FUNDED PROJECTS

TOGETHER Goes Local: Local Adaptation and Stakeholder Engagement in Game-Based Sustainability Learning. Our ETN ENLIGHT project TOGETHER Goes Local: Local Adaptation and Stakeholder Engagement in Game-Based Sustainability Learning embeds local real-world scenarios into university teaching through serious gaming. 

Category: ENLIGHT Thematic Network

University: University of Bern, Ghent University, Uppsala University
Period: 2025-2027

Our ETN ENLIGHT project TOGETHER Goes Local: Local Adaptation and Stakeholder Engagement in Game-Based Sustainability Learning embeds local real-world scenarios into university teaching through serious gaming. Building on the TOGETHER serious game (an Erasmus+ project), our goal is to enhance, engage, and empower regional ecosystems by co-designing new game modules with local stakeholders, letting students tackle authentic sustainability challenges. By modeling these challenges after the local circumstances, students not only attain sustainability competencies as intended in the TOGETHER serious game, but they are also further embedded in the local community and can contribute to a more sustainable local environment. Additionally, we create a link between students and local stakeholders and further integrate our universities into their local ecosystem.

We engage local stakeholders in co-creation sessions to develop new game modules and integrate them into the TOGETHER serious game's infrastructure. In June 2026, we attend the ENLIGHT regional academy to present the first results and further co-create the modules with local stakeholders in Gotland, students, and lecturers. In the remainder of 2026, we develop the software for the new modules, data analytics tools to evaluate the performance of the software, and the teaching materials, allowing lecturers to implement the TOGETHER game without requiring large investments. In 2027, we will implement the game with new modules into courses at the universities of Bern, Ghent, Groningen, and Uppsala, and study the effectiveness of our approach. In the fall of 2027, we will present the results at our closing conference at the University of Bern and launch the TOGETHER Goes Local game to be used by colleagues around the ENLIGHT Network. Our intended impact is to provide all students in the ENLIGHT Network and beyond with the opportunity to attain sustainability competencies at a low cost for individual universities.

Personal highlight:
My highlight happened before we received the funding. In the previous ETN round, we also submitted a proposal. Despite not getting funded, the group showed a lot of commitment to the project, and we met in Groningen to discuss how to proceed. In this meeting, the idea to focus on a future-proof city started, and this paved the way for a natural incorporation of local stakeholders, thus forming the basis of the TOGETHER Goes Local project. We showed our intrinsic motivation and what we are capable of, even without funding.