Games help students engage with food system concepts

One of our students has been awarded a £5,000 Student Experience Grant from the University of Edinburgh to further develop her team’s public engagement. 

The initiative, titled Feeding the future: student-led ‘Serious Games’ for sustainable food systems, is part of the broader TRAnsforming the DEbate About Livestock Systems Transformations (TRADE) project. 

The project, led by PhD student Kirsty Blair, aims to creatively simulate complex global food systems and foster understanding and dialogue around the challenges of sustainability.

This achievement builds on the foundation of a £1,500 GeoSciences Research Impact and Public Engagement (RIPE) Fund awarded to support the TRADE team’s engagement activities, demonstrating the growing recognition and potential of this innovative work.

Games for sustainability

The Serious Games initiative aims to develop and expand educational tools. The team has already created resources such as an interactive game show and a food sustainability card game. 

The centrepiece of this expansion is the development of an arcade-style Whac-A-Mole game, designed to simulate decision-making in food systems. 

Players must balance competing priorities – such as environmental sustainability, health, productivity, and animal welfare - while managing the ripple effects of their choices. 

To broaden accessibility, the team aims to digitise its games, making them available for online use in hybrid courses and other educational contexts. 

“As this initiative is designed by students for students, those involved in the project stand to gain valuable public engagement and science communication experience, while also developing educational tools for future students to benefit from and learn about food systems and sustainability” –Kirsty Blair, PhD student, Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems.

From idea to classroom 

In March, these games will be incorporated into real-life classrooms as part of an Edinburgh Futures Institute postgraduate programme at the University, marking a step toward integrating these tools into formal education. 

With plans to make these resources openly accessible, the team hopes to see them used in schools, universities and public events nationwide. These plans follow a successful trial of some of the interactive games at the Glastonbury Festival’s Science Futures area last summer.