on taking the child from the passive to the active pole.However, unlike the latter, the experience was created in a physical rather than digital environment.All it took was a lot of empathy, some paint, and good storytelling.
The results were also significant-more than 90% of the children approved of the experience.The rework rate decreased (although there was disagreement about the percentage), the waiting time reduced, and the device began to carry out more tests, benefiting more people.
However, the main benefit of the changes was a reduction in children's vulnerability.This is because they are naturally more negatively affected by radiation than adults, and the need to repeat the tests made this situation even more delicate.
Still in the context of health, the following case is an example of how gamification can be an educational tool to improve life quality involving communities.

HEARTCHASE
The American Heart Association (AHA) realized that to achieve its goals of improving quality of life, it needed to act on two fronts.First, it needed to engage people in living healthier lives, and second, it needed to raise funds to finance research.
In this context, the institution decided to invest in a gamified strategy that united the physical and virtual worlds.To this end, it created the HeartChase app to guide players through a real gymkhana with a date, time, and place to take place.The app worked as follows: Members of local communities got together on the app and organized events that turned the communities in which they lived into one big playground.On the day, time, and location of the event, teams of up to five players competed to see who won a gymkhana.This gymkhana distributed a series 12 of checkpoints up to 3km apart.During the two-hour event, teams had to travel to these points and complete missions.All the journeys had to be made without using motor vehicles, and when arriving at the checkpoint, the team had to complete a healthy activity that would earn them points.
The proposed activities were always simple and, as far as possible, fun.Classic examples of activities were dances and multiple-choice questions about the composition of salt, sugar, and fat in food.As the app updated the teams' progress in real-time, the competitive spirit between the teams and the cooperative spirit within the teams were always encouraged.Donation cards were handed out to solve the fundraising challenge, which gave the team extra points.The teams that got the most donations gained specific advantages in the game, such as the possibility of increasing their points or paralyzing a competing team for 5 or 10 minutes.
Participation in the events was also permitted upon payment of a registration fee.
Although there is no structured data to measure the results, the participants reported lasting effects on their daily lives in a follow-up survey.While some began to avoid certain types of food, others adopted new ways of maintaining healthy habits, and, in some cases, people achieved significant weight loss.
The three health-related cases presented indicate that gamification can adopted as a tool for developing more inclusive and impactful public policies.They don't necessarily have to be based on technology, although technology is one of the tools most often used to generate gamification processes.The main contribution of gamification lies in the playful element it can bring to moments of stress, relieving them or inducing participants to engage and reflect on specific points and habits in their lives, creating a flow of positive feelings, as pointed out by Flow Theory itself as a factor in generation and motivation.This flow leads children and parents to answer the medical questionnaires, even in times of great pain, so that children can engage in the submarine story or even so that HeartChase participants can commit to changing their habits after participating in the gymkhana.

GAMIFICATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL CARE
One of the main elements of climate impact in the world is the generation and use of electricity.It is, therefore, vital that we start looking at the environmental aspect through this lens.For this, we will use a study published by the American Council for Energy Efficiency (ACC), highlighting 53 gamification projects related to energy saving.In this context, Kathryn Blume, an environmental activist and artist, and Nick Lange, an energy efficiency consultant at the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), decided to team up to create a gamified solution to reduce energy consumption in the state.
They came up with "Vermontivate," a game in which Vermont towns and schools compete against each other.Although the game could be improved with technology adoption, it is not considered a case of gamification based on digital technology.
Players are given a set of challenges at the start of each week.Each week's challenge has a specific topic: teamwork, food, energy, transportation, capital and future action.The characters are fun animals that allude to the eminently rural character of the state.The weekly challenges are classified as easy, medium, and complex and generate scores corresponding to the level, covering topics ranging from using returnable bags, reducing electricity consumption, leaving the car idle for days, encouraging carpooling between neighbors, building home gardens for others such as changing the thermal insulation in the house.It also allows players to create innovative actions that generate wildcard tasks and can be permanently incorporated into the game.
The game provides little external reward.Ben and Jerry's donate an ice cream party to the winning town, and the VT Teddy Bear Company donates a six-foot teddy bear to the winning school.When one of the rounds of the game ended, 75% of the players said they wanted to play again, and 95% of the players reported an above-average understanding and engagement with the topic of climate change and sustainability.After playing, the control group reported an average of 78% engagement.In addition, 87% of players agreed that Vermontivate helped them feel they could make a positive change in their life and community.Today, Vermontivate is incorporated into the science curriculum of practically every public school in the state.This case doesn't depend on digital technology and can be fully applied without any technological aid.However, if technology is applied to the process, it can be much more efficient and generate a more significant gain in speed and integration.Thus, we can conclude that technology is not always essential to the gamificaton process.Alhtough, it can bring 14 profound gains and scale, gamification implementation needs to consider the characteristics of each community in terms of digital education, social conditions, and culture. .

WORLD'S MOST BOTTOMLESS GARBAGE DUMP
Leaving the field of more comprehensive public policies, such as the one presented above, for more specific actions, it is worth introducing an experiment carried out by one car firm, which demonstrates that sometimes complex problems can be solved by simple solutions.
One major problem experienced by those living in large urban centers is the dumping of waste in inappropriate places.This practice can cause a series of environmental and social problems, such as clogging up the water drainage system, soil and water pollution, animal death, and the proliferation of pests and diseases, not to mention the negative impact on aesthetics and people's sense of well-being.
An experiment carried out in the context of Volkswagen's Fun Theory Award proposed a simple action.The construction of a waste garbage can exceed people's expectations and was somehow fun.They created a garbage can that had a small speaker with a motion detection sensor on the top.So when someone throws garbage in the garbage can, the motion sensor detects the action, and the garbage can emits a sound effect simulating the object falling into a bottomless pit.This made people think that the garbage can was bottomless.The test was a success.While the garbage can usually receive 31 kilos of waste a day, after the experiment, the amount rose to 72 kilos, representing an increase of more than 130% between the garbage can without and with the sound effect.
Another experiment for the same award sought to expand glass recycling.Unlike cans and plastic bottles, glass is rarely recycled.This phenomenon can have very negative consequences from both an economic and social point of view: (i) glass takes a long time to decompose, (ii) it can break and hurt people, and (iii) the production of new glass consumes a lot of energy.For all these reasons, intensifying glass recycling is very important.
In the Volkswagen experiment, a glass collection container was transformed into an arcade video game, which emitted a noise that caught people's attention in the street.When the game start button was pressed, the machine flashed little lights indicating where the glass container should be thrown.When you put the container in the right place, the machine counts points and informs people.
The result was impressive.While the traditional collection container was used, on average, only twice a night, the gamified container was used at least 100 times.It became a Although the two examples are not real cases of public policies implementation, we decided to include them as an example of how gamification process can be adopted to improve different social issues.Otherwise, the examples shed light in the possibility of cross-sector collaboration in the gamification implementation including private and public sectors.These two examples show how small changes can have a significant impact on waste disposal.The gamification of processes can engage people differently, as it creates a perception of surprise and expectation and induces specific actions through playful processes.This is in line with the issue of behavior modeling through feedback because by throwing garbage correctly emits the sound or taking part in the arcade game simulation, the person acting receives a positive response to their action, both with the sound emitted by the garbage can and with the point count in the glass recycling garbage can.

ECOLECIONE
In Ouro Branco, a town of just over 40,000 inhabitants in the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) the municipality's recycling program suffered from low public participation.
Meanwhile, waste that could be recycled ended up in the municipal landfill, excessively increasing the volume of waste dumped and shortening the landfill's "lifespan".The municipality felt the need to improve citizen engagement so that they would be committed to correctly separating and disposing of the waste generated in their homes.To this end, the City Council teamed up with the Association of Recyclable and Reusable Materials Collectors and created the school recycling program.
The program includes lectures on environmental education, the distribution of bags for storing recyclable materials, and a logistical process that begins with the provision of collection points in public schools, goes through the periodic collection of waste by the city council's trucks, and separates waste in the waste pickers' association's shed.
However, the engagement element was missing, so the city council used a simple, practical, and attractive gamification mechanism.It commissioned tens of thousands of sticker albums made from recycled paper, whose stickers featured animals from the local fauna.Any citizen (adult or child) could exchange a certain amount of PET bottles and other recycled materials for the album or packs of stickers in public schools.Among the stickers is a "special golden sticker," the rarity of which makes people even more committed to the process.

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The result was that the population's engagement and commitment to the collection system increased significantly; the selective collection trucks, which had been underutilized, started leaving the collection sites much fuller, increasing the efficiency of the collection system; the amount of waste going to the landfill decreased, and the income of the waste pickers increased.As a result, the amount of waste disposed of incorrectly, which was causing significant socio-environmental impacts, decreased, and with it those impacts.This case demonstrates that many public managers' beliefs that gamified solutions require a lot of resources, depend on high technology, and are far removed from their realities need not be true.It also shows that sometimes, one-off gamified solutions can define whether a particular public policy will be successful or not.

GAMIFICATION IN PUBLIC SECURITY
So far, we've seen cases of gamified solutions aimed at environmental conservation and improving people's health.These solutions featured games (called severe games), physical competitions, participation in stories, and the transformation of objects into more entertaining utensils.This section on gamification in public security will focus on a particular type: simulators.As aforementioned simulations can be digital or actual.An example of each will be presented here.

REAL SIMULATION
A large part of the training of security forces in Brazil and worldwide takes place through simulations.The Agulhas Negras Military Academy in Brazil annually holds a joint action drill between the various arms (infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering, communications, mortar, and intendance).These simulations aim to integrate the different operation forms developed by each force.In this way, the cadet in training is provided with a more systemic and integrated vision, which needs to be sustained in the face of concrete action.The mission of the simulations in a natural environment is to familiarize the soldiers with the pressure situations they will have to deal with daily.
On June 10, 2022, the São Paulo Military Police in Brazil carried out a simulated action in São José dos Pinhais, a city in the countryside.The action, which was carried out at night, aimed to train police officers to deal with a bank robbery situation using explosives.It took place in one of the municipality's bank branches.The two features sought to reconstruct the situation as faithfully as possible to what actually happens in reality.This simulation, which became a television program, can be watched in portugues on internet4 .The initiative to train the police team in this specific action was based on the historical fact that the neighboring town had suffered a similar robbery attempt.Upon returning to the studio, the reporter commented, summarizing the purpose of this type of gamified initiative.
It's necessary.We know that in any activity, repetition is what makes it possible for the policy to provide a good response, an efficient response, when the problem occurs.So that's what we do, first we train inside the barracks and then we use the urban setting so that the conditions are as close to reality as possible.(RICTV, 2022).This case demonstrates how vital all efforts to gamify actions are in terms of prior training for real situations.This process has significant power to engage and commit the whole team.In these simulations, the flow pointed out by Csikszentmihalyi (2013) in Flow Theory is taken to the extreme, involving trainees in a process that, in the end, is very close to the actual case.This gamification training process without technology is also used in training firefighters, doctors, and many other professions, where an error in action can be fatal for both the professionals involved and those close to them.
Expanding these simulation processes and applying them to public policies can bring huge gains at low cost.A simple service to a citizen by a bureaucrat on the street can be transformed into a simulation, helping train new staff and improving the whole process.This can bring huge gains to the whole policy and save resources, as services will be carried out better and, in less time, for example.In a simulation, trainees can receive feedback on their actions, looking for elements to improve the process.

BRAZILIAN ARMY COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING
The Brazilian Army has traditionally used physical simulation mechanisms such as those mentioned above to train officers and soldiers in combat tactics.Although effective, these training models are costly and require a substantial preparation load.For this reason, simulations are usually carried out less frequently and in smaller numbers than ideal.The immediate consequence is an underutilization of the troops' technical capacity.Usually, public policies have to serve many citizens, and the savings, even if small in each action, can result in considerable savings due to their scale.In addition, a better-trained attendant will be much more effective in their actions, generating greater satisfaction in the citizens they serve.All this shows how gamification enormously benefits society when correctly applied to public policies.

CONCLUSION
Although there are reports of some gamified experiences that have been considered successful in the field of public policy, most of these experiences still have very weak monitoring and evaluation systems.As a result, measuring the results, especially the impacts generated in the short, medium, and long term, is hampered.
The evidence leads to the realization that the gamification of public policies, or at least part of them, has great potential to improve people's participation and, above all, the results generated for society.However, one of the challenges remains maintaining the changes in behavior induced by gamification and the continuity of public policies.Besides that, the lack of robust mechanisms to measure and evaluate these results condemns existing experiences to be seen as fads or "fashion inventions."Although games are often based on playful, lighthearted, and uncompromising experiences, we need to be equipped with much more robust, structured, and accountable instruments, processes, and data for the natural evolution of gamification processes in public policies.
Although expanding gamification mechanisms and scaling up the solutions created necessarily require a more refined technical and scientific framework, this is not enough.Most public officials are still unaware of or prejudiced against using gaming mechanisms to deal with serious problems.Part of this problem stems from a social conception that games are child's play.It is, therefore, necessary to work on critical cultural aspects.
Leaders of public organizations need to know about successful experiences and more than that; they need to disseminate the information and the innovative spirit they present to their teams.This seemingly simple movement can drive a structural and robust change, making public policymakers at least start to consider the use of gaming mechanisms seriously because gamification is no joke; it is a process that, if used well, can substantially improve the quality of public policies in Brazil and around the world.
___________________________________________________________________________ Rev. Gest.Soc.Ambient.| Miami | v.18.n.9 | p.1-21 | e08659| 2024.13 4.1 VERMONTIVATE Vermont is one of the least populous states in the United States and has a largely rural population.Since the 1980s, Vermont has depended on the Canadian state of Quebec to supply its energy needs.In addition, the cost of energy in the state is around 16% higher than the average for other American states.