Battling climate change: How snakes and ladders could save the
planet
Experts think
putting eco-sensibility into fun childhood games will engage people more
than 'misery messages'
Snakes and ladders, bingo and top trumps might be old-fashioned games
most associated with childhoods past, but if climate-change experts are
to be believed, they could just help us to save the planet.
Paula Owen is on a one-woman mission to discover if a bit of fun and
competition can convince people to lead more environmentally friendly
lives. Firefighters, city workers, museum-goers, teachers,
schoolchildren and university students will test out her eco-inspired
games over the next year as she tries to show that learning about
sustainability does not have to be dull.
Next week, Science Museum Lates, in London, will display her take on
the classic games - including life-size snakes and ladders, where
squares containing good activities (walking to work, say) send you up
the ladders, while bad squares (overheating your home) send you sliding
down snakes. And there's eco-bingo, where you can expect to hear: "Lag
your loft; you'll save a ton - it's number one."
The former chemist told The Independent: "I am trying to find a way
to get the message across that's new, affirmative, positive and
inclusive.
I want to move people who are not informed by the messages of old
into doing something - even if it's just the smallest thing.
People are bored with the misery messaging that tries to guilt you
into doing things; it means most people end up dismissing the whole
thing."
Her new e-book, How Gamification Can Help Your Business Engage in
Sustainability, is gaining attention worldwide. Venezuela, Brazil,
Australia and Canada are all following Dr Owen's study and she says that
the US Environmental Protection Agency is interested in a version of her
eco-top trumps. Meanwhile, Manchester University wants 2,000 of the
cards for this year's freshers.
But Paula Owen is not the only one to notice how games can be used to
change people's behaviour in the real world. Gartner, a technology
research company, predicts that more than 50 percent of organisations
involved in innovation will be "gamifying" processes by 2015, applying
the mechanics of games in the real world. Deloitte, the consultancy
firm, rates it as one of the top 10 trends to watch in coming years.
"The games aren't new; what's new is that we're taking games
seriously," said Oliver Lawder, creative planner at Futerra, a
sustainability communications agency.
"Climate change is a massive global issue; lots of things individuals
can do feel small and insignificant.
What game mechanisms can do is start to reward, incentivise and show
the collective effort of everyone coming together to have a positive
effect."
The idea is not without critics who see it as just another gimmick.
Plus, there are practical difficulties in collecting data for the more
complex, digital games.
But Mr Lawder predicts that we will move towards a "Gamification 2.0"
as technology improves.
As for the eco-factor, the idea is catching on. Nissan's Leaf line of
electric cars now monitors efficiency-based achievements in the form of
trees on the steering wheel, which drivers can compare, receiving
virtual medals.
- The Independent
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