Net Zero Game Didactics

One way to prepare society for the fundamental change needed to create a sustainable economy is to educate and train its young citizens, present them with facts and provide them with an introduction to the business jargon presented in mass media, books, and reports so they can participate in the democratic process on all levels and functions in society. The growing effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity and resource scarcity will require societal change and new technical solutions based on new scientific research. In Natural Sciences, students often struggle to understand and apply science topics, and have difficulties imagining or realizing their importance and application in real life. Inside a business context, it is easier to call their attention, showing some direct applications of scientific and technological knowledge. We see an urgent need to combine business and climate in a language that students from +14 years can understand and enjoy – which is a board game. We also wanted to increase the curiosity of teachers in general to apply game-based learning and even get them to make their own games.

The main objectives of the project were to: a) Create a Teacher Manual based on state-of-the-art knowhow from practitioners on how to use the Net Zero Game business-climate game in an educational setting. b) Create a White Paper based on real life experience in the classroom with game-based education and game creation to inspire potential future creators of educational games – e.g. teachers and other educators - to address societal challenges by creating and using simple (and complex) games themselves.

The project consisted of 5 main activities: Project management: We stablish bi-monthly meetings to follow up the project activities and created a common data repository (A Dropbox folder) Specifications: At the kick-off meeting in Lisbon and the visit to Prime School, we had the opportunity to get to know each other, be introduced to the game, to discuss the didactic potential (and improvements) of the game and how it fits to relevant curricula, create the specifications for the teacher manual and make the outline of the white paper. Development: We created and tested the teacher manual and wrote up the white paper. In additional to these main activities, we also created the onboarding kit to facilitate the game introduction in the classroom. Testing: We create a test plan, did game training and manual tests in all the schools and selected and recruited the second Portuguese school to be part of the final flagship event. Dissemination: We arranged a flagship event in Copenhagen where the results of the project was presented and where students from 4 different schools played the game in a livestreamed final tournament.

The outputs were: A 60-pages Teacher Manual: The manual is divided in 9 chapters where the teacher can find information about why and relevance of the game, the pedagogical investment and outcome, the background of the game, it´s features, and the didactic fit and potential with respect to 4 different curricula: The Danish National Curriculum for secondary schools, the Portuguese National Curriculum, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, and Cambridge International Curriculum. The manual presents key reflections, learning points and examples to guide the teacher in a class. The manual includes a list of terminology related to climate, business, policies and regulation, trends, etc. The manual finalizes with a detailed lesson plan created for a business class in the IB programme. A 17 pages white paper “Game-based education for practitioners: How to facilitate the making of informed interesting choices in the classroom”. The paper presents examples of what is/not a game, concepts of educational games, where to begin and practical examples. In order to overcome the barrier of learning the rules of a game, an onboarding kit consisting of a Teacher Avatar Sheet (Game Master) and 4 Business Leader Avatar Sheets was created.