Blume: “Vermontivate is a community, climate, and sustainability game, designed to bring a sense of fun, hope, possibility into the overwhelming bummer that is climate change.”

That’s Kathryn Blume. She developed Vermontivate to get more people involved in what she calls an “all hands on deck” situation. This past year there were five-hundred players.

Blume: “Gaming taps into people’s competitive spirit. It lets them engage with others in a creative, collaborative way.”

For six weeks, teams of Vermontivate players tackle challenges posted online by doing things in real life – like test-driving an electric vehicle, or using fewer paper towels.

Blume: “We try to make some of the challenges very playful and entertaining or artistic. We get them making signs or writing songs, and so we try to give people a really broad range of challenges and a lot of different ways of approaching these issues.”

To earn points, players describe their solutions on the online game board – where everyone can see.

Blume: “So it’s an opportunity for a lot of peer to peer education, as well.”

Winners receive cash towards a project their team chooses during the game, like a community tree planting. But Blume says most people play Vermontivate not for the prize, but because the game reminds them that individual actions can make a difference.

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media.

More Resources
Vermontivate
Ready To Vermontivate?
Statewide Energy Game Inspires Community Climate Competition
Winning on Climate Change: Vermontivate’s Community Sustainability Challenge (Ben & Jerry’s)