NEWSROOM

Game on! Unleashing sustainability students’ innovative potential

12 January 2021

A project that asks students of sustainability to develop an educational game has been developed as an engaging and innovative way to help students apply their learning.

Participants are students of The Sustainable Community, the second in a three-course sustainability teaching module for Science and Arts students. The module is solution focused and aims to get students thinking about sustainability solutions from an interdisciplinary perspective. As part of the course, students work in teams to design a game that teaches some aspect of sustainability to a chosen population. It may be a board game, an online game, a card game or a game that is played in real spaces.

Participants have access to expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship education and prototyping capability through the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Through support from the Centre’s Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows Programme, teams have been enabled to source materials for construction, marketing, testing sessions and have a paid student coordinator to manage project logistics.

Professor Niki Harre says “Participants of this project have already undertaken two courses in sustainability so have considerable understanding of the theory of sustainability. This funding provides a very timely opportunity for them to take the knowledge and skills they have developed through classroom exercises and test themselves in a real-world setting. They will have an opportunity to try out their ideas on the intended audience in the game testing sessions, and will need to respond to feedback in an iterative process. By developing a proposal or marketing strategy for their game they will need to consider the unique niche that their game offers, who it is likely to interest and why it will appeal to them. Furthermore they will be encouraged to ensure they do not lose sight of the original brief for the game which is to teach sustainability principles.”

Support through the Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows Programme has been generously funded by the founders of Hynds Pipe Systems.  The programme has been established to deliver innovative and entrepreneurial curricula across the University of Auckland through its Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Teaching Fellow Peter Rachor, who leads the programme, says “The premise of the Hynds initiative is to offer students a chance to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and enhance their solutions-seeking capability. These skills help to leverage the wide variety of arts and sciences disciplines to address societal and economic challenges, enhancing their employability, global citizenship and awareness of grand challenges. Through having the opportunity to develop tangible skills in innovation and entrepreneurship, students have far more capacity to be bold and brilliant in the future and make real something that was previously unimagined.”

Unleash Space has equipment, online tutorials, and technicians available to consult with in bringing your own ideas to life. Free for all students and staff of the University of Auckland. Find out about opportunities to unleash your potential.