Echo – a tool to support conversation about loss

DESIGN: Agnieszka Odziemkowska 

Poland

make me! 2024

The Echo is a tool/board game developed in response to the tabooisation of death and grief. Its aim is to create a safe space and give a pretext for a group of people to talk about a shared loss. On a game basis, it aims to help open up memories, thoughts and feelings among loved ones. It provides an opportunity for a communal experience of loss while maintaining an individual narrative. The choice of theme was influenced by my personal experiences and contemporary reality – the climate crisis, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The project was developed through extensive literature analysis, interviews and consultation with people with experience of grief and collaboration with therapists. The game is designed for people aged seven and over. It creates a space for children to talk as well, so that in the future they may have a greater capacity to step out of the pattern of tabooing loss. The Echo can support regular users, therapists, foundations or crisis intervention centres.