The very first "Climate Fresk" in Central Asia took place

February 28, 2022

Bishkek – February 28, 2022 – Kyrgyzstan hosted the first educational game in the region and the country called Climate Fresk within the framework of the “The Policy Action for Climate Security in Central Asia” project funded by the UK Government and implemented by UNDP in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Climate Fresk is based on the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and is an international innovative tool for climate education – an immersive game in which one can get a more complete picture of the phenomenon of climate change by building cause-and-effect relationships. And most importantly, the game allows us to see the role of humans in climate change, as well as to think about how we – humans can also solve them. The Climate Fresk was created in 2015 by Cédric Ringenbach to raise climate science awareness among a maximum number of people around the world.

The Climate Fresk is suitable for teaching the complex processes of climate change in an accessible and interesting way to people of all ages, and of any educational and professional background. The Climate Fresk is spreading very quickly and widely around the globe. The game was used at the 16th UN Youth Conference on Climate Change (COY16) as well as at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow, UK. And now in our region.

Climate change is being observed in all over the world, and its effects are already being felt. And the so-called “climate crisis” has come, becoming one of the most pressing issues for us as humanity today,” said Baktygul Ysabekova, regional coordinator of the “The Policy Action for Climate Security in Central Asia” project, “Over the past year, significant positive developments  took place in our country. The country has prepared and submitted an updated country climate pledge to the UNFCCC – the NDC document. The national delegation headed by the country’s president fruitfully took part in COP-26 in Glasgow, and 2022 has been declared the Year of Mountain Ecosystems Protection and Climate Resilience in Kyrgyzstan. There have been multiple tireless efforts made from all sectors of our society to contribute to these first steps in climate action in our country, and there is yet a big road ahead.”

The first of several rounds of the Climate Fresk, as part of Action for Climate Empowerment, took place on February 5, 2022 at AUCA. The first participants of the game were university professors from different campuses of Bishkek, as professors play a key role in raising awareness on climate and sustainability issues to ensure climate and environmental awareness of the population of a highly vulnerable region of Central Asia. The Climate Fresk is a pedagogical tool that can be used by teachers in schools, faculty in universities, as well as successfully integrated into many subjects (science, economics, literature, politics, music, and more). Professors and other staff from the city's universities highly appreciated the concept of the Climate Fresk game and its engaging and innovative approach to learning. The Climate Fresk has become the main tool in the global climate learning conducted by the universities of the world SolveClimateby2030, which our universities are also joining. Professors will also take facilitator’s training from Climate Fresk in order to get ready to play it on a regular basis with their students, colleagues and other community members in the near future.

On February 26, the second stage of the game involved both teachers and students. More than 100 students from 10 universities took part in the Climate Fresk to better understand the processes of climate change in order to start acting now! Climate change awareness and a better understanding of the phenomenon is the first step to action!

It is worth emphasizing the relevance of this game, considering that in the world and in our country more and more attention is being paid to the so-called Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) mentioned in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, The Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 (SDG 13) and the recently adopted Glasgow Climate Pact. Recognizing the scale of the problem of climate change, the Climate Fresk aims to reach one million people worldwide with climate education by 2023 through game. The game is available in 25 languages ​​and Climate Fresk operates in over 40 countries.