GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Educators Summit: Teaching Games with Games IX: Climate Crisis
Patrick LeMieux (Associate Professor, University of California, Davis)
Stephanie Boluk (Associate Professor, University of California, Davis)
Ben Abraham (Researcher and Consultant, AfterClimate)
Katherine Buse (Assistant Professor, University of Chicago)
Alenda Chang (Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara)
Pablo Quarta (Narrative Designer and Producer, Matajuegos)
Bart Simon (Professor, Concordia University)
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Educators
Format: Panel
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
In 2025, we live in an era of climate emergency on one hand and psychological detachment on the other and games play a part in both. But instead of simply accepting the energy costs and escapist fantasies associated with games, what are some ways our teaching can "stay with the trouble" as Donna Haraway suggests. After all, games offer a unique platform for modeling, simulating, and visualizing climate change while also directly contributing to global emissions, energy costs, and heat. Considering both the ways that games represent climate change as well as strategies for unplugging from or degrowing game technology, we invite six educators to share a single activity, exercise, technique, or tip that changed the climate of their classroom.
Takeaway
Considering the unique challenges of teaching games in an era of global climate change, audience members will hear microtalks from a panel of experienced game educators and come away with concrete examples of sustainable, slow, or degrown teaching activities.
Intended Audience
This presentation welcomes educators of all levels and teaching contexts, as well as game designers and industry professionals navigating the impacts of climate change in and around games.
