Gamification in International Relations Lab - GIRI-hub Lab

The GIRI-Hub is LusoGlobe's research and simulation platform dedicated to the development, deployment, and evaluation of serious games for international relations, social sciences, and security studies. Its simulations are purposefully built as instruments for analysis and decision-making process research — placing students, researchers, and practitioners inside high-fidelity scenarios where the consequences of strategic choices can be observed and studied. All GIRI-Hub simulations run on AJAPT (Agents Joint Assessment and Planning Tool, ajapt.org), a platform developed to support multi-actor negotiation, structured communication, and performance analysis in simulation environments.

Simulations and Tools

Geospatial Intelligence Simulation A simulation that trains students and analysts in the operational use of geographic and open-source data for international security assessments. Participants work as intelligence analysts, synthesising spatial information to produce assessments under realistic time and uncertainty constraints. Used in undergraduate and graduate IR and security studies programmes.

European Parliament Simulation (EU Commission Role-Play) A structured role-play built around European Commission committee dynamics. Participants navigate the EU legislative process — from committee deliberation to plenary negotiation — developing analytical understanding of multi-level governance, coalition-building, and regulatory compromise. Designed for courses on European integration, comparative politics, and IR.

Nuclear Power Simulation (GIRI-Hub / LusoGlobe & Uppsala Peace Lab) A crisis negotiation simulation run jointly by GIRI-Hub and the Uppsala Peace Lab (Uppsala University), led by Prof. Sabrina Medeiros and Prof. Jonathan Hall. Participants represent state delegations — including Belarus, Germany, Finland, Poland, and Russia — and must navigate a scenario centred on nuclear escalation risks in the Baltic-Nordic region, including threats to the Suwalki Gap and Kaliningrad, against a backdrop of renewed conflict and nuclear coercion. Operating through AJAPT, delegations define their Mini-Max objectives, engage in asynchronous diplomatic exchanges, and participate in live negotiation rounds, concluding with a structured after-action reflection. The simulation develops core competencies in deterrence theory, coercive diplomacy, crisis management, adversary behaviour estimation, and the balance between rational and emotional decision-making. It is used in graduate-level courses on nuclear politics, international security, and strategic studies. The simulation has been published in Short Games and Active Learning in Political Science: Beating the Clock (Glasgow, Harvey, Gibb & Fielder, eds., Routledge, 2024). 

AJAPT — Agents Joint Assessment and Planning Tool AJAPT (ajapt.org) is the simulation platform and methodological backbone of GIRI-Hub, co-developed with Brazilian Defence Colleges (ECEME, ESD, EGN). It supports multi-actor positioning, structured negotiation, and performance analysis of actors' behaviours (PAM) in simulations across mediation, crisis diplomacy, and strategic planning scenarios.  AI-assisted components for dynamic scenario adaptation and agent behaviour modelling are currently under development.

Scenarios and Future Studies GIRI-Hub develops prospective scenarios for research and teaching, drawing on futures studies methodologies to map long-range trajectories in international security, governance, and technological change. This work is developed in partnership with the Laboratório de Simulações e Cenários (LSC) at the Escola de Guerra Naval (EGN, Brazil) — co-founded by Sabrina Medeiros — creating a transatlantic futures research axis between Portugal, Brazil, and international partners. This scenarios dimension is a core basis for cooperation with the SIM-Bridge consortium (WIDERA project), exploring shared interests in futures methodologies, workforce and security scenario modelling, and cross-sectoral simulation design.

Educational Programmes

Referencial da Educação para a Segurança, Defesa, e Paz In collaboration with the Portuguese National Defence Institute (IDN), GIRI-Hub contributes to the national Educational Referential for Security, Defence, and Peace. This involves designing simulations and scenario-based learning materials for use in public schools, accompanied by facilitation protocols and teacher training resources.

Graduate Training and Capacity Building — WIDERA / SIM-Bridge GIRI-Hub's graduate training work connects to the SIM-Bridge consortium (WIDERA project), an international initiative linking simulation practitioners, researchers, and educators. This collaboration positions LusoGlobe as an active contributor to the professionalisation of simulation-based pedagogy in peace, security, and international studies, opening pathways for joint curricula development and co-supervised graduate research.

Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence

The GIRI-Hub maintains a dedicated interface for AI and cybersecurity advocacy and analysis, focused on social impact, democratic governance, and the human rights dimensions of technological transformation in security — including surveillance, algorithmic decision-making in conflict, and the regulation of autonomous systems. This work is developed with the InterAgency Institute (civil society–policy bridge) and the NOVA War & Law Lab.

Research Team

LusoGlobe researcher-in-charge: Sabrina Medeiros Subject Matter Experts: Hélia Bracons, Fernando Campos (students' development advisory)

International collaborators: Jonathan Hall (Uppsala Peace Lab) · Ana Paiva (ECEME) · Cintiene Mendes (ESD) · Marcos Valle (BNWC) · Claudio Correa (BNWC) · Maria Francisca Saraiva (University of Lisbon) · Aggie Hirst (King's College London) · Steven Wagner (Birkbeck, University of London) · Vitor Asal (University at Albany) · Claudio Gotelli (Università di Genova) · Nergiz Özkural Köroğlu · Selin Karana

Cybersecurity & AI: Ana Beatriz Duarte (InterAgency Institute) · Giuseppe Cocco (UFRJ / American University Paris) · Laura Iñigo (NOVA War & Law Lab)

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