Strategies Horizon

Well, for better or for worse the 🇪🇺 EU's #Omnibus bill draft text is now out in the world, and there's a lot to talk through. Join us online next Tuesday to hear from the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF)'s Jari-Pekka Kaleva and the Sustainable Games Alliance's Yours Truly on what the landscape looks like now, and where to for sustainability in the games industry. Would love to see you there!

In the EU Horizon project STRATEGIES (https://lnkd.in/d_6cBiii) it is fantastic that Jonathan Skjøtt started as our PhD student yesterday. He is included in Work Package 7, Game Design for CCI training’ (WP7), which will support the understanding and delivering the goals of the European Green Deal. Taking a participatory design approach, WP7 will create a game that aims to communicate the goals of the European Green Deal. Further, WP7 will generate new knowledge relating to evaluations of user engagement with sustainability goals. Warmly welcome to Jonathan in STRATEGIES, and at Aalborg University (Copenhagen) in the research unit Media Innovation and Game Research (https://lnkd.in/dXusahir). We (Thomas Bjørner and Piotr Kubiński) are looking very much forward to be the supervisors.

So excited to work with the new board! Stacked with talent 🤩

We lack a wealth of possible futures in games because game developers lack a wealth of possible (hopeful) futures in their realities right now. Last October, I gave a talk at the Future and Reality of Gaming Conference in Vienna in which I argued that the reason why many games perpetuate the same narratives about possible #futures is that game developers themselves are not seeing many possible futures for themselves right now. This talk was my first attempt at drawing my own lines between #futuresliteracy and #gamedev and it was really fun to prepare. I have since refined this talk, so you may see some other versions pop up here and there, but this is the OG version - and I am immensely grateful to Natalie Denk and the team behind the Zentrum für Angewandte Spieleforschung for letting me use their stage to give my ideas some room to breathe and resonate. https://lnkd.in/efUw_Zyt

Immersive experiences, follow-up. Yesterday, I participated in the VR leadership workshop Earth from Space (with facilitator Egbert Mulder). Starting from the idea that the ‘Overview Effect’ creates planetary awareness, we discussed the importance of multilevel system thinking (biosphere, atmosphere, oceans), long term activation and personal engagement to address the climate crisis. An amazing experience in an amazing setting, De Groene Afslag, Laren (de Veranderschool - School for Change - is also located there). Circular Leadership already organized more than 750 workshops with 25.000 participants.

The SGA is now accepting game industry service providers and others “that derive a significant part of their revenue from games” so that we can expand the knowledge base and help more parts of the industry.

Interesse in ‘Groene games’? In het magazine KIJK (4/2025) vertel ik over de positieve en negatieve impact van games en de game-industrie op het klimaat; in de winkel op 13 maart.

After 20 years of championing games and immersive media for social good, I’m proud to share the first-ever Games for Change Impact report! What started as a small gathering in NYC has grown into a global movement, with our 2024 initiatives reaching more than 140 countries worldwide. This year marked several milestones for G4C - from our second Games & SDG Summit, bringing UN agencies and games industry innovators together to tackle global challenges, to beginning the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the G4C Student Challenge, where young creators address real-world issues they see in their communities. We’ve seen firsthand how games can transform conversations, inspire action, and create meaningful change across sectors and generations. Check out the report at the link below to explore what we achieved in 2024, and join us in shaping what’s next for games and social innovation. Please get in touch; we’d love to explore partnerships for 2025 to make an even greater impact!

INSTINCT3 has become the first German company to join the Sustainable Games Alliance (SGA), according to its own statement. For the influencer marketing agency—now also operating as a game publisher—joining the alliance marks an important step toward making its business more sustainable, even though it is not yet subject to the EU’s new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) regulations, as Maria Wagner and Jasmin Oestreicher confirm. https://lnkd.in/dGfRRjGf

Our researchers will be at the University of York tomorrow, sharing their work on game hacking and climate action! https://lnkd.in/eMQCvbRU