Workshop by Prof. Sonia Fizek within the framework of Utrecht Summer School 2022 on Ecogames at Utrecht University.

 

With the impending climate crisis and its short-term repercussions becoming more ‘tangible’ every year, popular media and especially games are increasingly moving into the center of attention. Whether these so-called ‘ecogames’ can provide new spaces to experiment with alternative forms of sustainable practices and communal organization, or simply reproduce ecomodernist fantasies, both digital and analogue games as well as the player cultures emerging around them are tuned in to many of the pressing environmental concerns we face today.

The summer course builds on and contributes to a growing body of scholarship that explores this phenomenon, and aims to situate it within the broader field of environmental humanities as well as, more specifically, green media studies, to complement existing research traditions that focus e.g. on environmental cinema, documentaries, or television. For that purpose, it brings together a diverse group of European ecogame researchers from universities in Warsaw (Poland), Manchester (UK), Cologne and Bochum (Germany), Aalborg/Copenhagen (Denmark), Maribor (Slovenia), Olomouc (Czech Republic) and Utrecht (Netherlands).

https://utrechtsummerschool.nl/courses/humanities/ecogames-games-and-play-in-sustainability-awareness-communication-and-action