By 2050, the planet is warming, meals come from food packages, and dozens of new animal viruses are spreading. As the editor of an influential newspaper, how would you attempt to shape public opinion? This is one of the scenarios that players face in an online game launched on Monday, which uses humor and interactive decision-making to get people to think about the future of climate change and what they can do to fix it.
Survive the Century is the work of scholars, economists, and writers from around the world brought together by the American Research Group, the National Center for Social and Environmental Synthesis (SESYNC), and allows players to navigate the future of 2021 in the year 2100.
“It’s a game for everyone, but especially for the climate-nihilistic Generation Z who struggle with climate change and feel hopeless and frustrated with inaction,” said Samantha Pixinger, games author and creator.
“We wanted to engage them with the hope that the future is long and that we have a lot of options,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a video call.
Climate anxiety – including panic attacks, insomnia, and obsessive thinking – associated with anxiety about the risk of an environmental disaster is becoming more common among young people, according to the medical journal The Lancet.
Part of this is because young people are at the forefront of climate protests, with some 1.6 million student protesters calling on their governments to urgently address climate change in March 2019.
While the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) scheduled for November may accelerate the adoption of the world’s largest pollutants to reduce climate risks, the creators of Survive the Century also wanted to engage ordinary people in the debate.
“We are used to the narration: Don’t eat beef, don’t fly much and these are the choices you can make on climate change, but this game puts you in a different position,” said Christopher Tresos, project manager. And an environmental world.
The game takes players through various science-based decision-making scenarios, from deploying vaccines to funding technological innovations that can help restore order or spark chaos.
“Games can be an incredibly powerful way to engage people,” Beckbessinger said. “It’s not educational, it’s not about telling you facts and things to do, but rather lets you play and explore.”
At the end of the game, players are directed to a climate organization close to them.
Trisos has already been contacted by high schools and universities interested in using the game as part of their curriculum.
“Climate change is made by people and people are experiencing it,” said Simon Nicholson, project leader and associate professor at the American University in Washington.
“How the future unfolds will be shaped by the choices people make today, tomorrow, and the day after.”
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