2026-02-05
Key players in the Horizon Europe-funded GREAT (Games Realising Effective and Affective Transformation) Project, which aims to demonstrate how games can create new forms of dialogue between citizens and policymakers, convened in Brussels last week to share and review project outcomes…
PlanetPlay is a proud supporter and partner of the GREAT Project’s work, which focuses on how games can function as credible, scalable civic infrastructures, not merely entertainment products.
Across three years and twelve international case studies, GREAT – which is funded by EU Horizon and UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) – has shown that games can meaningfully engage citizens in environment-related dialogue, surface policy-relevant insights, and support behavioural change, at both mass scale and local depth.
By leveraging two complementary approaches: PlanetPlay’s large-scale, in-game micro-surveys and Dilemma-Based Learning (DiBL) in discussion-driven serious games, GREAT has provided robust evidence that games can help policymakers listen as well as inform.
The project offers practical toolkits, open educational resources, and validated methodologies ready for reuse by policymakers, educators, NGOs, and industry partners.
The GREAT Final Dissemination Event in Brussels
On January 28th 2026 project stakeholders from across games, academia and NGOs gathered at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation in Brussels for GREAT’s Final Dissemination Event.
PlanetPlay’s Chief Strategy Officer Jude Ower MBE attended, joined by representatives from SYBO, Tencent, University of Greater Manchester, UNICEF, Serious Games Interactive and more to discuss progress in building serious games with serious impact – and the next steps for GREAT.
In key focus was the GREAT project’s rationale: Traditional public consultation struggles to reach younger, global, and digitally native audiences. It was agreed that GREAT addressed this gap by embedding civic engagement directly into spaces where people already spend time: commercial and educational games.
The GREAT project has asked a core question:
Can games become participatory infrastructures for climate governance and policy insight?
The answer, across all case studies at the Final Dissemination Event, is ‘yes’, if designed carefully, collaboratively, and ethically.
Key Findings Across Case Studies
As mentioned above, GREAT’s methodological framework encompasses two complementary strands:
1. Planet Play (Large-Scale Digital Engagement)
2. Dilemma-Based Learning (DiBL)
These methods were underpinned by a mixed-methods, eight-stage research cycle, allowing iteration, comparison, and learning across contexts.
The GREAT case studies themselves have been deployed globally, with the Final Dissemination Event providing the perfect forum for findings from each to be presented and discussed. Among those highlighted include:-
Green Jobs (Austria): Co-designed with policymakers to capture youth perspectives; directly informed a national education toolkit.
Green Roofs & Beat the Heat (Cyprus): Demonstrated how games can support urban climate adaptation, intergenerational dialogue, and education policy.
Play2Act (Global): UNDP-linked deployments embedded in major games (e.g. Subway Surfers, Pokémon GO) produced unprecedented voluntary participation.
Water Wise (UK): Combined DiBL workshops and surveys to explore water scarcity, behaviour change, and policy support.
SDG Prosper (South Africa): Repurposed an open-licensed game to support self-directed learning and policy feedback on SDGs.
Together, the Final Dissemination Event discussion agreed that these cases show adaptability across ages, cultures, institutions, and policy domains:
Scale and Reach
Behavioural Impact
Depth of Insight
The GREAT project highlights a compelling set of benefits for all those involved. For policymakers, it opens the door to new audiences and provides access to authentic citizen perspectives that are often difficult to reach through traditional consultation methods.
For game studios, it offers valuable evidence of players’ appetite for more meaningful engagement, while also strengthening trust, reputation, and long-term brand value.
Citizens, meanwhile, gain a welcoming and non-intimidating space to express their views and reflect on complex climate issues in ways that feel accessible rather than formal or exclusionary.
At the same time, the Final Dissemination Event discussions acknowledged several important risks. Without strong and transparent feedback loops, there is a danger that participation in projects like GREAT’s case studies could be dismissed as ‘greenwashing’ – something we always fight hard against at PlanetPlay through robust process, certification and accountability.
And of course, political themes in commercial games can also be sensitive, requiring careful framing to avoid alienating audiences. In addition, the qualitative analysis needed to interpret citizen responses can be resource-intensive, and institutional approval processes may introduce timing and logistical constraints.
Ultimately, the GREAT Dissemination Event concluded that success depends not on one-size-fits-all replication, but on collaboration that is responsive to context, partners, and audiences.
Outputs, Legacy and Next Steps
The Final Dissemination Event made clear that the GREAT Project has successfully produced open-access games alongside detailed case studies, offering practical examples of how playful participation can support climate engagement.
Its findings extend into policy briefs and academic publications, ensuring relevance across both practice and research. Toolkits created for Planet Play and DiBL, along with data sets and facilitator guides, provide concrete resources for others to build upon.
At its core, GREAT also delivers a reusable methodological framework that can support future initiatives in science communication and participatory policy design.
This work has already received international recognition, including nomination as a finalist for the Falling Walls 2024 Science Engagement Breakthrough award.
The GREAT project proves that games can operate as listening infrastructures: spaces where citizens reflect, deliberate, and contribute to shaping climate policy.
When thoughtfully designed, games bridge the gap between citizens, industry, and policymakers at a scale and depth rarely achieved by traditional methods.
Shaping a sustainable future requires listening at scale. The entire team here at PlanetPlay, in addition to our industry partners and ever-growing community of players, will continue to support the GREAT Project’s work as it enters its next phase.
To find out more, follow the GREAT Project on LinkedIn, X and Blue Sky, or visit https://www.greatproject.gg/.