Games for a new climate
Games are a fun but serious way of helping humanity tackle the complexities, volatilities and uncertainties that could be hallmarks of the new normal for the global climate. Five reasons for using games in learning and dialogue:
- They encourage active learning and active engagement in dialogues.
- Games allow you to simplify complex systems.
- In games, you have to take decisions and receive feedback on the result of that decision.
- Games provide opportunity for reflection, discovery, exploration and challenge.
- And they are fun! Considering that emotions matter in learning, this is also a serious goal.
In recent years the Climate Centre and its partners have designed at least 45 games about humanitarian issues like disaster preparedness, gender, food security, health, migration. Across five continents, Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers, goverment officials, farmers, schoolchildren, meteorologists, students and climate-policy negotiators have used our games.
Play is the highest form of research
Albert Einstein
Games help humanity tackle the complexities, volatilities and uncertainties that could be hallmarks of the new normal for the global climate.
In at least 40 countries, farmers, schoolchildren, Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers, meteorologists, students, government officials, climate-policy negotiators, city-dwellers, staff of development banks and donors have all experienced the power of game-based learning.
We believe this offers many advantages over traditional teaching that casts stakeholders as passive onlookers.
We would especially like to thank for their inspiration and collaboration over the past years: Prototyping, Education and Technology Lab at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, the American Red Cross, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, Oxfam, IFAD, IIED, the World Bank, Plan International, and the University of Cape Town.
