Exploring Sustainability in the Metaverse: The Future is Green Challenge 2023

Who says gaming can not help improving the future? What if you could use popular games like Roblox or Minecraft to tackle climate change in urban areas? There are many ways one could apply knowledge into games such platforms in order to find new paths towards sustainability!

Following this idea, the EELISA Metaverse & Sustainability Community launched a challenge at the beginning of September. During the course of three days, students of different nationalities had the chance to put their imagination and skills up to the task, by learning to develop educational games on sustainability and climate change mitigation in urban areas through the power of game design and the metaverse.

See how this became a reality through the eyes of Feride Berra, one of the EELISA Community Meraverse & Sustainability students and organisers of the event:

In today’s digital age, gaming is more than only entertainment—it has a profound impact on the real world. Now, picture an event where this fusion of virtual and reality takes center stage! Allow us to introduce “The Future is Green” challenge, proudly organized by the EELISA student community Metaverse and Sustainability.

Held in Erlangen, Germany, from September 1st to September 3rd, 2023, this event provided an opportunity for participants to develop educational games with a sustainability theme. Students coming from various EELISA universities embarked on a creative journey, which resulted in the development of educational games over a span of just three days.

Alongside this process, both students and expert speakers engaged in dialogues about climate change and sustainable urban planning, confronting some of the most pressing issues of our era. This unique challenge integrated the imperative of sustainability education into the gaming world.

Day one marked the begining of the challenge’s journey. Participants were introduced to the gaming platform Roblox and the world of gamification by Prof. Benedikt Morschheuser, FAU, and FAU student and Roblox expert Corinna Wüllner. Throughout the ideation phase, students were encouraged to explore sustainability education from diverse angles. They used their creativity to construct virtual worlds where players are instructed about strategies for combating climate change within urban landscapes.

On the second day, our resident Roblox expert and FAU student Simon Merk addressed teams’ inquiries, offering guidance and helping the teams solidify their ideas. Meanwhile, Prof. Angela Matesanz and Prof. Rafael Cordoba from UPM lent their invaluable knowledge on sustainable city design in the face of climate change.

As day three dawned, the teams put the finishing touches on their games. The final preparations included creating presentations that explained the game’s stages, narrative, and core concepts— conveying the essence of their creations to the jury. In addition to these presentations, teams provided live demonstrations, offering the jury a hands-on experience of their games. This interactive process left the jury in a dilemma, tasked with selecting a standout team from a field of exceptional participants. Indeed, the challenge posed by this decision underscored the valuable experiences gained by all attendees in this international setting.

Within the three days, new friendships were made and we all learnt lots from each other and explored together the field of educational game development. This event underscored that games and game development serve as an impactful tool, also as a means of education.

Feride Berra Köseoğlu

Feride is studying Control and Automation Engineering at Istanbul Technical University.

As a member of the ITU EELISA student club, she got to know the EELISA student community

Metaverse & Sustainability. She organized this challenge, together with three other students from FAU and ITÜ.

*This activity has been organised by the EELISA Community Metaverese & Sustainability, you can learn more about its activities and other EELISA Communities through the EELISA Community Platform.