STRATEGIES Project Launch Event
This week saw the launch of our Horizon Europe/UKRI-funded project STRATEGIES (Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industries). The event took place at Utrecht University on the 17th and 18th of April, bringing together many of the colleagues from the NGOs, game companies, and universities that make up the STRATEGIES consortium. We were also delighted to welcome colleagues from two of Horizon-funded sister projects, PACESETTERS (Powering Artistic and Cultural Entrepreneurship to Drive the Climate Transition) and CRAFT IT 4SD (Craft Revitalization Action for Future-proofing the Transition to Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Development).
Wednesday 17th April
On Wednesday morning, we opened the project with a public event celebrating the publication Ecogames: Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis (Amsterdam University Press, 2024). The Ecogames volume, which began life as a symposium at Utrecht University in 2021 and which includes chapters by many consortium members, kickstarted STRATEGIES and its launch, marked by a series of talks by its authors, made a fitting opening to the project. The afternoon saw the public launch of the STRATEGIES project, which took place alongside talks from two related Horizon projects, CRAFT-IT4SD (introduced by Kurt Svegård) and PACESETTERS (introduced by: Florian Schneider and Mari Sanden).
Thursday 18th April
Thursday’s meeting was for STRATEGIES partners and associates, bringing together representatives from Aalborg University, Charles Games, Dutch Game Garden, Goat Gamez, TH Köln, University of Malta, Manchester Metropolitan University, Mighty Boards, Neogames, SpielFabrique, Plasticity Studios, Utrecht University, and the University of Warsaw. Following a welcome address by Professor Sven Dupré, the second day saw consortium members meet with representatives from the European Commission (Vyzika Melpomeni and Giuliana Defrancesco) ahead of a day of presentations detailing the work to come over the next eighteen months.
Led by Chloé Germaine (Communications Lead - Manchester Metropolitan University), Joost Raessens (Project Coordinator - Utrecht University) and Paul Wake (Scientific Lead - Manchester Metropolitan University), STRATEGIES is one of three Horizon-Europe funded projects within the programme “Cultural and creative industries for a sustainable climate transition.” Focussing on the key role the cultural and creative industries are playing in shaping culture, values and perceptions, STRATEGIES has a twofold focus:
Reducing the ecological impact and harm of game development, distribution, and consumption, for example by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Making the gaming industry cleaner and greener.
And supporting game developers in using ecogames to engage diverse audiences with the climate crisis and sustainable futures; supporting the potential of the game industry to change players’ hearts and minds.
Working together with colleagues in other research groups and with partners in Europe’s cultural and creative industries, we will make a positive contribution to Europe’s just and sustainable climate transition.
This project has received funding from the UK Research and Innovation Horizon Guarantee Programme and from the European Union’s Horizon Research and innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 101132538.