Abstract:Rationale and Objective: Climate change is an existential threat to humanity, driven largely by accelerating anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Pro-environmental life choices at the individual level can significantly reduce emissions and mitigate this threat. Gamification has gained traction as a tool to educate individuals and induce behaviour change. Incorporating local context into these tools can enhance uptake and effectiveness. Methods: By reviewing existing gaming tools and assembling a multidisciplinary team, we developed “˜Carbon Quest’ – a free user-friendly game in English and Thai, aimed at raising public awareness regarding their individual carbon footprint. Players, guided by a bear acting as environmental police, input their daily activity data, for example, commuting to and from work. The bear demonstrates how carbon footprint is calculated for each activity. Players are either rewarded or punished after each stage depending on their emissions level relative to the average. The bear highlights environmentally friendly actions the players can take to reduce their emissions. Depending on the total emissions, players are either set free or kept back for further education by the bear. Players can see their emission hotspots and where they rank relative to others. Results: Since its launch in August 2024, over 1000 people have played Carbon Quest (50% female, 44% male, 6% non-binary) with an average emission of 7.8 kg COâ‚‚ per player and 76% completion rate. The top four users were students (25%), healthcare professionals (17%), researchers (8%), and government officials (7%). The game has received positive feedback largely owing to its educational, interactive, and simplistic features. Conclusion: Simple, interactive, and inexpensive gaming tools like Carbon Quest have the potential to educate and induce pro-environmental lifestyle choices among lay citizens who consume information differently compared to researchers and policymakers.
Keywords: Climate Change and Planetary Health, CARBON FOOTPRINT, CLIMATE and HEALTH, GAMIFICATION, RAISE AWARENSS, EDUCATIONAL TOOL
