Climate games for education and activism
September 21, 2026
How can we teach about climate initiatives, politics and challenges in a way that makes us feel hopeful and active rather than cynical? Well, games and play is a great answer! I went to an Erasmus training all about climate games and here is my article about this wonderful and fun adventure:
‘Climate Wizards’ is a series of training courses launched in 2025 by the Nausika
Foundation, an NGO that aims to design, promote, and implement educational games for personal development and social transformation. The Nausika foundation creates a community of game-based educators for sustainability competencies, who may support each other and develop the idea further by adding new projects and initiatives.
The climate crisis is a multifaceted battle belonging to an infinite number of different contexts. While at front being a global environmental fight, it affects nearly any social, cultural, economic and political context imaginable, contributing to wars, social inequalities, oppression, population displacement, systemic racism, gender inequalities, food crisis and diseases, to name a few. This deeply emotional issue, the climate anxiety that embeds itself in our bodies and souls, is an overwhelming and paralysing phenomenon. So what better way to embrace these emotions in a more hopeful, active and playful way, than through games? Playing allows ourselves to step into exploration, collective creativity, active dialogue, critical thinking and most importantly: It stays within us even after the game has ended. We can learn a lot through games. It’s a powerful tool to encourage meaningful action, not only reserved for children or those brave enough to be a fool, but for everyone.
At Sunseed, we are already great at teaching and learning about sustainable living, at facilitating workshops, games, movement, play and anything that allows us to learn in more non-formal ways that reach not only our minds, but our bodies, too.
As an artist and game designer myself, I wanted to learn more about facilitating and developing games specifically in regard to our climate crisis.
So, I went to Poland.
On the edge of a small polish village, right by the forest, a handful of climate wizards gathered for one week, to learn, play and create together.
In the beginning of the week, we learned more about the challenges of sustainability education. This included going through the GreenComp framework of sustainability competences and what it means to develop such competencies.
Some of these are for example critical thinking, supporting fairness, systems thinking, problem framing, futures literacy, collective action or exploratory thinking.
The training was for educators who already work with climate education, but we all shared a different background and approach to this topic.
Time To Land game
A wonderful game we played called ‘Time To Land’ based on the Doughnut Economy allowed us to become politicians and scientist representing the different continents of our world. Just like in the real world of politics, we had to step into heated discussions about pressing challenges from rising sea levels and food crisis to inequalities in education or housing. Time was limited and we had to make decisions for our countries. Will we invest in biodiversity, healthy oceans and clean air or will we sacrifice our land and soil just to temporarily fix the peace and politics of one continent? Through this game we had to learn that collective engagement, sacrifices and long-term thinking was not only beneficial for our individual economical and political situation, but in the end could save the whole planet.
ALL GAMES ARE AVAILABLE FOR FREE TO DOWNLOAD on the Nausika website:
I’m sure you have all encountered devastating slogans and horrific campaigns of Green Washing. In the training we played a game about exactly those, acting out characters of terrible CEO’s of companies that green wash each other out of their toxic productions. A fun way to learn more about what’s behind these grand promises and excuses that companies fabricate to hide their real intentions that destroy our climate and planet.
From the ‘Climate For All’ initiative we played a series of games that explore the sustainability competences.
Green Wash game
In an open mic session each participant could present their own initiative, games and sustainability work. I gave a short intro into the Climate Live Action Roleplay games I designed, specifically working with the non-human beings, our natural world, magic and non-verbal communication. During one of the evenings I hosted a part of the larp ‘Dwelling In The Dark’ where players find a more somatic connection to deep ecology and deep time.
Diving into game theory and what it takes to create a climate game, we had workshop sessions developing our own ideas together based on local initiatives and real action.
Workshop sessions
A special moment for me was playing the board game ‘Releaf’ developed by a group of participants of the training. The game was about creating regenerative futures through co-creation and systems thinking. It was a wild session full of heated discussions around how to save our ecological domains of the world. It was the most fun I had in a long time, and who navigating through existential crises could be so entertaining? Thanks to the creative effort of the Releaf Team for bringing such an educational and fun game to live!
Releaf game
So, what did I learn from a whole week of climate games and wizard action?
I connected with other educators, activists and teaching institutions in the field of game-based climate and sustainability education.
We collected, played and brainstormed ideas for educational games for sustainability competences and climate awareness.
I dove deeper into the serious research on impact of climate games, including critical reflection how they shape the cognitive perception of climate change, sustainable transformation and social justice and transformation
Coming back to Sunseed I am hosting a series of climate games developed by the Nausika Foundation, including ‘Pig Grove’ and ‘Tree of Life’.
Pig grove game
Last year I also designed a climate live action role-play 'Los Seres del Río Aguas' on the ecocide of the Río Aguas, where players become creatures living in the valley. In the game they have to live through climate challenges and find their way to survive collectively in times of crisis. I hosted the larp at the ‘Grenselandet’ larp festival in Oslo in 2025 and again at the 40th anniversary of Sunseed in October 2026.
'Los Seres del Río' roleplay about the Río Aguas
Comments