When this email is sent out to email subscribers, I will be in Vienna preparing to host the European Geoscience Union’s unofficial Games Day. Since 2018, we have held both our Games for Geoscience session and the Geoscience Games Night on the Wednesday of the conference. For more details about what this is all about revisit last month’s newsletter or check out my website.
Whilst preparing for the conference has kept me busy for the last few weeks, I’m beginning to look forward to what comes after. In the immediate future, I will be in York on April 22nd at the Play For Planet meeting, organised by the Environmental Sustainability at York (ESAY) of the University of York. I’ll be presenting on the spaces where games and models meet. I hope to share it with you in some form after the meeting too.
I’ve also been working on writing up some research I did when I worked for the Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull, where I am still a visiting researcher. My focus over the summer will be on finishing some model developments I did to further our understanding of the hydrological and geomorphological impacts of glacial retreat in the Peruvian Andes - an example animation of model runs can be seen below.
To help support my science communications activities - things like running my website, getting to meetings, and buying new kit for videos - I need to start bringing in an income for it. Later this year I will be launching a new project, Practical Sci-comm, that will focus on providing advice to researchers on using science communication techniques to develop themselves and their careers. The main activities will be workshops I will deliver, supported by free resources.
To keep up to date on developments make sure you’re subscribed to this newsletter and following my social media. Please do get in touch if there’s something in particular you’d like me to cover.
Rooted in Crisis is a an anthology of eco-horror tabletop roleplay games. Each game has been co-produced by environmental scientists, practitioners, and professional games writers. I was involved in The Forgotten City along with my wife, Amy, and brilliant writer Gabriel Robinson. Read our blog on the project website to learn more.
News
Evaluating creative activities, including using games to promote and inspire positive environmental actions, is notoriously difficult. You’re often trying to assess abstract concepts using quantitative methods - it’s like shoving square pegs into round holes. A new paper from the Creative Practices for Transformational Futures (Creatures EU) project proposes an innovative and promising new ‘9 Dimensions’ methodology. Check it out here.
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the UK has launched a new game, CityZen, to encourage young people to see the value of civil engineering careers to society. ICE uses the game with secondary school students with the programme now in its second year. Read more about it here.
How can art act as a catalyst for transforming the way people understand and act towards water and climate issues? This new pre-print paper by lead author Louise Arnal explores this using experiences from the Virtual Water Gallery.
Issue 16 of Consilience, the online journal uniting science and the arts, is now out with the theme of ‘colour’. Issue 17 will have the theme of ‘Language’ and the call for submissions is open now.
Want to play a game all about the water cycle? Support a new Kickstarter from the Center for Learning through Games & Simulation to bring Hydrological Cycle into production.
Can you learn about climate change whilst playing Pokemon? New research in Geoscience Communication by lead author Lewis Alcott explores the Anthro-Pokecene! Read the pre-print here.
Games for Change (G4C) are celebrating Earth Month by spotlighting games that promote sustainability and environmental well-being. Follow along with this Twitter thread.
Events
The Games for Change Festival is one my annual highlights. It focusses on the use of games for making positive societal impacts. Even though I've never made it to New York (yet!), they usually have great online content alongside the conference and sessions are posted on to their YouTube channel. This year's Festival will be June 27-28 2024. Details here.
Are you a Postgraduate Researcher working on games for the environment? The Interactive Games Postgraduate Research Conference 2024 will be held on July 12th at York St John's University. They are looking for submissions for 10 minute presentations with a deadline on May 24th. Find out more in this Tweet.
Environmental Sustainability at York (ESAY), The University of York, UK, are hosting the Play for Planet conference (not to be confused with Playing for the Planet) on April 22 2024. Details and tickets here. My abstract has been accepted for the conference and I will also be demoing a classic desktop version of Humber in a Box.
Opportunities
A call for proposals is open for the Digital Gaming and Values meeting by the International Academy for the Study into Gaming and Religion. This hybrid meeting will be online and live at the University of Bremen, Germany, on September 28th 2024. It is aimed at early-career researchers and graduate students. Deadline to apply is July 1st 2024. Find out more and apply here.
Another call for proposals, this time for Game Over – Dystopia x Utopia X Video Games at the University of Salzburg, November 14-16th 2024. Abstract deadline is April 30th 2024. Find our more here.
Cool Stuff
Preserve is a relaxing puzzle game where players place plants and animals to create flourishing eco-systems. It is currently in development to be released later in 2024 but you can play a demo on Steam now.
Want a free Science Communication textbook? Sam Illingworth and Grant Allen have you covered. To celebrate the release of the 3rd Edition of Effective Science Communication, you can get a free digital copy of the 2nd Edition after completing a short survey.
This month in Floodology
There is not much to update you on this month because I have not managed to post a new video. There are a few reasons. Firstly, I’ve been on holiday from my day job and I really needed a proper break. Second, with the time I’ve had I have focussed on preparing for EGU. Thirdly, last month’s video did so poorly, one of my worst performing videos yet, I just felt really discouraged and uninspired. However, I am planning numerous videos around the EGU conference itself, so the coming month should be a lot busier for Floodology.
However, some uplifting news, one of my earliest videos has been picking up regular views, more than double this month than my latest video, and has now broken 500 views. So, why not enjoy this blast from the archives instead.
About this Newsletter
I make this newsletter voluntarily because I think games have a big role to play in improving the environment and making people more resilient to disasters, like flooding. I see a lot of things happening in this space but it is disparate and needs a community - I hope this newsletter brings you closer to someone with similar interests and builds collaborations.
Please support me by subscribing. It is free and I don’t offer a paid tier. It will be emailed to you on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.
Chris