The Alb-Donau District Future Box – an interactive game about the future of water
As part of the ESD project “Future Box Alb-Donau District,” an interactive game project has been developed in collaboration with various educational stakeholders, local authorities, teachers, and other regional partners: “Tröpfle's [“Droplets”] Water Adventure in the Alb-Donau District.”
The game
The game focuses on SDGs 4 (quality education), 6 (clean water and sanitation), 12 (sustainable consumption and production), 13 (climate action), and 14 (life below water) and teaches players about water in a fun way: It deals with the origin of water, water as a nutrient, and the resource-efficient use of water. “Virtual water,” i.e. the hidden water required for the production of food or products, is also addressed. The game developers paid particular attention to the regional relevance of the content. The game also aims to reinforce the idea of cooperation (“Playing together, not against each other!”). During the game's development, the idea arose that a character could guide players through the game – and so “Tröpfle” was born, a name rooted in the regions dialect.
“The Tröpfle character always starts with regional scenarios: What does a sustainable future look like in the Alb-Donau district? What does that mean for me and my everyday life?” explains Matthias Wittlinger, head of the Education and Sustainability Department at the Alb-Donau district office, where the Regional Education Office is located. “In this way, the SDGs, which are often perceived as abstract, can be conveyed in a concrete, tangible, and constructable way—which is exactly what education for sustainable development is all about. Global responsibility is thus very specifically localized.” In the context of global water scarcity, the game shows how water resources can be used responsibly at the regional level.
The analog game is designed as an exit game with different levels of difficulty and consists of five areas. It uses puzzles, logic riddles, dice games, and painting activities to engage the players. Thus, the game not only aims to impart knowledge, but also promotes sustainable action skills, e.g., how to save water and awakens the urge to explore. At the end of the game, players can call themselves “water experts” and are encouraged by Tröpfle to share their knowledge and insights with others.
The project involved the production of ten game boxes, which are available to borrow free of charge. The contents of the game box are coordinated with the educational plans of primary and secondary schools. This means that the game box can be used both in class and for extracurricular activities. The box is therefore not only aimed at school classes, but also at providers of summer camps or integration courses, and can also be used in open youth work or in sports clubs.
Creation process and effort
A project group began creating educational material with regional relevance in 2022. The collaboration took place in an interdisciplinary project working group. Under the leadership of the Regional Education Office, teachers, members of the local civil society, and participants from municipalities in the district coordinated the preparatory work for the creation of the game. They developed initial sketches that served as the basis for the content. The participants then tested the game with different target groups from children's and adult education. The box was finally designed by a design agency, which presented its initial ideas to the game initiators in April 2023.
Public relations were conducted via the Alb-Donau district website and local media. To promote the game, a digital kick-off event as well as an analog presentation at a secondary school were held in September 2023.
Ten game boxes were produced during the project phase, and an accompanying manual has now also been completed. The game can be borrowed free of charge by schools and clubs from the Regional Education Office.
Two employees from the district administration office spent around 80 hours each coordinating the production process. The State Agency for the Environment from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, where the Alb-Donau-District is located, provided €17,000 in funding for the development of the game.
Challenges and lessons learned
The funded project period was too short to complete the project, especially for finalizing the handbook. Nevertheless, the project will continue to be supported and expanded even after the funding phase has ended. The game box forms the basis for further projects including a digital version.
The collaboration has also resulted in new and promising project structures. The project group participants will be able to draw on the expertise of the network for future projects. In addition to shared goals and mutual exchange, one of the most important conditions for networks to function is trust – and successfully implementing a project like this helps to build it.
[Text by Tibor Manal/ Translation by Lea Schütze with support from DeepL]
