HEAT – Climate Game Changers - Gamification for the empowerment to adapt to climate change

Facts

Academic Partners:

Karlstad University and Nagoya University (Japan)

Project duration: 2025-04-01 – 2027-03-31

Research team:

Caroline Bhowmik, principal investigator at KU

Prince Dacosta Aboagye, principal investigator at NU

Shinichiro Nakamura, co-researcher at NU

Susanne Gustafsson, co-researcher at JU

Johanna Johansson, co-researcher at JU

Avit Bhowmik, co-researcher at KU

Financier: MIRAI and STINT

The proposed project aims at a feasibility and performance assessment of serious games and game-like experiences for the empowerment of older and young people to (i) adapt to unavoidable climate change risks and (ii) lessen and alleviate eco-anxiety. The project addresses the MIRAI theme “Climate adaptation, disaster and risk management and prevention” (GCT2), and aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) #3: Good Health and Well Being, #4: Quality Education and #13: Climate Action.

Purpose of the study

The risk of triggering abrupt and irreversible changes in the climate system is increasing. Several major extreme events, such as catastrophic heatwaves and urban flooding, are causing fatalities and widespread damage. Simultaneously, devastating developments from heatwaves and urban floods, including a rise in social conflicts, have been generating a new discourse of negative emotional reactions and entailing a growing tendency to develop forms of anxiety and distress, i.e. “eco-anxiety”, particularly among the youth. A recent global survey showed that almost 40% of young people regard their concerns about climate change as being ignored or dismissed. Collaborative learning activities through serious games and game-like experiences, such as problem-solving exercises, escape rooms and living laboratories, have shown considerable potential to create and foster important transformative action competences such as self-efficacy and sense of urgency. Our theory of change is - transformative action competences are crucial for the empowerment of vulnerable social groups for effective climate change adaptation as well as for lessening and alleviating eco-anxiety.

Material and method

We aim to conduct comparative pilot studies in Japan and Sweden for assessing the feasibility and performance of serious games and game-like experiences to trigger transformative action competences among vulnerable social groups. We will involve Climate Game Changers - Gamification for the empowerment to adapt to climate change, groups that are physically and psychologically vulnerable to the various effects of heatwaves and urban flooding, i.e. older people (age above 65 years) and young people (age between 6-14 years) in Japan and Sweden.