GECO - Foire italienne virtuelle sur la durabilité
Video game players have become a highly valuable audience that is increasingly sought after by companies looking to reach customers, especially the younger generations. Mobile and social games in particular have been at the forefront of game development efforts, accounting a rapidly growing share of all games produced and played worldwide. From a marketing perspective, this makes the gaming community a great place to promote sustainability in the modern world.
Games can be used to change the way groups of people think and act and are often accused of having a bad influence on young people. But this doesn't have to be true and games can also be used as a way to promote good causes and drive interest towards vital issues, such as sustainability. That is why sustainable organizations and initiatives have started to adopt new ways of communication by producing and distributing mobile games.
The UN (specifically the United Nations Development Programme) has taken a rather unconventional approach to promoting sustainable development by building a mobile game. The game, Mission 1.5, challenges users to make decisions that help keep the world on track in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). During the course of the game, players are challenged to achieve their own climate-friendly “missions” and take other meaningful actions — from conserving energy at home to speaking out for stronger climate action at work or in public life.
The game asks people to indicate what strategies they think would be most effective in addressing the climate crisis. These responses became the source of what is now considered the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted, having engaged 6 million people in 58 countries.
This has lead to a further development: the creation of the Playing for the Planet Alliance, , which was launched during the 2019 UN Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit. The initiative is being facilitated by UNEP with the support of GRID-Arendal and Playmob. The Playing for the Planet Alliance includes giants such as Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft and dozens of other well-established game companies. In joining the Alliance, members made commitments ranging from integrating green activations in games to reducing their emissions and supporting the global environmental agenda.
Every year, the Alliance organizes a gaming event that is an opportunity for game studios to get creative insights and integrate "green" activities within their popular games or create new ones. This means including environmental messages and education within their games, inviting users to join in UN conservation and recovery campaigns, and educating players of how they can take small steps towards more sustainability.
Gaming has always been a powerful medium to inspire people. From the early days of Pong and Pac-Man (which now comes with an environment-inspired forest theme), we've seen how games can be used to entertain us and educate us in ways that no other medium can.
Games can also be an effective tool to promote sustainability and environmentalism if we use them wisely. But it's not as simple as just adding more trees to your favourite role-playing game. They can make people more aware of the problems our planet faces, but they also have the power to turn us into active citizens. f used correctly, games could help people understand the importance of making conscious choices about their lifestyle choices and reducing their carbon footprint
Games can be powerful tools when it comes to getting information across to the general public. In the next few years, we can expect to see a significant increase in games created with people's attitudes and behaviour toward the environment in mind. Part of this could mean better targetting of information, education and campaigns, but it will also result in more immersive gaming experiences where our values as players are reflected in the game world. Ultimately by playing games we can be more aware of what we do, attempt to make better choices, and enjoy our time on earth just a little bit more.
If you are interested in sustainability issues, Join our platform!
Published on 29-09-2022
