At a glance
Over the past year, a team consisting of a researcher and students within the College of the Environment conducted a… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2017-2018
- Large
- Awarded
- $15,867
- Funding partners
-
- Services and Activities Fee (SAF)
- Student Technology Fee (STF)
Over the past year, a team consisting of a researcher and students within the College of the Environment conducted a feasibility study to evaluate the potential of using games to promote more sustainable actions on campus (i.e., “green games”). The feasibility study consisted of three parts: a review of existing games, hosting a game jam, and a survey of the UW community to assess receptiveness and preferences related to green gaming. The feasibility study resulted in many positive outcomes, including development of game prototypes, creating connections in the sustainability and gaming communities (both within and outside of UW), and measuring interest and preferences related to green games.
Over the past year, a team consisting of a researcher and students within the College of the Environment conducted a feasibility study to evaluate the potential of using games to promote more sustainable actions on campus (i.e., “green games”). The feasibility study consisted of three parts: a review of existing games, hosting a game jam, and a survey of the UW community to assess receptiveness and preferences related to green gaming. The feasibility study resulted in many positive outcomes, including development of game prototypes, creating connections in the sustainability and gaming communities (both within and outside of UW), and measuring interest and preferences related to green games.
The feasibility study identified opportunities as well as challenges related to implementing green games on campus (see Appendix for full feasibility study results). Some of the most important opportunities uncovered by the feasibility study include demonstrating substantial interest in environmentally-themed games across the UW community, demonstrating potential to create games with moderate resources, and interest from other universities in using games to promote sustainability. Leveraging these opportunities, however, will require overcoming challenges also identified in the feasibility study. One of these is skepticism, particularly about digital games, which may be seen as antithetical to sustainability issues due to interfering with time in nature, being overly monetized, or even addictive. A second – and greater – challenge for implementing games to promote sustainability is competing in the “attention economy”, which includes a large marketplace of games for the purpose of making money. Environmental games geared toward raising awareness and promoting behavior changes have to compete with a well-financed industry vying for players. Finally, we still don’t know how effective games are in terms of educating and convincing players to actually modify future behavior.
The project team has taken many of the lessons learned from the feasibility study, and proposes to conduct a pilot campus gaming project with the following three objectives:
- Develop and test impact of games related to multiple environmental issues on campus
- Create a flexible engagement model for green games that can be built on in future years and deployed in many different events and venues
- Share knowledge and establish partnerships with other universities to help use green games on their campuses
Specifically, we will implement this pilot project over the course of the 2018-2019 academic year by developing games that engage students and encourage sustainable actions and thinking on four different environmental topics. The games will be deployed and promoted at six locations using mobile kiosks on campus over a six-week period (i.e., campaign), during which we will track engagement, player responses, and commitments to take on sustainability-based pledges. We will follow up with players two months following (via email) to evaluate follow-through and how impactful the gaming approach was to their learning and willingness to take positive action. In addition to the targeted campaign period, kiosks and individual games will also be used at special events, and for outreach in conjunction with project partners and stakeholders.
Lauren Kuehne
Project lead
- lkuehne@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Staff
Cailin Winston
Team member
- cailinw@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Student
Summary
Over the past year, a team consisting of a researcher and multiple students within the College of the Environment conducted a feasibility study to evaluate the potential of using games to promote more sustainable actions on campus (i.e., “green games”). The feasibility study consisted of a review of existing games, holding a game jam, and a survey to assess receptiveness and preferences of the UW community around green gaming. The feasibility study resulted in many positive outcomes, including development of multiple sustainability game prototypes, creating connections in the sustainability and gaming communities (both within and outside of UW), and measuring interest and preferences related to different types of green games across the UW community.
The feasibility study identified opportunities as well as challenges related to implementing green games on campus. The opportunities include substantial interest in environmentally-themed games across diverse demographics (age, area of study, student/staff/faculty status) at UW, the potential to create games with powerful messages using moderate resources, and potential to partner with industry, non-profits, and other universities that are interested in using games to promote sustainability.
Leveraging these opportunities, however, will require overcoming several challenges also identified in the feasibility study. The first of these is healthy skepticism, particularly of digital games, which may be seen as antithetical to environmental or sustainability issues due to interfering with time in nature, being overly monetized, or even addictive. A second – and greater – challenge for implementing games to promote sustainability is competing in the “attention economy”, which includes a large marketplace of games for the purpose of making money. Environmental games geared toward raising awareness and promoting behavior changes have to compete with a well-financed industry vying for players. Finally, there are still important unknowns with respect to using games to promote sustainability, namely demonstrating links between gameplay and willingness of players to actually modify future behavior.
The feasibility study also evaluated a range of incentives that made students, staff, and faculty more likely to engage with green games; somewhat surprisingly, competition and personal rewards were ranked as only moderately important. In contrast, realizing an environmental benefit and cooperation with other people were ranked as some of the most interesting potential game features. This and other information gained from the feasibility study places us in an excellent position to develop games that are more likely to appeal to a broad cross-section of the UW community and have effectively raise awareness or create changes in behavior over time.
As a result of conducting the feasibility study, this team is ready to implement a project that 1) creates and tests games related to multiple environmental issues, 2) tracks individual feedback and responses to link gameplay with changes in awareness and behavior, and 3) shares knowledge and establishes partnerships with other universities and colleges to help develop or use green games on their campuses.
Methods and outcomes
Engagement with the UW community will be primarily through the creation of four short, topical games that address environmental issues where students can have a positive impact through individual behavior change (e.g., water use, energy use, plastic reduction). These four games will be developed specifically for use on gaming stations that will be temporarily deployed (i.e., for 2-3 weeks at a time) in 4-6 high traffic areas on campus where the UW community can access them. Creating the kiosks as mobile stations will allow us to move them to different parts of the campus, maximizing accessibility and exposure. The UW community will be able to access the kiosks spontaneously and on their own; however, we will also conduct focused email, flyer, and social media campaigns on campus during the period that the kiosks are up with an incentive offered (e.g., having name put in a drawing for a gift card) to those who participate by playing through and giving feedback on at least one of the games.
One of the project goals is to assess the impact of different games on environmental awareness and potential to motivate behavior change over time, so the kiosk and games will be arranged to provide feedback and track responses. A player will be presented with a choice of the four games on different topics and choose one to start; this will result in information on whether certain topics are more attractive than others to players. After playing through the game, players will be asked to give some rapid feedback on how engaging the game was and how much their knowledge of the topic improved (i.e., Did awareness increase?). At this point, players will be given a short list of potential actions that they can elect to take around this issue; the choices will range from simple to more involved, such as a simple pledge to reduce consumption/use vs. opting to have additional information and actions emailed to them (i.e., Can games impact motivation and behavior?). The player can then elect to play through another short game or end the session and be entered into a drawing. Players will be required to give a UW email address for entry into the drawing, creating the potential to re-survey players at a later date.
Although we are designing this project to gain information that can guide development of future games, players will have little experience of being a “research subject”. The feedback sections will be designed to be short, engaging, and positive, and as a natural follow-on to the environmental games. One of the results of the feasibility study was that people are very interested in contributing to research via gaming approaches, so we anticipate that opportunities to give feedback will actually encourage more people to participate and play the kiosk games than otherwise.
Following the active period during which we are pushing traffic to kiosks, the gaming kiosks will be available as a temporary, interactive sustainability exhibit at locations around the UW campus (e.g., The Burke Museum) and/or during special events (e.g., UW’s Sustainability Festival). We are currently and would continue to reach out to partners on campus that could make use of this type of exhibit.
Outreach and partnerships
Based on contacts, interest, and feedback from the game jam and gaming survey from other universities and non-profit partners, we believe that there is widespread interest in this topic, and strong potential to partner with other universities to create campus-focused games that promote and encourage sustainability. For this reason, one of our major goals for this project is to produce results, information, and products that can help guide efforts or even be directly used at other campuses. We have therefore developed a focused plan to reach out and establish these partnerships:
- We are currently working to publish the results of the literature/gaming review, game jam, and survey as a short peer-reviewed (target journal: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education) or popular magazine article (e.g., UW Columns). Publishing these results will be an important step in establishing credibility and communicating the potential for green games for other universities and colleges across Washington State.
- We will use our results to reach out to campus sustainability units and faculty at Washington State colleges and universities, and invite partnerships to work together to implement gaming projects in other locations. Some of the opportunities for partnership include conducting a game jam elsewhere, replicating the green gaming survey, and/or temporarily installing the gaming kiosks at another university campus.
- We are currently working with multiple research groups on campus and non-profit agencies interested in using games to promote conservation (e.g., UW’s Freshwater Initiative, Cascade Water Alliance, The Nature Conservancy). These partners are willing to consult on design and development of topical environmental games for the kiosks, with the goal of repurposing some of the games afterwards to help advance their own conservation efforts.
The team
The project will be led by an enthusiastic and highly capable team. Lauren Kuehne is a Research Scientist at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, working on diverse issues of ecology, conservation, and innovative science communication. She led the recent year-long feasibility study to evaluate use of games to promote sustainability, a project that has delivered on all project outcomes while using only half of the total project budget. Cailin Winston is a sophomore at the UW that is majoring in biochemistry and currently considering a double major in computer science. She has a passion for tackling environmental issues and loves to come up with creative solutions to problems. Caleb Winston is currently a high school senior that will enter the UW in fall of 2018 with the intention of majoring in Computer Science. He has already developed and published a number of apps and games for the web, iOS, Android, and Amazon Echo/Alexa, including a recycling app (Sorted, available on multiple app stores). He has participated in multiple game jams including the world's largest, the Ludum Dare competition, where his entry was among the top 100 highest rated games internationally. Cailin and Caleb together participated as a team in the recent UW Sustainability Game Jam and created a game about electronic waste (Salvage), which won first place.
How this project meets the requirements and preferences of the Campus Sustainability Fund
Environmental impact
Environmental impact comes down not only to the actions that individuals make in any given day or time, but their willingness and commitment to practice sustainable behaviors over time, advocate for sustainability in their community or government, or even apply their professional skills and ingenuity to sustainability problems. As such, we believe that - by allowing people to connect with environmental issues in positive, creative ways – games can help people overcome despair that stands in the way of action. This project is about testing how games can create a diverse access to more sustainable actions and behaviors by a community to ultimately reduce impact in areas such as energy and water conservation, waste reduction, and pollution.
Student leadership and involvement
The project is co-designed and led by two undergraduate students who have already demonstrated extensive leadership and skills in addressing environmental sustainability through the innovative use of apps and games. Although both undergraduate leads are already highly accomplished in designing games and applying research-based approaches to sustainability efforts, this project will offer added, professional opportunities to develop their management, development, and leadership skills by producing highly tangible and published outcomes (e.g., games, articles/publications). In addition, we will continue to partner with student groups on campus that can contribute to project goals and outcomes. RSOs and student groups with whom we have worked during the feasibility study include UW GameDev Club, Husky Gamer Nation, UW Earth Club, UW SEED, Green Greeks, EcoReps, UW Bothell Sustainability Club, and the Sustainability Action Network. Students in these groups have contributed by volunteering, allowing us to present at club events or classes, participating in the game jam as developers and volunteers, and helping promote events and surveys.
We will also pursue opportunities to involve students in game development (e.g., students in the Earthgames class, Game Dev Club), beta-testing (Game Dev Club, HCDE Peeps), or in the gaming-impact evaluation stage (e.g., Information School or Program of the Environment capstone programs). One student group that has already committed to this project is UW’s Freshwater Initiative, a graduate student collective that spearheads research and outreach related to freshwater conservation; Freshwater Initiative is very interested in assisting in developing and promoting a game related to water quality and conservation.
In short, as with the feasibility study, the project is designed to create meaningful opportunities for students to contribute, lead, and develop their own ideas and initiatives related to green games.
Education, outreach, and behavior change
The main focus of the project is to develop games related to environmental topics where individual behavior changes can have a big impact. The games will be distributed on campus using mobile kiosks that maximize exposure; the games will not only serve to educate players but will also help us collect information about how games can link to changes in awareness, motivation, and behavior. Following the active kiosk period on campus, the kiosks and four games can be repurposed for use as temporary sustainability exhibits as well as use by non-profit partners in their conservation efforts. Results and products will be produced in ways that are readily shared with other colleges and universities for use in their campus community to promote sustainability.
Feasibility, accountability, and sustainability
Collectively, the team has all of the skills and expertise needed to effectively implement this project. Lauren Kuehne is a Research Scientist and a highly accomplished project manager with a strong history of collaborating with diverse academic and non-profit partners. As such, Ms. Kuehne would manage project outcomes and provide logistical support (e.g., apply for in-kind donations, permits), design response-impact surveys for games, and ensure all quality and research standards (e.g., human subjects research review) are met. Ms. Kuehne would also be in charge of reaching out to other colleges and universities, reporting/publications, and working with academic and non-profit partners. Cailin Winston is a biochemistry major with strong public communication skills, as well as creative talents in game design. Cailin will assist with project management, communication, and game design. Caleb Winston is an incoming UW student (CS major) with highly advanced skills in programming apps and games for both web and mobile platforms. Caleb will lead the creative and technical process of game development.
Project timeline
July 2018 – July 2019
Budget
Our final requested budget will depend on some factors that can’t be confirmed yet. One of these would be a decision of the Campus Sustainability Fund to allow us to rollover approximately $2,900 remaining in our budget from the feasibility study. If CSF allows us to use these remaining funds, the total additional requested for this project would be $16,028. However, this amount includes $3,000 in computer and technology costs (large tablet computers, a game development computer, cloud storage) that may be available through alternative avenues such as the Student Technology Fund, UW IT’s Cloud Computing Research Credits, and the Student Technology Loan Program. We are working to confirm the feasibility of using these alternative resources. The requested budget range is therefore $13,028 - $18,928.
Primary contact
Lauren Kuehne, lkuehne@uw.edu
Request amount and budget
How the project will react to funding reductions
At a 5% reduction to the total funding request, we would reduce the amount allocated to salaries for the project team, with a corresponding reduction in project outreach to partners. Specifically, we would de-emphasize our plans to reach out to other universities with project results and games. At a 10% reduction, we would add to the above by reducing the number of kiosk materials purchased (tablet and locking stands) to two instead of three; this would mean that kiosks would be in fewer locations simultaneously and for a shorter period of time. With a 20% reduction, we would add to the above by reducing the number of games addressing different environmental issues from four to three.
Plans for financial longevity
This project is designed as a pilot with careful evaluation of impact in the number of UW community members reached, success of the kiosk-based model for engagement, and success in using games to communicate and inspire people to take action around environmental issues. It is our hope that this model proves highly effective and could simply be refreshed and redone (on a much smaller budget) the following year, perhaps by creating updated games and pledges that bring focus to a different suite of environmental issues. If so, updating or creating new games for future years would be a great opportunity for a tangible project for students in the Earthgames class (we have already discussed this with Earthgames leadership).
However, during the project, we will also be looking at and considering options to “tweak” this model for greater effectiveness. For example, if games are effective at engaging students in residence halls, we could tie this approach into setting cooperative (or competitive) goals in dorms using the floor- and dorm-specific energy and water use data dashboards (http://www.buildingdashboard.com/clients/washington/). We are already in discussions with staff at HFS about this potential; if that is the best future direction, we would request funding from HFS to implement the campaign in future years. Similarly, we are planning to work closely with SEED as this project is related to past SEED efforts (e.g., One Thing Challenge); SEED may be interested in helping to implement a future campaign using this gaming engagement model.
In short, we are working with strategic partners to identify the best long-term project options. Toward this end, our goals are to demonstrate effectiveness of this model and create something that can be updated and re-used in future years on a substantially smaller budget, which would improve likelihood of obtaining funding from other sources.
Problem statement
Over the past years, the severity of environmental issues has increased, and the negative impacts of human activity on the environment become more evident. Reversing these harmful actions and implementing sustainable actions prove to be difficult, because such habits are ingrained into our daily lives and often embedded within larger economic or even political forces (e.g., The Clean Power Plan, The Paris Agreement). Consequently, we need to identify novel ways to instigate individuals within a community, such as the UW campus, to not only act in sustainable ways every day but to constantly become better eco-citizens.
We believe that – by allowing people to connect with environmental issues in positive, creative ways – games can help people overcome boredom, despair or habits of convenience that stand in the way of action. In addition to being fun, characteristics of games that help to communicate environmental issues include interactivity (i.e., players choose directions and outcomes), capacity to communicate process, and potential to incorporate storytelling and emotional content. As such, we believe that games offer largely untapped potential to help address the broader environmental issue of engaging and inspiring people to become better eco-citizens at multiple levels. This might include changing daily actions and habits, advocating for sustainability in their community or government, or even deciding to apply their professional skills and ingenuity to sustainability problems.
At a local (campus) level, we believe games have enormous potential to help individuals make the connection between their daily actions and meeting campus-wide goals. For example, the goal of reducing carbon emissions 36% below 2005 levels by 2035 (UW Climate Action Plan) can seem abstract to an individual; however, a game can help make links between daily actions of many individuals (e.g., turning off lights, personal cups) and real environmental progress at large scales. One of the important results of the feasibility study was that people were most interested in games that helped demonstrate or realize environmental benefits while also being fun to play (see Appendix). As such, we plan to create games that capitalize on these interests and preferences to help meet campus-wide goals and support existing campus initiatives. For example, our games – both content and specific actions that individuals can commit to - will be designed to help support the UW Climate Action Plan, the 2020 70% Waste Diversion goal, and sustainability priorities of Housing and Food Services department.
Measure the impacts
Direct project success will be readily measurable using three metrics, 1) the number of students, staff, and faculty that we reach through the gaming kiosks over the academic year, 2) the number and types of sustainable actions that players commit to doing, and 3) the rate at which people report on following through on their actions. All of these metrics will be captured as a result of deploying the gaming kiosks during the campus campaign (and other special events) and the follow up survey.
The number of students and faculty that engage with the project through our outreach in partnership with stakeholders (see Partners and Stakeholders) will be another way that we track and measure project success. For example, as a result of presenting this gaming project to students in the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge, a student entrepreneurial team may be inspired to further develop and expand on this model, or use gaming approaches in a project. Another avenue that we are pursuing includes outreach to other Washington State universities, so a measure of success would be partnering with another university campus to deploy the kiosks at another campus for a period of time. We will keep track of these types of interactions over the project duration to measure project reach and success.
Education and outreach goals
The games will be distributed on campus using mobile kiosks for a period of three weeks at a time in a total of six locations (i.e., the “campaign”). The games will not only serve to educate players but will also help us to collect information about how and if games can link to changes in awareness, motivation, and behavior. The kiosks will be placed in six high-traffic areas where people may have a few minutes of leisure to spare, such as coffee shops, food court areas, and/or community living areas in residence halls. We have identified a priority list of locations (Table 1) on campus based on traffic volumes and space to place a kiosk where it will be visible but not impede normal operations, and are currently working with staff at Housing and Food Services on permission and to determine their preferences in locating kiosks. Our goal is that 400-500 players will interact with each of the three kiosks over the entire six-week period.
The exhibit will be promoted (using signage and instructions) at each site to encourage players to engage spontaneously. However, during the six-week period, we will also promote the project using flyers, emails, and newsletter posts directed at departments in close proximity to the kiosks to encourage students, staff, and faculty to look for them, as well as promoting the entire six-week “campaign” via social media and blog posts. Throughout the campaign, there will be a gentle incentive to seek out kiosks and play through games, which is the opportunity to enter a drawing for gift cards.
Although not a final list, game topics that are top candidates as the focus of game development include water pollution, electronic waste, plastics, composting, and energy use. Since the games will be focused on specific environmental issues, this will allow us to strategically reach out to student groups about “adopting” and helping to promote one or more games during the campaign. For example, two student groups on campus that work on issues of water quality that have already committed to assisting in this way for a game related to water pollution. They are the outreach group SEAS (Students Explore Aquatic Science) and UW’s Freshwater Initiative (https://freshwater.uw.edu/about/), a graduate student collective that spearheads research and outreach related to freshwater conservation. As the game topics are finalized (summer 2018), we will reach out to other student and research groups on campus to request their “adoption” of a topical game leading up to and during the campus campaign.
In addition to the focused campaign period, we will also use the kiosks at multiple special events during the year. Planned events include UW’s Sustainability Festival and Earth Day Celebration; however, we anticipate that the kiosks will make an attractive temporary exhibit for additional special events on campus as the project progresses (e.g., opening of the new Burke Museum). Finally, we will work strategically with project partners and stakeholders (see below) to promote the project and games to students, staff, and faculty across campus that are interested in applying gaming approaches to promote sustainability.
Campus partners and stakeholders
The campus unit that we will work most closely with is Housing and Food Services (HFS). We are currently working with them on locations for game kiosks at high-traffic areas with a “captive audience” (e.g., coffee shops, community living spaces in residential halls). In addition to working with HFS on optimal locations and placement of kiosks, we also wish to work closely with them to align game content to support HFS’ sustainability priorities and/or integrate with their current efforts (e.g., meeting composting goals in eating areas).
Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED) are one of the most important RSOs that we will seek to work with, both to help us align the game content with sustainability efforts in residence halls and helping us create content that engages students. Although SEED is currently undergoing an annual change in leadership (see attached letter), we have worked with them as part of the feasibility study and are hopeful that the new leadership will want to continue collaborating.
The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship (Foster School of Business) is a priority project partner, given our strong desire to engage with entrepreneurs and change-makers at UW on the topic of environmental gaming. During the feasibility study, we engaged on an ad hoc basis with staff and students at the Buerk Center and Foster School of Business who were interested in environmental gaming approaches for promoting sustainability and/or creating businesses in more sustainable ways. For this project, we will work with Buerk Center staff to schedule specific events and opportunities for knowledge exchange, incorporating the games and mobile kiosks that we’ll produce. Some of these opportunities include: sharing knowledge and expertise in green games with classes and students (e.g., making presentations), bringing gaming kiosks to events associated with the annual Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge (http://depts.washington.edu/foster/2018-alaska-airlines-environmental-innovation-challenge/), or working with student teams who may want to collaborate on the gaming kiosks project.
The Center for Creative Conservation or C3 (under which Earthgames is housed) was a substantial partner during the feasibility study, helping to promote the game jam and survey. This project is an excellent fit for the mission and goals of C3, and we will again coordinate project activities with C3. We are also coordinating with leadership of Earthgames to share project resources and plan for project longevity. As with the Buerk Center, this will entail scheduling opportunities to intersect at specific points in the project timeline. Based on preliminary meetings with Earthgames leadership, this could include having students in the Earthgames class help with kiosk deployment, assist with beta-testing, and development or updating of games for future versions of the project. If we are required to purchase tablet computers for this project, our plan is to transfer ownership of these to Earthgames at the end of the pilot project to allow broader use over time by students and groups for sustainability or environmental gaming projects.
Student involvement
Student leadership and jobs
The project team includes three students, all of whom will play critical roles that will ultimately add substantially to their expertise, professional and leadership experience. Two undergraduate students will lead the majority of the creative game design and technical implementation, as well as assisting with all aspects of overall promotion and project management. A PhD student will consult on design of the evaluation component of the project, and gain access to research data that will support his PhD research in the process. Lastly, we will hire a student graphic designer to help with developing art assets for the games.
Student volunteers and partners
We will also pursue opportunities to involve students in the game development process (e.g., Earth Games class, Game Dev Club), beta-testing (Game Dev Club, HCDE, Earthgames), or in the gaming-impact evaluation stage (e.g., Information School or Program of the Environment capstone programs). As mentioned in the Education and Outreach section, we are planning to reach out strategically to student groups and research groups on campus working on specific environmental topics featured in the final games (i.e., water pollution, electronic waste, plastics, etc). Students in these groups would be invited to assist with helping develop game content/ideas, beta-testing, outreach, and promotion of specific games.
These efforts are in addition to strategically coordinating with specific project partners (see Stakeholders section) to reach UW students that are particularly interested in learning about or applying gaming approaches to promote sustainability.
Student participants
UW students will be able to play the games on the kiosks and can choose to receive a survey a few months later. By playing the games and completing the survey, students can both have a new experience related to sustainability as well as helping inform the process by which games can help shape environmental attitudes and behaviors.