SEvEN Voices, One Future
Published: 30 October 2023
Research insight, Story
Dr Mark Wong describes the creation of SEvEN, a video game which amplifies the voice and actions of Minoritised Ethnic people in the Just Transition to a sustainable future.
SEvEN, a UofG-led video game which amplifies the voice and actions of Minoritised Ethnic people in the Just Transition to a sustainable future, has been nominated for a Scottish Games Award.
Project lead Dr Mark Wong, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Research Methods in the School of Social And Political Sciences, explains the inspiration behind this unique game, and how it is already having an impact on policy and public engagement.
The impact of the climate and ecological crisis and the importance of creating a sustainable future has been at the forefront of many policy discussions across the world. Making sure this transition is fair and just, for everyone, has become one of the most critical concerns.
This is why a cross-college team led by me, together with Dr Tim Peacock, Dr Rachel Porteous, and Lauren Watson, at the UofG's Games and Gaming Lab, partnered with industry and community partners Education Evolved Ltd, the Ethnic Minority Environmental Network, and the Floating Designer, to co-create a video game — SEvEN: Seven Voices, One Future.
SEvEN tackles issues of sustainability and amplifies marginalised voices in the just transition, a global challenge of national and international priorities. The UN Sustainable Development Goal Partnership Guidebook emphasises the importance of highlighting "voices of those closest to the problem", such as the Global Majority and Minoritised Ethnic people. The Just Transition Commission report also reiterates the Scottish Government’s commitment to make all voices heard and ensure the Just Transition Plan is "underpinned by diversity and inclusion".
In light of these uncertainties, and at times anxieties, about the future, our team couldn’t help but wonder if something also futuristic, like innovation in gaming, can play a role in tackling these problems and ensure the voices of people who are most marginalised are heard and empowered.
Our game also fills an urgent gap in game development in terms of diversity and representation, which we are now starting to see recognition of and industry progress. However, like many gamers, I believe that video games are not merely for fun - they have the potential to create empathy and highlight the voice and lived experience of communities that are often unheard and marginalised. Games can also be used as a tool to encourage people to reflect on societal issues from a different perspective, using immersive narratives or digital environments. This potential is huge, especially considering that amplifying the voice of Minoritised Ethnic in the just transition through games had never been attempted before.
So, I assembled a team and started to develop a video game to achieve two goals: have authentic representations of Minoritised Ethnic people in Scotland, and, at the same time, amplify Minoritised Ethnic voices in one of the biggest global challenges we face right now on the future of our planet.
The co-creation process
The journey began with our project, Innovators Assemble (INASSEM), which promotes gaming and game development as a pathway for research innovation and further academics’ engagement with industry and communities. Our academic-industry-community partnership underpinned every step of the development of the game, which is also worth mentioning as a novel innovation process. The co-creation and lessons learned from our journey are detailed in our Video game research innovation starter toolkit, which is aimed at anyone who wants to develop games for research innovation or create partnerships with industry and communities.
You can watch our planning process in this video sharing highlights from a SEvEN development workshop.
After going through some big thinking and ideation (and wrangling with technical decisions such as the game environment, aesthetic choices, and gameplay), we were proud to produce SEvEN - Seven Voices, One Future through a genuine co-creation process over nine months.
Set in a digital replica of the Western Scottish Highlands using satellite images, SEvEN invites its players to interact with seven mini-games and a thought-provoking narrative of the future. The setting is the year 2045, the Scottish Government’s target for Scotland to reach net zero. But what we wanted to do differently was to tell a unique narrative of the just transition where the voice and actions of Minoritised Ethnic communities in Scotland are centred.
The seven mini-games are developed based on real-life climate actions led by Minoritised Ethnic-led organisations and initiatives across Scotland. For instance, one of the mini-games is based on the Glasgow Central Mosque-led initiative on solarising institutions of worship. Other mini-games include circular economy, rainwater collection, rewilding and wildflower meadows, wildlife ponds, urban farming, and tackling gender and racial inequalities in cycling.
What was unique about the design of our game is the focus on initiatives that are led by real people in Minoritised Ethnic communities in Scotland. In addition, combining the expertise of the Ethnic Minority Environmental Network, we co-created narratives that highlight the importance of traditional ecological knowledge, such as ancestral traditions and wisdom, to inspire climate actions of the future. This was discussed further in a podcast produced by EMEN.
Each of the mini-games are introduced by a character, created in the likeness of, and voiced by, real Minoritised Ethnic people in Scotland. This means one of the objectives of the game is, literally, to listen to Minoritised Ethnic people, and feel inspired by the Minoritised Ethnic-led climate actions featured in the game.
Players of all abilities get to journey through seven thought-provoking narratives and mini-games. It was our intention to show that anyone can make a difference to the environment we live in, no matter how small or insignificant it can feel. We should not have to wait for governments to take action, nor should we feel paralysed by the seemingly insurmountable challenge of combating the climate and ecological emergency - actions can be taken right now, in our own gardens and communities. By playing SEvEN, you get to reflect on what a sustainable future truly means, and for whom.
The game is available online and is free to play on any web browser on a PC/Mac, designed to be accessible to people of all abilities, including non-gamers, no downloads required.
SEvEN 'in the wild'
Since our game launch in the Advanced Research Centre (ARC) in May 2023, SEvEN has had >1,850 visitor counts, with 400 visitors played the game within launch day.
Immediately after its launch, SEvEN was praised by the Scottish Cabinet Minister for Net Zero and Just Transition, Màiri McAllan MSP, on its success in effectively amplifying marginalised voices in the just transition, aligning with the government’s strategic policy priorities. We were invited to meet with the Minister’s officials, who expressed interests to use SEvEN for their public engagement programme, confirming SEvEN will help them "reach new audiences who they haven’t been able to before".
In addition, the Minister for Equalities, Migration, Refugees, Emma Roddick MSP, wrote to congratulate the project team, saying: "I agree wholeheartedly that all voices in Scotland should be heard…I am heartened to see the University of Glasgow coming together with gaming industry and community organisation partners, to develop this project around these important issues.”
SEvEN has since also been used for community engagement by the Ethnic Minority Environmental Network, who said our collaboration “has fundamentally changed how they approach their work”. Our team has also been invited to give talks at the annual conferences of Scotland’s International Development Alliance and the Ethnic Minority Environmental Network.
Up next, we will be exhibiting and featured in the Scottish Games Week and the ESRC Festival of Social Science. You can still sign up for our showcase and gaming session in the Festival of Social Science on 4 November.
Taking us up to date on our journey, we were delighted when SEvEN: Seven Voices, One Future was nominated for this year’s Scottish Games Awards in the Spirit of Scotland category. This new category is "open to games which feature Scottish culture, heritage, language, characters or landscape. This recognises games that showcase and use Scotland as a setting, feature Scottish history, or use Scots or Gaelic languages".
Not only is it an honour to be nominated for this prestigious award, it’s encouraging to receive recognition of our efforts to represent real people and climate actions from Minoritised Ethnic communities in a virtual replica of the Scottish Highlands landscape.
The winners will be announced on 2 November, at a ceremony opened by Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf. Our team, together with the project’s industry and community partners will be attending the ceremony.
Stay tuned, and get updates on SEvEN with the UofG Games and Gaming Lab socal media and newsletter.
Play SEvEN on the Education Evolved website
First published: 30 October 2023