Volume 12, Number 4

Reforming Education for Sustainability: The Contribution of Serious Games to Address Risk Communication for Resilience. An Illustrative Example Focused on Tsunami Events

  Authors

Steven Hawthorn¹, Rui Jesus² and Mariana Baptista³, ¹Univer, NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal, ²Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Portugal, ³Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

  Introduction

This article explores the potential contribution of serious games in improving environmental risk communicationin view of reformingEducation for Sustainability(EfS) using a serious game.Following concerns related to the apparent weakness of EfS in providing transitional skills towards resilient and sustainable societies, we present some pedagogical approaches as the basis for learning processes when designing and building a serious game prototype. We explain why both targeting children and embracing uncertainty in the context of risk is strategic, and why using a serious game as a learning vehicle is particularly relevant in the context of an information and communication technology (ICT) reliant society.The article suggests how the use of key messages in an adventure game format could address other natural hazards. It demonstrates the potential of certain dimensions of ICTs in helping to adapt learning to the classroom environment and in generating both practical skills and long-term positive impacts in society.

  Keywords

Education for Sustainability; Disaster Risk Reduction; Uncertainty; Action oriented learning; Skills for sustainability; Serious Games