Nature-related education and serious gaming to improve young citizens’ awareness about ecosystem services provided by urban trees

IF 6.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecosystem Services Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101715

Maria Elena Menconi, Rosaria Abbate, Stefano Stocchi, David Grohmann

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Abstract

A widespread challenge of international urban policies is to achieve nature-rich cities. To achieve this aim, scholars and urban planners are developing innovative methods for considering the heterogeneity and geo-specificity of the composition of green infrastructures and their related services in the design of the urban green system.

Particularly in urban contexts with a high-density population, urban policies need the engagement of conscious communities to become effective; thence, public administrations need innovative, tailored educational methods to improve inhabitants’ awareness. To help the municipalities achieve this goal, we developed a serious game called ESS-Hunt. The paper evaluates the game’s educational effectiveness and the suitability of municipal tree cadastre data as its source of information.

The game was developed on the Google Maps platform and was played in an urban park of an Italian city (Perugia) involving 135 children aged 10–14. The participants answered the same questionnaire before and after the game to evaluate the learning process, and the paired t-test showed learning progress for all the statements with statistical significance (30 %, p. value < 0.05).

Regarding urban policies to improve citizens’ awareness about the role of the urban green systems in their well-being, our results highlight as overall principles (i) the suitability of municipal tree cadastre as a source of data to develop educational content, (ii) the effectiveness of serious games in the development of tailored, innovative learning solutions, (iii) and the need to develop differentiated and complementary educational methods to respond to the heterogeneity of local communities learning processes.

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来源期刊

Ecosystem Services ECOLOGYENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES&-ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

CiteScore

14.90

自引率

7.90%

发文量

109

期刊介绍： Ecosystem Services is an international, interdisciplinary journal that is associated with the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP). The journal is dedicated to exploring the science, policy, and practice related to ecosystem services, which are the various ways in which ecosystems contribute to human well-being, both directly and indirectly. Ecosystem Services contributes to the broader goal of ensuring that the benefits of ecosystems are recognized, valued, and sustainably managed for the well-being of current and future generations. The journal serves as a platform for scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders to share their findings and insights, fostering collaboration and innovation in the field of ecosystem services.