Join us for a Climate Game Jam in NYC!

Interested in innovative approaches to communicating climate change? Want to collaboratively develop fun and educational games for social impact?

Join the PoLAR Climate Change Education Partnership, Barnard College’s Department of Environmental Sciences, and the Games Research Lab at Teachers College for the Climate Game Jam NYC, October 2nd & 3rd at Barnard College!

What is a Climate Game Jam? Teams gather to rapidly design a game (online, mobile, street, tabletop, or other formats) to teach learners of all ages about the impacts of and solutions to climate change.  Participants work together throughout the weekend to create a working climate game prototype.

Who can participate?  The Climate Game Jam is open to the public!  The Jam offers a unique opportunity for educators, college students, scientists, game designers, and anyone else who is interested, to work together on climate game prototypes that span a range of platforms, topics, and audiences.  Although having experience in game design and/or climate change educations is helpful, it is not necessary.

Featuring special guest speakers!  Opportunities for prizes and national recognition!  Space is limited – register at http://bit.ly/ClimateGameJamNYC

The event kicks off at 6pm on Friday, October 2nd at Barnard College, and runs through the following times:

Friday 10/2: 6-10pm
Saturday 10/3: 10am-10pm

Background:  Games are increasingly used in educational settings to help inspire curiosity, creativity, collaboration, optimism, and problem-solving skills.  Serious games address real-world challenges, compress big problems into immediate experiences, encourage systems thinking, and promote active engagement, making them particularly well suited to climate change education.  The field of games focused on climate change is growing, yet there remain gaps in the type of content covered.  For instance, many climate games focus on mitigation of greenhouse gases and international negotiations, while few address adaptation to change or local solutions.  Games provide a powerful opportunity for enhancing climate literacy.

In December 2014, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy launched the Climate Education and Literacy Initiative with the goal of connecting Americans with best-available scientific information about climate change. As a commitment in support of this effort, Federal and non-governmental experts are collaborating to harness the promise of educational games and interactive media to increase understanding and awareness of climate change impacts and solutions.  

For more information on the Climate Game Jam initiative, visit climategamejam.org.  

Hope you can make it!