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There are undoubtedly many different activities and games that groups could be involved in, as a whole or in some cases in sub-groups. Here we describe a selection identified by members around the country. Many will be thought provoking and serve to stimulate discussion between those involved. And many will serve a social function as well, since they are inevitably interactive and many can be fun.
The distinction between an ‘activity’ and a ‘game’ is often blurred, so we haven’t tried to rigidly distinguish them here. Some but not all have been tried by u3a groups or members. We would welcome feedback on those described and also recommendations for additions. They are listed here in no particular order.
Cick "back to top" to return to this list. Click below for a full description of each. Our current list includes:
• Comparing Countries – an interactive activity (click on this heading for the PDF)
• Climate Fresk – a facilitated workshop
• Financial Times Climate Game - an online ‘game’ that can be played by individuals or groups
• Balancing the Grid – an interactive on-line game that can be played by individuals or groups
• Climate Bingo – a quick and simple warm-up game (click on this heading for the PDF)
• A collection of quotes – a though-provoking exercise (click on this heading for the PDF)
• Open University ‘Open Learn’, Nature and Environment – a selection of on-line activities
• What can I do? activities – a group exercise providing plenty of scope for discussion
• The waste hierarchy – a short group exercise
• Games that you can buy – a selection.
Climate Fresk – a facilitated workshop
This involves a stimulating and challenging 3-hour facilitated workshop. The first of three stages involves participants arranging 42 cards, based on cause-and-effect relationships. The result is the ‘fresco’ (hence the name, which is based on the French – ‘Climate Fresk’ is a French non-profit organization founded in December 2018 whose aim is to raise public awareness about climate change.).
Climate Fresk is neutral and objective and uses only established scientific facts, based on IPPC reports. The methodology doesn’t involve an expert presenting information to the group - instead, it requires all participants to take an active role in the building-up of the ‘Fresk’, becoming participative learners.
As participants link the causes and effects of climate change, they are able to take a step back and understand the systemic nature of the challenges.
Apparently 1.7 million people have taken part in a Climate Fresk workshop, in 162 different countries, in 45 languages.
There are a dozen or so trained facilitators around the UK. For non-profit organisations (e.g. u3a) they can be free. Contact uk@climatefresk.org to request a workshop for your group. Each facilitator can work with up to 14 people. It may be possible to arrange for more than one facilitator if you have a larger group.
For more information see the Climate Fresk website at https://climatefresk.org/world/
Last updated: July 2024
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Financial Times Climate Game - an online ‘game’ that can be played by individuals or groups
https://ig.ft.com/climate-game
This game is based on real science and reporting — however, it is a game, not a perfect simulation of the future. It can be used as a learning tool and to stimulate discussion within a group.
‘Your goal - you need to keep global warming to 1.5C by cutting energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050… You must also deal with other greenhouse gases, and protect people and nature, for the planet to remain habitable.’
This game is based on published scientific research and bespoke modelling by the International Energy Agency for the FT. The questions in the game relate to the four sectors principally responsible for energy-related CO2 emissions — electricity, transport, buildings and industry — with answers having a direct impact on both emissions and global temperatures. To successfully limit global warming to below 1.5C to avoid the worst effects of the rise in temperatures, the player needs to decide on the best course of action for each sector.
For a better understanding of the game see the write-up on how they made the game: https://www.ft.com/content/6c405e69-a7da-4a36-a3eb-ff3e5aecc60f
And to help you (if you wish) there is a ‘cheat sheet’ at: https://www.ft.com/content/ff6c1eba-4111-44cf-b37d-01b477a3761d
This game can be played on a single laptop and/or projected; or it can be played by a number of people on their mobile phones (the game is available as an App). One climate group has reported that has worked well: ‘it engenders discussion and is adaptable to the numbers playing, as long as everyone has a smart phone with them. It can include discussion at the end of each of the three phases in the game as well as at the end. So the social/educational angles are covered.’ They aimed to synchronise each of the three phases of the game, so all participants stopped at the end of each phase, reviewed and discussed their results before they moved on.
Last updated: July 2024
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Balancing the Grid – an interactive on-line game that can be played by individuals or groups
https://www.nationalgrideso.com/what-we-do/balancing-grid-interactive-game
To give you some insight into the world of balancing the grid, the Electricity System Operator for UK developed a game where you can attempt to keep the grid stable while facing some of the challenges their control room operatives experience daily.
‘Your challenge is to balance electricity supply and demand using different sources of energy. Help the citizens of this city to receive the electricity they need for their daily activities.’
This game could be played on a single laptop and/or projected.
Last updated: July 2024
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Open University ‘Open Learn’, Nature and Environment – a selection of on-line activities
This on-line resource offers, in their words ‘hundreds of educational interactives, games, quizzes, videos and podcasts, plus 1000s of articles written by academic experts and guest contributors.’
The link below takes you to the ‘activities’ selection within the above resource: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/nature-environment/all-content?filter=date/grid/all/activities/all/all/all/all
There you will find 26 ‘activities’ covering a wide range of topics. Some of them are short (5-10 minutes) but could be good for stimulating discussion in a meeting. There are also much longer videos of illustrated talks. Topics range from things like energy, diet, waste and transport to an ocean explorer, a carbon calculator, and even instructions on how to make a thunderstorm predicting device!
Some of the items come with a caveat that they are quite old, but equally, some are very recent. Take your pick!
Last updated: July 2024
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‘What can I do?’ – a group exercise providing plenty of scope for discussion
This activity is based on the principle that the actions to tackle climate change or biodiversity loss that different people can undertake vary hugely and are strongly influenced by whether - or not - they have spare time and/or spare money.
The exercise described below provides material to stimulate ideas, reflection and discussion. It could readily be adapted for a meeting/meetings of a u3a group.
Climate change and biodiversity loss – ‘WHAT CAN I DO?’
This activity was carried out as an experiment during the 2023 Summer School run by the Countdown to CoP on-line group.
It proved its value as a group activity to stimulate ideas, reflection and discussion. It could readily be adapted for a meeting / meetings of a u3a group.
It is based on the principle that the actions to tackle climate change or biodiversity loss that different people can undertake vary hugely and are strongly influenced by whether - or not - they have spare time and/or spare money.
At the start of the Summer School, we put up five flip chart sheets with the following headings:
- Time poor, but well off.
- Spare time but not money.
- Short of both time and money.
- Spare time and money.
- Not dictated by spare time or money.
During the course of the following two days the participants were encouraged to make suggestions for actions under each heading, using Post-it notes.
Then on the last day participants used self-adhesive coloured dots to ‘vote’ for those suggestions which they thought would be the most impactful. Each person was rationed to 5 dots. With the benefit of hindsight, probably 5 dots per sheet would have produced more informative voting.
The results served to illustrate a wide range of ideas and provided a rich source of potential group discussions. In our experiment there were approximately 30 people involved. The act of deciding what to put up on Post-it notes and then the action of reading what other people had written (and noting which had more or fewer votes) provided plenty of scope for reflection and learning.
Last updated: July 2024
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The waste hierarchy – a short group exercise
This simple exercise could be used to stimulate discussion and better understanding of the complexities of waste management. Prepare cards with one of the various stages of the hierarchy on each. Shuffle the cards then place them on a table and as a group, arrange them in the correct order. There are many examples of diagrams showing the hierarchy, some more complex than others: Here’s a simple one:
For more examples click on the following: https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=the%20waste%20hierarchy%20diagram&addon=chrome&addonversion=6.0.3
Thanks to Terry Joiner for this idea.
Last updated: July 2024
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