Scaling Playful Learning for Sustainability: Insights from David Anderson's Practice-Led Exploration

mduffy486
30 minutes ago
3 min read

In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, innovative approaches to teaching and learning are essential to engage students and foster meaningful understanding. David Anderson from the University of Lincoln has been at the forefront of this movement, presenting a practice-led exploration of how playful learning can be scaled to support sustainability education across higher education. Drawing on his PRME UK & Ireland Chapter Seed Funded project, David introduces a suite of four interactive card games designed to make global challenges accessible, engaging, and memorable for students.

Interactive Card Games for Global Challenges

David's project features four unique card games, each with a distinct focus on sustainability:

17 SDG Memory Game: This pair-matching game serves as an introduction to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), helping students familiarize themselves with these critical global objectives.
PRME Pumps: A comparative trick-taking game that highlights various sustainability indicators, encouraging players to think critically about different aspects of sustainability.
Cards for Sustainability: A party game that promotes playful critique and creative thinking, allowing students to explore sustainability concepts in a fun and interactive way.
Concord: A cooperative deck-building game that explores collective responses to global challenges, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and teamwork.

Gamification and Design Ethnography in Education

These games are not just about fun and engagement; they are situated within a broader pedagogical agenda that includes gamification, design ethnography, and collaborative learning. Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, has been shown to enhance motivation and engagement in educational settings. By incorporating gamification into sustainability education, David's project aims to make complex global challenges more relatable and understandable for students.

Design ethnography, the study of people and cultures through immersive observation and participation, plays a crucial role in the development of these games. By understanding the needs and preferences of students, educators can create more effective and impactful learning tools. David's work exemplifies how design ethnography can be used to create innovative educational resources that resonate with students and promote deeper learning.

The DICE Café: Fostering Critical Dialogue and Creativity

One of the standout initiatives from David's project is the DICE Café, an initiative that uses game-based formats to foster critical dialogue and creativity in business education. The DICE Café provides a space for students to engage in meaningful discussions and collaborative learning, using games as a catalyst for exploration and discovery. This approach not only enhances student engagement but also encourages the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Scaling Innovation in Responsible Management Education

David's work highlights the potential for playful pedagogies to be scaled across higher education, supporting meaningful, responsible, and transformative learning experiences. By making global challenges more accessible and engaging, these games can help students develop a deeper understanding of sustainability and the importance of responsible management.

Join Us for the PRME Local SE Network Meeting

We invite you to join us for the PRME Local SE Network Meeting, where David Anderson will present his work on playful pedagogies. This session promises to be an insightful exploration of how innovative teaching methods can support sustainability education. The meeting will take place on November 24, 2025, at 4:00 PM London time. You can join the Zoom meeting using the following link:

We look forward to seeing you there and exploring the exciting possibilities of playful learning together!