SDGs: An Immersive Empathy Experience
Focusing on the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals
Focusing on the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals
We believe in a sustainable world filled with peace and prosperity.
In 2015, all United Nations Members adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its core consists of 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) serving as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future.
Showing why action towards meeting these Sustainabile Development Goals is urgent and necessary.
Inspired by the practice of immersive empathy in design thinking, we wove together game play and real stories to educate and inspire action in a virtual world that promotes collaboration and connection along with individual learning for On Deck's first global build weekend in February 2021.
The main entry point is a street scene. Here visitors can stop by the Information Center to learn more about the project or the Lounge to connect virtually with others visiting the site. The main focal point is a portal, that transports visitors to the SDG Immersion experience.
The SDG Immersion experience has been designed to have dedicated areas for each of the 17 SDGs.
Over 200 million children will still be out of school in 2030.
- The 17 Goals
Goal 4 is to "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all."
It can be uncomfortable to reflect on how challenging reality is outside of one's comfort zone. Borrowing from best practices for educational games, the SDG Immersion presents situations for visitors to navigate. These activities include obtaining water in the morning, making one's way to school after one's sandal breaks, learning in a group environment without enough supplies, and doing homework at night without electricity.
A Day in the Life
Along the way, site visitors learn why action towards meeting the SDGs is urgent and necessary through curated first person accounts and activities. This powerful combination bridges the gap between one's personal experience and those we do not know in a time when we are forced to be apart.
Women already spend about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men.
- The 17 Goals
Goal 5 is to "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls."
Learn. Elevate. Hire.
Gender equality means bridging the gap for women in life, pay opportunities, and in the workplace. Our "Hall of Women" application teaches you about women who have broken glass ceilings and opened the door for these behind them. Reaching equality means learning the underlying problem, elevating women, and hiring women.
The created world is best accessed via a web browser on a desktop. Upon accessing the website, you will be shown a screen to enter your name and give permissions to your microphone and video.
Use the arrow keys ⬇️, ⬆️, ⬅️, or ➡️ on your keyboard to move around the space. Having trouble moving? It may be because of an obstacle. Move backwards or to the side and try again.
If you lose a member of your group in Gather, click the person's name from the left navigational pane to find them. Alternatively, use the follow option.
If you find yourself lost, click your name and choose either "reset" or "respawn."
As your avatar moves closer to someone, they will be able to see and hear you. When the conversation is over, move away.
There are also private spaces where only those within a space can hear those nearby.
When approaching an object, it may highlight in yellow. When that happens, press the X ❎ key to interact with the item.
Additional documentation is available from Gather.
We chose Gather.Town as a key component of this initiative. In a virtual Gather world, each person is able to interact with other participants via voice, video, and chat. Unlike confering platforms, each person also has the ability to interact with the space through an avatar. One can walk up to a person and "see" and "hear" the person. Move away and one can no longer interact.
Our approach was to think about the everyday challenges.
A challenge we faced working on this project was how to best balance playfulness with serious topics. We recognize that we do not have first hand experience across the range of subjects covered. Please contact us with any concerns in this area.
All members of the team were part of the inaugural On Deck No-Code Fellowship.
An audio / video creator and #BuildInPublic updater
Connect with Edmund: @edmundamoye | LinkedIn | Website
Website
Connect with Colleen: @colleenmbrady | LinkedIn | Website
A storyboarder, visual game developer, and illustrator
Connect with Sisa: @stickysisa | LinkedIn | Website
App builder
Connect with Naya: @bossnayamoss | LinkedIn | Website
Gather World Builder, 3D Artist, Wayfinder, Educator, and Builder
Connect with Vriti: @VritiSaraf | LinkedIn | Website
Artist and content gatherer
Connect with Shiku: @shikuwangombe | LinkedIn | Website
