Climate game

SLU, together with 4H, Swedish Church Youth, Sverok Väst, WWF Sweden Youth, SLU Holding, Bioresurs, NTA-schooldevelopment and the University of Skövde, has received funding from the Inheritance Fund to develop a digital game. In the game, young people are given the opportunity to test various issues and goal conflicts that affect climate, biodiversity, plant nutrient management and consumption and production of food.

Digital games are effective tools for experiential learning and offer new ways to reach students that can complement traditional teaching.

– What is unique about this particular game is that it addresses several important societal goals and conflicts between them. It is about climate, biodiversity and the balance between consumption and production of food. Food is a natural part of students' everyday lives, which provides a good introduction to these big questions. The game will give young people the skills to handle complex issues that are crucial for the future. Here, the students get to take on a challenge and investigate  what is required to produce the food we need in Sweden, says researcher Christina Lundström, who leads the project at SLU.

Pre-study

The project is run by SLU in Skara with funding from the Swedish National Heritage Fund, Formas and the Västra Götaland Region. SLU Future Food contributed in 2019-2020 to an early prototype of the Climate game by financing a pre-study and an application to the Swedish National Heritage Fund. The pre-study was carried out in collaboration with a scientific reference group but also with young people from four organizations (4H, WWF Youth, Swedish Church Youth and Sverok) to ensure that young people's perspectives were included in the application.

– It is inspiring to see how different tools are developed to increase understanding and knowledge of such complex issues as the climate. We were attracted by the project group's goal of anchoring the climate game in science, and therefore we have been involved in supporting the work with a scientific reference group, says Annsofie Wahlström, program manager for SLU Future Food.

The Climate game was tested in the spring of 2024 by teachers and students at Volvogymnasiet, Eriksdalsskolan in Skövde and De la Gardiegymnasiet in Lidköping, as well as the University of Gothenburg.

A new type of 'serious game' or learning game

The target groups for the game are teachers and students at junior high school and high school. The game is free of charge and adapted to curriculum objectives in the subjects of natural science, biology and geography at high school and biology, geography, home and consumer knowledge at high school.

In the computer game, players can experiment with different challenges, strategies and solutions.
– Complex issues such as the climate require considerations, values ​​and dialogue. Therefore, we want to use the concretizing and emotional potential that exists in computer games to make scientific information accessible and engaging. In the long run, the tool can be further developed and used for other needs. We see opportunities to test the game in different contexts that require managing conflicts of interest, says Christina Lundström.

Why is the game needed?

Today, there are major challenges in achieving the goals for climate, biodiversity, and the needs for plant nutrition and food security. Arable land and what is grown on it form the basis for our food production. Here are a number of conflicts of interest:

Meat is questioned due to climate impact, but grazing animals are required to maintain our biodiversity and pasture cultivation and manure contribute to the long-term fertility of the arable land.
Large- and small-scale production, industrial methods, genetically modified organisms, chemical pesticides and new technology are supported or questioned by different groups in society.
The consumer should choose, eat healthily and food waste should be minimized.
The distance between city and country, consumer and producer needs to be bridged.
If all these goals are to be achieved, consumption and production need to be better integrated, but there is also a need for an increased understanding of real challenges, complexity and goal conflicts as well as the perspectives of different groups in society.

Young people can try different strategies to achieve the climate goals
Young people play a lot of computer games and the climate is the future issue that young people are most concerned about. The Climate game combines these interests.

The approach is based on the UN's 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals (SDG:s) and is intended to show the complexity of issues surrounding food, climate and other environmental aspects.

The game was launched at the Gothenburg Book Fair at the end of September 2024.

Read more and play the game.