How can learners experience the long-term consequences of decisions that seem attractive today?
Bloom and Trade is a serious game that uses an economic and sustainability context to let participants experience the complexity of decision-making. Instead of learning about sustainability only through theory, players make decisions, respond to changing circumstances and experience how their choices influence the development of the system over several rounds.
The game creates a learning environment in which economic, environmental and social considerations interact. Decisions that may appear beneficial in the short term can have different consequences later in the game. Players therefore have to look beyond immediate results, reconsider their strategies and discuss what a more sustainable pathway could look like.
This experiential approach connects strongly with the GreenComp framework, particularly with systems thinking and envisioning sustainable futures. Players explore the relationships between different factors, experience uncertainty and compare possible outcomes created by their own decisions.
An important part of the learning process is reflection. After the game, participants can look back at the choices they made and discuss questions such as: Which decisions shaped our outcome? What did we prioritise? What consequences did we overlook? And what would we do differently if we could start again?
Bloom and Trade demonstrates how serious gaming can make abstract sustainability challenges tangible. Rather than presenting learners with one predefined 'correct' sustainable future, the game creates space to explore alternatives, make trade-offs and experience consequences.
The underlying approach can also be adapted to other educational contexts and sustainability challenges. This makes serious gaming not only a tool for engagement, but also a practical method for developing sustainability competences and futures thinking.
Please log in or sign up to comment.