Climate change and urbanization are posing major challenges to sustainable urban development, which needs to address the increasing risk of extreme hydroclimatic events such as flooding, population growth, growing demands for resources, housing shortage, and increased traffic. ConnectiCity is a serious game which has been developed by the ide3a project partners with the aim to provide its player base with comprehensive understanding of the aforementioned challenges, their impact on interconnected critical urban infrastructure systems, and possible solutions to effectively mitigate them in an interactive educational environment.
With the official release of the serious game ConnectiCity on the 20th of March this year it was finally time to introduce the game to a wider audience using any opportunity. Such opportunity presented itself during the Long Night of Science (German: Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, LNDW) on the 17th of June 2023. This renowned annual event serves as a platform for scientific institutions to engage with the public, and ConnectiCity was proudly featured at both the FSD Chair at TU Berlin and the Einstein Center simultaneously.
Teams of experts were assigned to each location, instructing visitors allowing them to not only learn about the scientific background of ConnectiCity but also to experience the game firsthand with guidance from these knowledgeable teams. The response from visitors of all ages was overwhelmingly positive, as they immersed themselves in the gameplay and engaged in thought-provoking discussions about the challenges facing sustainable urban development.
The ide3a team is delighted by the level of interest and enthusiasm shown by the participants who didn’t show a single sign of exhaustion when nearing midnight.
