Globally, exponential population growth has increased public demand and pressures on natural resources, and consequently, terrestrial, biological and human ecosystems have suffered. Therefore, it is important that people understand the impacts they have on the environment and to encourage them to adopt more sustainable and pro-environmental behaviours. To accomplish this, there has been an emphasis on educating future generations through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) within the National Curriculum using unique ways of capturing student engagement such as through Game Based Learning. However, as students’ progress through the education system the incorporation of, and engagement with, ESD diminishes. Therefore, this article examines and evaluates the effectiveness of game design and development in learning about and promoting sustainable and pro-environmental behaviours in Higher Education (HE) students.
In 2020, University of Lincoln third year Geography students were tasked with creating an environmental game based on an environmental issue of their choice. Upon completion of the game designs, the students were surveyed to ascertain whether the game design and development process deepened their knowledge and understanding of environmental issues and as such impacted their sustainable and pro-environmental behaviours. Results indicate that most of the students found the creativeness and uniqueness of the assessment style to be engaging and that, to some extent, the game design and development assessment did positively impact their sustainable and pro-environmental behaviours. This article adds new empirical insights into the ways in which game design and play can contribute to encouraging pro-environmental behaviour in HE students.
