Education for Sustainable Development

Active Learning and Flipped Classroom through Games and Online Instruction

What we do

Snowflake Education provides a comprehensive solution for educating in sustainable development and integrating sustainability as a natural part of existing courses and educational programs. Our concept is based on research on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the principles of active learning and flipped classroom. Through a combination of self-studies on our digital platform and interactive seminars/workshops where participants play board games, simulations, and role-plays (online or in the classroom), key competencies for sustainable development, such as systems thinking and critical thinking, are trained. Additionally, the method reduces the time and effort that educators need to spend to develop a sustainability angle for their course.

Our customers include universities, high schools, government agencies and businesses. The company is headquartered in Stockholm and our services and products are used worldwide.

Learning sustinability through games

Our society faces unprecedented challenges - greater than ever before in human history. But we all have the potential to address them, if we all know what we can and should do. Sustainable development is complex, holistic and full of values - it's no wonder that sustainability work can feel difficult.

In 2015, the world's countries agreed on 17 goals and 169 targets for sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda are an excellent starting point for learning about sustainable development, but research has shown that it takes much more than just knowledge to truly contribute to sustainable development.

We offer playful learning situations through games, simulations and role-playing - training key competencies for sustainable development. With the help of educational games, one can train systems thinking, normative competence and other complex skills in a way that is both fun, entertaining and engaging!

Reviews

What do our users think? Some voices from university educators

Dr. Cristina Al-Khalili Szigyarto

Director of Studies, School of Biotechnology /  Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Sweden)

"A fantastic tool for students to learn in a safe environment, but also to stimulate their creativity. Students get to understand the subject and using terms with a deeper knowledge. They love the games."

Professor Richard Fenner

Director of the Mphil program in Engineering for Sustainable Development / University of Cambridge (UK)

"The games are a great way for students to begin thinking about how to approach seemingly intractable problems. They are also a great way of simulating, compressing and engaging with possible real world events that could not be achieved in actual practice."

Associate Professor Henrik Kusar

Course Director in Chemical Technology / Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Sweden)

"The pedagogical value of the games is to challenge students to think, and to take different viewpoints. My approach for teaching sustainable development is that there are no simple answers - and this is what this framework gives my students. Students learn much faster and deeper."

Dr. Meeri Karvinen

University Teacher / Aalto University (Finland)

"Students have a really good time while playing the games, which help them to move away from simple solutions. This framework is based on a really good alternative pedagogy as compared to conventional lectures. Students think this is really fun and engaging, and it combines well with the academic content. They feel that they get new perspectives on sustainability."

Contact us today

Do you want to get inspired on how your organization can develop its knowledge in sustainable development? We would be happy to hold a sustainability training at your location (physically or digitally), or a workshop where we demonstrate our games, web platform, and other interactive tools to deliver sustainability courses that inspire.