This project aims to develop a Sustainability Game for all bachelor programmes of Utrecht University, over all 3 years of study. The game will be based on successful tests with a recently built prototype of a sustainability game for first year Geosciences students: Utrecht2040. In this project, the faculties of Geosciences, Humanities, and Law, Economics and Governance will work together closely to establish a broad and balanced sustainability game.

Background

A sustainable future is both dependent on and of the utmost importance for all people living on the planet. Therefore, the young minds of the future that Utrecht University (UU) aims to educate should have foundational knowledge about sustainability.

According to core UU policy, this should include learning about the basic concepts of sustainability and how sustainability relates to the students’ education and career paths.

For this purpose, we have developed and tested a pilot version of a location-based, multiplayer serious game: Utrecht2040, in preparation for a full version of the game outlined in this proposal.

Serious or applied gaming is the use of gaming technology to teach participants about certain topics. Games are excellent tools to use in interdisciplinary topics as they can allow for the engagement with and analysis of complex systems, the exploration of future worlds, and role-play and interaction between players (Ratan & Ritterfeld, 2009).

Figure 1. Game Utrecht2040

A pilot version of the sustainability game Utrecht2040 has been developed by our interdisciplinary team with support from the faculty of Geosciences and Educate-it, in collaboration with game-developer IJsfontein. This pilot version aims to teach 1^st year Geoscience bachelor students about sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Utrecht2040 offers an experience focused on direct engagement with the city of Utrecht, where students can capture and share their sustainable future versions of the city – creating the basis of exchange and engagement between students.

Goals and expected results

The aim of this proposal is to develop the serious game “Utrecht2040” that will teach all UU bachelor students about sustainability across the 3 bachelor years, focusing on the UN SDGs, interdisciplinarity & worldviews, and the inclusion of sustainability in the students’ future career.

The project aims for four main results:

References

• Ratan, R., & Ritterfeld, U. (2009). Classifying serious games. In U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody, & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects (pp. 10–22). Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge.