CoastCraft to inspire next generation of environmental champions to fight virtual coastal erosion
Educational game CoastCraft launched to help schoolchildren aged 9 to 14 learn more about climate change and coastal management
Children and young people are being inspired to learn more about climate change and coastal flood resilience through a custom-built Minecraft world, thanks to a new game publicly launched today (Friday 3 October).
CoastCraft is an educational game developed for Minecraft Education, aligned with the curriculum in England and designed for students aged between 9 and 14.
Bringing the impacts of the dynamic processes shaping the coastline to life in an engaging way, CoastCraft challenges players to respond to rising sea levels and the impacts of climate change such as flooding, balancing the needs of different communities while protecting the environment.
The consequences of these decisions are then brought to life in the virtual Minecraft world.
Based on the landscape of the town of Bude in Cornwall, the game has been developed in partnership by Minecraft Education, Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency as part of the latter’s £200m Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme.
Innovative approaches to more sustainable use and development of the coast are being trialled at Bude through the programme – and CoastCraft allows children and young people to explore and learn more about the way the Cornwall’s coastline is being managed on the beloved Minecraft platform.
Through eye-catching gameplay, CoastCraft inspires players to learn about the features of coastal landscapes and processes and understand the characteristics of sand dunes and how they are used as a nature-based solution for flooding and coastal erosion.
Caroline Douglass, Executive Director for Flood and Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency, said:
Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process and England’s coastline has never been static, but we know climate change is increasing the risks.
CoastCraft inspires young people to use their creativity to experiment with solutions to real world problems within the virtual Minecraft world, ensuring the next generation has the knowledge they need to face challenges now and in the future.
Floods Minister Emma Hardy said:
As a former teacher, I’m thrilled that CoastCraft will help young people understand the impacts of our changing climate, empowering a new generation of scientists.
This virtual Minecraft world brings coastal change in communities like Cornwall to life, to show how the risk of flooding and coastal erosion is increasing due to climate change.
We’re investing a record £7.9 billion in capital funding over 10 years to better protect these coastal communities and are committed to making sure flood risk management is fit for the challenges we face now and in the future.
Loic Rich, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said:
We’re really proud that our coastal community of Bude serves as the backdrop to this innovative game that teaches young people about coastal and flood resilience.
We want to say a big thank you to students at Sir James Smith School in Camelford and Windmill Hill Academy in Launceston, both of whom worked with our climate adaptation team to help develop and test CoastCraft which can now be played by young people across the globe.
As the lead authority for managing the risk of flooding from rivers, estuaries and the sea, the Environment Agency is working to deliver the government’s record £7.9 billion capital investment over 10 years to 2035/36 to protect 840,000 properties from the growing threat of flooding, the largest such programme in history.
From 2015 to 2021, £2.6 billion was invested to protect the country better from flooding and coastal erosion. Of this, £1.2 billion was invested to protect around 200,000 homes better from coastal erosion and sea flooding.
The release of CoastCraft follows the success of the EA games Rivercraft and Rivercraft 2, already available on Minecraft Education, providing an innovative educational resource for flood risk management and nature-based solutions to flooding.