This project focuses on climate resilience with an emphasis on behavior change. Previous research has shown that behavior change is essential to addressing climate challenges, and many climate adaptation plans anticipate that stakeholders will modify their actions while working towards enhancing resilience. However, behavioral change in climate adaptation has received limited attention. Further, there has been a recent increase in interest in the use of serious games (games developed for a societal goal) for citizen engagement. Yet, more work is needed to understand how serious games can support sustainable behavior change and effective decision-making for climate resilience. We propose to tackle climate change problems, specifically the sea level rise problem and behavior change, using serious game design. Using a co-design process, the project explores how serious game design can better support behavior change and sustainability through engagement with stakeholders. Specifically, we investigate how to incentivize behavior change through the interplay between two levels: (a) the policy level and (b) the individual and urban household levels. To understand behavioral change for climate resilience, we will focus on the problem of sea level rise in two parts of the world: Alexandria, Egypt, and the San Francisco Bay Area, California, as an emerging challenge for climate change in both regions. By interacting with stakeholders in these areas, we aim to co-design a game concept that allows us to incentivize behavior change as well as experiment with policy changes for behavior change. 

This study investigates how serious games can induce real-world climate action by engaging players at various levels of participation. Using an adapted "Games Ladder of Collective Action" framework, we analyzed 10 digital games related to climate action and Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13). The analysis evaluated the games' effectiveness in educating players, soliciting feedback, involving players in decision-making, and inspiring collective and independent actions. The findings suggest that while many games successfully raise awareness and foster collaboration, few effectively translate in-game experiences into real-world actions. The study provides actionable insights for game developers to enhance educational and participatory features, aiming to bridge the gap between digital game experiences and tangible environmental impact.

The systematic literature review examines the role of serious games in fostering collective climate action, particularly in addressing sea-level rise challenges. Analyzing 86 publications from 2013 to 2024, the study identifies trends, gaps, and opportunities in leveraging serious games to drive behavioral and policy changes. The research highlights the potential of simulations, storytelling, and role-playing games to facilitate a cycle of influence that integrates individual behavior, collective action, and policy transformation. The study proposes a framework for designing and evaluating serious games that emphasizes co-creation with local communities, cultural relevance, and assessment methods, and recommends future research focus on expanding to marginalized regions, integrating diverse cultural contexts, and innovating game formats to drive collective and policy-level action.

Through semi-structured interviews with climate activists and game developers, this study gathered qualitative insights on the potential of serious games to foster climate action, particularly in addressing sea-level rise (SLR) in Egypt. The analysis revealed stakeholder concerns about limited public awareness, inadequate policies, and ineffective strategies to address SLR, highlighting the need for integrated solutions and local context-specific interventions. Participants saw serious games as a valuable tool for raising awareness, educating players, and promoting behavioral change, especially among children and mothers. However, they noted limitations in influencing policy change, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between governments and civil societies. The study's findings provide recommendations for using serious games to target youth, designing post-participation strategies, and prioritizing local interventions to effectively address climate challenges, ultimately validating the idea of developing a serious game for climate action.