We’ve just returned from what I think would be fair to say was one of the highlights of the year so far. Huge credit to Dr Gemma Connell, our Director of Youth Programmes, for managing to get us a place in Einstein’s Garden – the science section of the festival. If you’ve not been to Green Man before, you can learn about all kinds of things here – we were tucked in next to a sparkly array of geological artefacts, and a miniature museum of the human body, and just down the trail from an exhibition on the science of awe(!). We were particularly thrilled to be greeted upon arrival with a spare marquee which we had not come expecting – so got to spend the next three days in a unexpected luxury, sheltering from the alternating downpours and brilliant sunshine. Perhaps some sort of karmic reward for our efforts to help the planet to date. Given our pop-up escape room does not take kindly to being rained on, we had put together a new collection of gamefied climate education in time for the event, known now as Play for the Planet. Visitors to our stand could challenge themselves to a game of Biodiversity Jenga (as you might have guessed, taking out too many species can cause this precarious ecosystem to collapse), Carbon Footprint Face-Off (can you arrange the climate actions from highest to lowest impact? More surprising than you might think) and a giant version of our Green Careers Boardgame.
Over the next 3 days, we engaged with 600 people of all ages. Some had a go at one of our games, some sat and listened to Amy’s talk on the nearby stage, some paused a moment to investigate the mysterious multicoloured mat on the floor and found themselves in the middle of a deep conversation 15 minutes later. Green Man was a really special festival, and it is rooted in sustainability itself. Not just a bit of recycling here and there – no, there’s no single use plastic in sight and they’re even turning wee from urinals into fertiliser (if this sentence has surprised you, you can learn more here).
It was the first trial of Carbon Footprint Face-Off so we did have a few interesting challenges (namely how to hammer two poles into incredibly hard ground) – but once we’d overcome that, the game sparked some really interesting and deep conversations. Recycling did keep sneaking up to the “most impactful” end of the scale and had to be sent back down again, but overall I found that a lot of people, especially young people, already knew a huge amount about human-induced global warming and what we can do about it. We know that information on climate change, fossil fuels and environmental sustainability isn’t always taught at school, so it’s a very encouraging sign that campaigns and content encouraging young people to take action for the planet is working. If you yourself are involved in climate or sustainability comms, keep going! I spoke to children who’d started walking to school, families who were cooking plant-based food twice a week, and several people who were trying to convince a reluctant partner or friend that reducing food waste or engaging in politics does have a big positive impact on the planet. So it was pleasing to be able to provide some statistics to back up those actions!
I asked the team to reflect on their highlights from the weekend…
“My standout moments were with parents who were watching their children play some of our games (mainly the Pathways to Your Green Future board game). She says, “It was wonderful to see how parents realised that play and gamification was helping their children learn – many parents told me how their child didn’t like school very much because the learning style wasn’t for them, but thanked Another Way for coming up with innovative ways that lots of different young people could learn through.” – Gemma
“There were so many lovely and surprising connections we made at Green Man, but one that gave me the most hope was a young girl I played Biodiversity Jenga with. She was at first very shy and quiet, but as the game advanced and she began to remove more blocks, which had aspects of the ecosystem written on them (such as different plant or wildlife species, and environmental factors) she became so animated and excited if it was a term she recognised, and stopped to ask me about the ones that she didn’t. By the end of it, she’d learned lots of new terms, which was a win in itself, but made even better by the fact she returned the next day excited to show me all the new words that she remembered!” – Eva
“Bringing our gamified climate education to Greenman was a dream come true. It was a really unique opportunity to have conversations with families, curious adults and young children alike. I particularly enjoyed the conversations our Footprint Face Off game provoked, where people had to rank different climate actions based on their potential emission savings. It was a great way to untangle some misconceptions around overestimating the impact of recycling, underestimating the impact of a plant-based diet, and the nuance and potential of being an active citizen, such as getting involved in community action or working on political change. It really felt that the game and conversations unlocked new mindsets around climate action, and the families I spoke to left with clear pathways to make more impactful changes” – Amy
We’re thrilled with how Play for the Planet went down at Green Man and excited to bring it to more people at the next event. If you’d like to learn more about our gamified climate, nature and sustainability education (fully funded for state schools and youth groups) you can learn more on our workshops page. For the Escape Room or Play for the Planet, contact Gemma or Elli.
