Ecoclub, together with its Czech partners Nadace Partnerství, is working on adapting the educational simulation game Adapterra for use in Ukrainian communities. Thanks to this tool, communities will be able to discuss and plan climate change adaptation measures more effectively: from preparing for heat and flooding to solving the problem of water scarcity.
How the game works
Adapterra is a simulation game developed by the Czech environmental foundation Nadace Partnerství. Participants receive a map of a real or fictional community with climate challenges, as well as cards with possible solutions to those challenges and a budget for implementing them. The task is to jointly decide which measures will most effectively help the community prepare for climate risks, place them on the map (“implement” them) and reach agreement among themselves.
Each player has their own role: the community mayor, the head of the economic department, a café owner, and even a grandfather who dreams of his grandchildren swimming in the river again. Everyone has different interests, yet they all have to agree on a solution that suits everyone. The game clearly shows that adaptation solutions are concrete measures that can be discussed, planned and gradually implemented. And the best result is achieved when they complement one another.
Why Ukrainian communities need such a tool
Ukrainian communities are already facing the consequences of climate change today, and the war only intensifies these challenges. At the same time, the topic of adaptation remains difficult to discuss widely, especially outside professional circles. The game helps to talk about and explain it in practice — through jointly searching for and making decisions, and understanding that adaptation is, above all, comfort and safety for every resident of a community.
«It is important for us that Adapterra is understandable not only to specialists but to everyone interested. We hope the game will be used when developing community climate change adaptation strategies, adaptation action plans, trainings, meetings with communities, lessons for pupils and students, as well as events for activists and civil society organisations», — says Anastasiia Yakhniuk, project coordinator.
How the work on adapting the Adapterra game is going
On 12 May in Lviv, Ecoclub held a meeting with representatives of civil society organisations, activists and climate experts. Participants first played by the original rules and then jointly developed recommendations: which adaptation solutions to add to the Ukrainian version, which roles to include and how to explain the rules to different audiences.
«During the meeting we saw which elements of the game are worth changing so that it works better for Ukrainian audiences. For example, adding measures for de-sealing surfaces and changing approaches to mowing, while reducing the number of measures for installing various types of green walls and roofs. It is important for us not simply to translate or transfer a ready-made tool, but to adapt it to the real challenges that communities in Ukraine face», — says Yevheniia Dmytrenko, project manager.
Work on developing the Ukrainian version of the game will continue for a few more months, but interested communities can already submit an application to take part in the game. To do so, send an email with the subject “Adapterra Game” to office@ecoclubrivne.org
The NGO “Ecoclub” is a member of the PAABS consortium. PAABS is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) within the framework of the International Climate Initiative (IKI); the project is supported and coordinated by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. PAABS stands for “Support to Ukraine in implementing the Paris Agreement and adapting to the impacts of climate change in the Black Sea region”.