Keep it Human: How video games can help us learn about our impact on our planet

11 Nov 2024

Video games are played by more people and more often than ever before with a host of ways to play. So how can a team of researchers from The University of Manchester weave together gaming and education?

The 2024 Manchester Science Festival took place between Friday 18 and Sunday 28 October. This year was themed around tackling the extremes of our world, with approximately 30,000 visitors having the opportunity to get hands-on with some of science's most cutting-edge developments through multi-sensory experiences, immersive events and hands-on family fun.  

A series of interactive events were held throughout the 10 days of the festival. It was in the fun-filled Activity Zones at the Museum of Science and industry were visitors were able to look at the extremes of human performance and our planet.

Colleagues from the NOVARS Research Centre at The University of Manchester showcased a series of hand-on video game activities that emphasise the positive impact we can all have on the planet.

Professor Ricardo Climent, NOVARS Researcher, said: “We are always thrilled to be part of the Manchester Science Festival. KeepItHuman studios is a social venture making video games as a transformative medium to engage people with subjects like sustainability and social challenges.

“The video games we offered as part of the festival included ‘My Favourite T-Shirt’ (a project built for and premiered at this festival) which explores  fast fashion and  its impact on water supplies; ‘Mangrove World’ focused on the importance of restoration of mangrove trees , a project in collaboration with NGO Oceanus Conservation in the Philippines. Our third game ‘Resourceful World’ was all about renewable versus non-renewable energy, exploring the impact on health and the wider environment and built in collaboration with scientists from Sustainable Futures and with the help of University of Manchester students from Computer Science and Music, as it was a collaboration with Imago Software.

“It was a real joy to see children mostly between 8 and 14 years old having so much fun playing our video games. One of the most revealing aspects of the festival for us was to talk to parents who would normally ban or heavily restrict their children from playing video games at home and who said that our games changed their perspective and that they now feel more inclined to let them play these type of sustainability games’.

The Manchester Science Festival is a highlight of the city's cultural calendar and the team are proud to be part of one of the most popular science festivals in the UK.

More: https://keepithuman.org/