In the context of accelerating climate change and increasing societal demand for sustainable transformation, educational institutions play a pivotal role in equipping current and future generations with the knowledge, motivation, and tools to drive meaningful action. Nonetheless, research indicates that university campuses still produce considerable greenhouse gas emissions, exert other notable environmental pressures, and progress slowly in meeting the objectives outlined in the Education for Sustainable Development for the 2030 Agenda.
The Emission Free European Universities (EFEU) project, a consortium of four European Universities, is playing a crucial role in offering sustainability-focused teaching and learning activities and other initiatives to support the transition of universities. One of these activities is the application of gamification practices. According to numerous educational researchers, these practices offer an innovative and engaging approach that enhances the competencies needed to effectively address societal sustainability challenges.
The project partners identified the serious game, Climate Fresk, as an attractive approach. Climate Fresk is a science-based, facilitator-led card game that visualises the causes and consequences of climate change. Although a few researchers have pointed out weaknesses in the gamification approach, Climate Fresk is one of those knowledge-transfer tools that has gained traction due to its documented benefits.
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from the implementation of Climate Fresk sessions during the months of November and December 2024 and March 2025 at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University-Stuttgart (Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg – DHBW-Stuttgart), one of the project partners.
Several workshops were conducted across faculties, involving over 170 participants from diverse academic backgrounds as well as both academic and non-academic staff. These sessions were an extension of the pilot implementation in January 2024 to promote staff involvement and apply learnt experiences to optimise outcomes and data collection methods. The study was conducted to assess the learning outcomes, attitudinal and behavioural shifts, and the perceived value of gamification in sustainability education.
The methodology employed a qualitative approach by combining pre- and post-session surveys to meet the study's objectives. The results confirmed that the sessions allowed for a deeper appreciation of the interconnected nature of climate change impacts, notable attitudinal shifts for both groups, and increased belief that serious games are effective learning tools. Both groups largely praised the opportunity for discussion and informative cards for the game’s efficiency and effectiveness. A possible area for improvement is exploring how these tools can be applied to motivate sustainable behaviour. Although staff expressed a willingness to participate in climate actions and act more sustainably after participation (88%), motivation levels were low among the student population (53%).
As the project partners continue in their commitment to education for sustainable development (ESD), the findings from this study serve as a foundation for scaling such methods across curricula and administrative staff. It also underscores the relevance of connecting gamification with meaningful learning and applying non-traditional approaches in revolutionising sustainability education.

Keywords: Gamification, Education for Sustainable Development, Climate Education