Submitted Case Studies
91 Climate Smart: Transition Year Module
Anna Davies; Stephan Hugel; and Grainne Ryan
Institution(s) and Partner Organisations
- Trinity College Dublin
- An Taisce
Outline
The Climate Smart Transition Year (TY) unit has seven online workshops with short videos and multiple-choice questions that can fit within a single or double class. The module finishes with a serious game where students adopt the persona of mayor and invest in adapting their city to climate change. You can follow the TY module on one of two pathways, one focused on Dublin the other on Cork, and you can take the module either in English or Irish. Choose what suits your students best.
- Introduction to climate change adaptation and mitigation
- Flooding and climate change in Dublin
- Sensing, monitoring and predicting floods
- Mapping and visualising floods
- Adapting to our changing climate
- Approaches to adaptation
- Play the Climate Smart serious game
The Climate Smart serious game is an interactive map-based role play game embedded in the Climate Smart platform. Developed by Trinity College Dublin, it can be played on computers, tablets and smart phones. The game puts you in charge of Dublin in 2045 and your task is to create, consult on, and implement Dublin’s adaptation plans. You’ll need to manage future floods while protecting people’s safety and keeping your voters happy.
Evaluation of the module reveals statistically significant positive changes in terms of knowledge and agency. Findings are reported in a number of peer reviewed journals including: Playing for Keeps: Designing Serious Games for Climate Adaptation Planning Education With Young People | Article | Urban Planning.
Climate Smart was selected to participate in an EU showcase at the 2024 Education for Climate Day in Brussels and was a runner up at the Educational Games Based Learning Competition in 2024 in Aarhus, Denmark.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to:
- Describe the basic mechanisms of climate change [workshop 1]
- Understand why the earth has been warming more rapidly since the 1950 [workshop 1]
- Explain the difference between climate mitigation and climate adaptation, and how they are both needed when taking climate action [workshop 1&2]
- Discuss how climate change may affect the future of Ireland and society [workshop 2]
- Identify the different types of flooding that can occur, and what their causes are and how they will be affected by climate change [workshop 3]
- Demonstrate an understanding of how floods are sensed, mapped, and predicted in Ireland [workshop 4]
- Explain the differences between, and the advantages and disadvantages of, different climate adaptation mechanisms to counteract increases in flooding through climate change [workshop 5]
- Understand the processes of planning, consultation, revision and implementation that will be necessary to make just transitions to a climate resilient Ireland [workshop 6&7]
Teaching and Learning Approach
The module considers, social, economic and environmental dimensions of climate change adaptation. Multi-model methods are used to optimise learning opportunities for different types of learners, with videos (with subtitles), multiple choice questions, and text-based versions of the workshops available alongside the serious game. The concept of adaptative capacity and capabilities is used to structure the ESD learning. The results of this work are published in a peer review journal: Expanding adaptive capacity: Innovations in education for place-based climate change adaptation planning – ScienceDirect
Assessment Strategy
Students are assessed through in-workshop multiple choice questions. The capstone serious game provides an opportunity to test overall learning through leading adaptation investments in a city. Feedback is provided at the end of the game in terms of how well students adapted their city to climate change. Multiple game plays are possible to embed learning.
Impact and Outcomes
Statistically significant positive impacts on students knowledge and understanding of climate change adaptation were revealed through pre and post surveys of student participants. The results are reported here: Expanding adaptive capacity: Innovations in education for place-based climate change adaptation planning – ScienceDirect
Collaboration, Partnerships & Student Participation
Students, teachers, climate scientists, serious game designers and policy shapers all contributed to the design of the Climate Smart TY module. Students from Ringsend Community College were particularly pivotal in early ideation for Climate Smart. This led to the prototype of the serious game. Further refinement and development of the workshop videos and materials took place with students from ten schools in Dublin in 2022. The refined resources were rolled out across 40 schools in Dublin, with schools in Cork contributing to the development of a new geographical pathway through the module focused on that area. COGG were commissioned to translate materials into Irish to ensure accessibility for Irish Schools. Overall more than 4320 students have followed Climate Smart to completion with 82 schools and 110 teachers participating from across the country, and even some schools overseas following the programme.
Disciplines
- Education
- Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics
- Social Sciences, Journalism and Information
Best Practices & Resources
Top Tips
- Teachers should familiarise themselves with the teachers handbook and have a go at playing the game in advance of running the unit with students.
- Make sure to look at the ‘hands-on’ activities that are listed in the handbook to break up the online video workshops. Activities include developing a flood awareness poster for your school.
Useful Resources
Email: [email protected]
Explore the climate smart platform: www.climatesmart.ie
Funding Details
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Grant Agreement No. 713567, and financial support from Science Foundation Ireland under Grants No. 21/DP/9560 and 22/DP/10421.
