ECCI - Escape Climate Change Initiative

INTRODUCTION

The last decade has seen growing mobilization for climate issues through demonstrations, especially among young people. School and climate marches illustrate this commitment of younger generations to what is considered one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.

A Eurobarometer survey confirms the general feeling of "increased climate awareness and political engagement among Europeans aged 15 to 30." Furthermore, the survey reveals that students "believe that climate change, the environment, and green behavior should receive greater attention in schools."

In this context, the European Erasmus+ Escape Climate Change Initiative (ECCI) project aims to raise awareness and encourage action among pupils, teachers, students, and administrative staff through an innovative pedagogical initiative based on an escape game. The goal is to facilitate participants' cooperation to co-create concrete solutions to the identified problems.
This European project will be developed and tested in four countries: Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

1. Raise awareness among students, teachers, and staff in lower secondary schools about climate change and the emergency. This indirectly should reach and raise awareness among those beyond the school walls.
2. Develop an innovative game-based learning approach through an escape game and demonstrate its relevance and effectiveness in achieving pedagogical objectives. Students should gain new knowledge and develop essential skills through this experience.
3. Enhance student empowerment by co-designing the initiative, experiencing the game, and developing an action plan that they can share widely with other students from different schools, including other European countries.
4. Develop and test a hybrid and flexible method to provide schools with a turnkey initiative, whether remote or in-person.
5. Involve teachers and ANE staff in co-designing the initiative from scratch to better meet their expectations.

To implement the ECCI project, two main deliverables are expected upon project completion and will remain available in open access even after the project's end:

1. The ECCI toolkit, which includes all pedagogical tools such as guidelines, technical content, and digital materials for all phases.
2. Two escape room games, one analog and one digital.

Methodology and Key Milestones

This project will last 36 months, from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024, to implement the project's seven outcomes (RP). It will develop and test the five different phases of ECCI, comprising the ECCI toolkit: teacher preparation, student preparation, game phase, debriefing phase, and action and sharing phase. Two main tests will constitute key project milestones.

Climate Wardens: the digital game

The ECCI digital game is an interactive gaming experience designed to educate players about the challenges of urban resilience in the face of climate change. Players embark on a journey to address three critical issues facing a fictional city: mobility, urban green spaces, and housing. Through a series of puzzles and challenges, players navigate increasing levels of complexity to unlock emergency solutions and progress toward creating a more resilient city.