Phone Impact
Description
This is a serious game that raises awareness of the environmental and social impact of the extractive activities involved in smartphone manufacturing.
The game is for ages 14 and up and is played by 3 to 5 people in about 40 minutes. Players take on the role of manufacturers in the fictional city of TechCity and must manufacture a smartphone while minimising their environmental impact.
The theoretical content on the impacts of mining was written by our scientific experts. We worked together to ensure that the messages conveyed through the game were as close to reality as possible while maintaining the fluidity of the game.
A dedicated portal all the educational resources needed to play and facilitate a session: detailed rules, visual aids, bibliography, facitilitation tips and educational resources. The game boxes are available for purchases, but also in a free version, as a PDF to print and cut out, to facilitate its use in educational, community or awareness-raising contexts.
Aim of the game
The aim of the game is to earn as many points as possible by manufacturing components for your smartphone before the end of the game. To do this, you must acquire the necessary resources from the three suppliers available.
But be careful not to pollute too much!
Learning objectives
This serious game aims to explore the diversity of metals used to manufacture a smartphone and raise awareness of the environmental and social impacts associated with their extraction.
- By the end of the game, players will be able to:
- Identify the different types of metals needed to manufacture a smartphone
- List the main stages of metal production
- Describe the main environmental and social impacts of mining
- Understand that the mining industry and its consequences are present throughout the world
- Recognise that pollution affects everyone, both now and for future generations
- Understand the diversity of mining practices and their environmental and social consequences
- Recognise the major trends in the mining industry (declining ore grades, geopolitical tensions, growing demand, etc.)
- Identify and analyse different courses of action to limit the environmental impacts of metal extraction (recycling, regulation, etc.)
At the end of the debrief, participants will be able to put these impacts into perspective in relation to the environmental impacts of digital technology.
Team
- Inria Learning Lab teaching team: Sherazade Djeballah, Laurence Farhi, Aurélie Lagarrigue, Madeline Montigny, Benoit Rospars
- Developer: Nathan Viaud, Inria Learning Lab
- Scientific experts: Benjamin Ninassi (Deputy Head of Inria's Digital and Environment Programme) and Sophie Quinton (Inria Researcher)
- Graphic designer: Donovann Bonnet
Additional resources
- "Environmental impact of digital technologies", Inria/Class'code MOOC, published under CC-BY licence on the fun-mooc.fr website
Other contributors
- Suzon Beaussant (Evolud'- Serious Game Designer) who assisted us in the game design phase.
- STIP Inria Grenoble, who supported us throughout the project.
- Guilain Praseuth (Educational Innovation Project Manager, TBS Education) for the English translation of the game.