Aim:

Children’s dreams of future UK treescapes envisioned through games

A lone tree with blue sky behind

Project Description

Can co-designed video games offer children a space for dreaming, thinking and modelling future urban treescapes?

Digital Voices of the Future integrated children’s knowledge and values into co-designing and developing a video game. Unlike most games designed by adults, this project worked with over 70 children aged 9–13 from two schools in Ellesmere Port. Activities like model-making, mask-making and role-play shaped the game’s narratives and characters, reflecting children’s perspectives.

Within the ROBLOX platform, the team created with children a game that used both real and imagined settings and embedded knowledge of urban treescapes.

What we discovered...

  • We demonstrated that co-producing video games with children amplifies their voices and reveals how they understand and relate to urban treescapes.
  • Co-design offered valuable insights into how children use games to make sense of their physical environments, focusing on urban treescapes.
  • Initial playtesting shows that exploring these game worlds fosters incidental learning about treescape ecology and urban planning challenges.
  • Findings from the project will inform the Mersey Forest Plan, providing a unique platform for children’s voices to shape urban treescape strategies in 2025.

Project Lead(s)

Dr Simon Carr, University of Cumbria.

Project Website

https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/academic-departments/instituteof-science-and-environment/digital-voices-of-the-future