Sustainable Shaun wins an award

Sustainable Shaun, the online game created by Aardman as part of Bristol’s year as the UK’s first European Green Capital, has won an industry leading TIGA Award.

The game was created as part of the European Green Capital Bristol 2015 education programme, and encourages critical thinking in children to create an eco-friendly city by monitoring resources, food, energy, transport and nature.

Sustainable Shaun collected the prize for best “Game with a Purpose” at the TIGA Awards for its engaging gameplay and strong visual design that communicate the purpose of the game – to connect children with sustainability in a fun way.

The game had stiff competition from experts in the gaming world, including a BBC Doctor Who entry.

Jake Manion, the Creative Director for the game at Aardman Animations commented: “We’re thrilled that Sustainable Shaun has been recognised as a leading game with a purpose.

“We worked very hard to make an experience that helped children learn about sustainable living in a way that was relatable, memorable, and entertaining for this young audience.”

The game is a key element of the Bristol 2015 education programme, which will also see the launch of a new UK-wide resource designed to put sustainability back in the classroom later in November.

The programme showcases best practice in sustainability education and will form part of Bristol’s presence at the UN climate change conference which takes place in Paris in December.

Jo Taylor, Head of Education for Bristol 2015 commented:

“Since we launched the first phase of the game in the summer we’ve welcomed over 24,000 players from 143 countries.

“Later this month we release our ‘mission mode’, designed to be played in classrooms across the country to support teachers with learning objectives from the national curriculum.

“We are so thrilled that an educational game connecting children with sustainability has made the winners list.”

The game is available at sustainableshaun.com and will feature on the soon-to-launch Bristol 2015 resource for teachers, Sustainable Learning.