Joost Raessens is chair and Full Professor of Media Theory at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and scientific director of the Utrecht Center for Game Research (gameresearch.nl). His research concerns the 'ludification of culture,' focusing on games for change in relation to global climate change and refugee and migration issues. Raessens leads the research project "Persuasive gaming: From theory-based design to validation and back" (persuasivegaming.nl). He is co-editor of the volumes
The Playful Citizen (2019) and
Playful identities (2015), both published by Amsterdam University Press, and the
Handbook of Computer Game Studies (The MIT Press, 2005).