The very first "Climate Fresk" in Central Asia took place

March 2, 2022

Bishkek – February 28, 2022 – Kyrgyzstan hosted the first educational game in the region and the country called Climate Fresk within the framework of the “The Policy Action for Climate Security in Central Asia” project funded by the UK Government and implemented by UNDP in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Climate Fresk is based on the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and is an international innovative tool for climate education – an immersive game in which one can get a more complete picture of the phenomenon of climate change by building cause-and-effect relationships. And most importantly, the game allows us to see the role of humans in climate change, as well as to think about how we – humans can also solve them. The Climate Fresk was created in 2015 by Cédric Ringenbach to raise climate science awareness among a maximum number of people around the world.

The first of several rounds of the Climate Fresk, as part of Action for Climate Empowerment, took place on February 5, 2022 at AUCA. The first participants of the game were university professors from different campuses of Bishkek, as professors play a key role in raising awareness on climate and sustainability issues to ensure climate and environmental awareness of the population of a highly vulnerable region of Central Asia. The Climate Fresk is a pedagogical tool that can be used by teachers in schools, faculty in universities, as well as successfully integrated into many subjects (science, economics, literature, politics, music, and more). Professors and other staff from the city's universities highly appreciated the concept of the Climate Fresk game and its engaging and innovative approach to learning. The Climate Fresk has become the main tool in the global climate learning conducted by the universities of the world SolveClimateby2030, which our universities are also joining. Professors will also take facilitator’s training from Climate Fresk in order to get ready to play it on a regular basis with their students, colleagues and other community members in the near future.

On February 26, the second stage of the game involved both teachers and students. More than 100 students from 10 universities took part in the Climate Fresk to better understand the processes of climate change in order to start acting now! Climate change awareness and a better understanding of the phenomenon is the first step to action!

It is worth emphasizing the relevance of this game, considering that in the world and in our country more and more attention is being paid to the so-called Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) mentioned in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, The Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 (SDG 13) and the recently adopted Glasgow Climate Pact. Recognizing the scale of the problem of climate change, the Climate Fresk aims to reach one million people worldwide with climate education by 2023 through game. The game is available in 25 languages and Climate Fresk operates in over 40 countries.

The project is co-funded by Presidential Research and Education Fund (PREF) Grant of AUCA. The implementing team consists of students and faculty of AUCA and other institutions, including Samar Kanatov, Cholpon Aitakhunova, Olga Tarabashkina, Seth Feary, and Mumina Abdulvohidzoda.

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