Facing climate change interactively
Use of a digital learning game environment to promote young people's assessment and action skills for adapting to the regional consequences of climate change (Kli:b)
Dr. Christina Fiene, Franziska Wankmüller, M. Sc., Prof. Dr. Alexander Siegmund
Within the project, a digital learning game on climate change adaptation is being developed for use in school lessons in Germany. The serious game Klim:S21 makes climate change and the effects of adaptation measures in different natural areas of Germany tangible. The players choose a measure and see immediately the protective effects against climate impacts. To embed the game in school lessons or other educational contexts, educational materials with elaborated teaching units are freely available.
Advancing climate change poses new challenges for people and the environment. How will more frequent extreme weather events be dealt with? What are the effects of climate change on agriculture and forestry? The interest of science, politics and society in climate change adaptation is growing, not least because the monitoring report on the German adaptation strategy [BMU, 2019] has made it clear that consequences of climate change are now unavoidable. Young people, as the future stakeholders and social actors of tomorrow, should be encouraged to deal with climate-related risks in an action-oriented manner. However, so far the topic of climate adaptation is insufficiently embedded in the educational landscape of Education for Sustainable Development, especially in the school context. Evidence for the lack of education are knowledge gaps among young people on the topic of climate adaptation.
For education about climate adaptation, an interactive digital learning game is developed as part of the project "Meeting climate change interactively" (Kli:b). The serious game Klim:S21 addresses regional climate impacts and corresponding adaptation strategies in a playful concept. Five play spaces are located in different natural areas of Germany and address exemplary climatic changes. These include the storm surges on the North Sea, special crops, freshwater, agriculture and forestry. Young people can experience the local changes and interactively make decisions about adaptation measures. Complex interrelationships of climate change and the effects of adaptation measures thus become comprehensible and can be experienced visually.
The integration of the learning game in school or other educational contexts is supported by elaborated modules. The game therefore offers both an innovative teaching opportunity for school lessons and a freely accessible learning tool for the public. In case you are interested in a guided learning session with the game for your class, please contact one of our project team members.
The serious game is available at the following link:www.klims21.rgeo.de
Start screen of the digital learning game Klim:S21 with the selection of a play space on the map of Germany.
Funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection
Project period: 01.05.2019 – 31.12.2022
Kli:b on the news:
- 27.09.2023 rgeo-Team mit Beiträgen auf dem Deutschen Kongress für Geographie in Frankfurt
- 19.09.2023 Der Jugendwettbewerb KlimaVision 2023 startet!
- 30.05.2023 Teilnahme an der LEARNTEC
- 25.05.2023 Klim:S21 – das digitale Lernspiel gewinnt den zweiten Preis beim delina-Award!
- 26.10.2022 Klim:S21 – Das digitale Lernspiel gewinnt den zweiten Platz beim TOMMI Preis!
- 12.09.2022 Klim:S21 - Das Spiel zur Klimaanpassung geht online!