Background

“Play Again!” is a play-based education initiative aiming to strengthen youth resilience and capacity for collective action to address interconnected environmental and social crises. Through games, workshops, and modular learning materials, the project aims to develop experiences where meaningful action is fostered.

The project builds on “Future Builders”, a cooperative board game developed for youth, and tested by youth, educators, and youth workers. It focuses on channeling eco-anxiety into individual and collective pro-environmental action by fostering self- and collective efficacy. Research shows that playful, collaborative learning can reduce feelings of helplessness while increasing engagement, well-being, and environmental connectedness.

“Play Again!” follows a rights-based methodology: identifying relevant challenges together with youth and educators, developing educational tools, testing and refining them through feedback, and disseminating them across different learning contexts where they could be adjusted based on context-specific needs. The project is transdisciplinary, combining expertise from environmental science, pedagogy, educational psychology, game design, and science communication, and involves partners from multiple Swiss universities.

By strengthening educator capacity and providing scalable, adaptable tools, “Play Again!” aims to contribute to addressing the polycrisis and support young people in becoming active changemakers in their communities. We believe in the power of games to make a change!