The ‘Climate and Society’ Game: People’s different vulnerabilities to climate change and their different abilities to be change-makers

The 'Climate and Society' game is a training tool designed to illustrate how social, economic, and physical attributes—such as gender, age, and socio-economic status—create varying levels of climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Using fictional scenarios in Ethiopia, India, and Latin America, the game encourages participants to 'walk in other people's shoes' to identify barriers to participation in climate planning. The guide provides strategies for making consultations and adaptation interventions more inclusive by adjusting timing, location, and personnel to accommodate marginalized groups.

• The 'Climate and Society' game is a training tool designed to help participants understand how diverse social, economic, cultural, and physical attributes—including gender roles and relations—interact to influence an individual's climate vulnerability, risk, and their ability to contribute to disaster risk reduction and climate-resilient development.
• The game utilizes fictional scenarios based on low-income urban or peri-urban neighbourhoods in Ethiopia, India, and Ecuador/Latin America. Participants take on character cards to simulate consultations and the development of adaptation and resilience plans, allowing them to experience the barriers and frustrations faced by different social groups.
• The guide emphasizes that climate vulnerability is not uniform; people in the same location exposed to the same hazard are affected differently based on inequities related to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, education, ethnicity, caste, class, age, geographical origin, and beliefs.
• To ensure equitable benefits and inclusive participation in climate adaptation, the document suggests modifying consultation mechanisms. This includes adjusting the timing of meetings to accommodate domestic or work duties, changing locations to suit those with restricted mobility, and selecting consultants who share the language or gender of the participants.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2020). The ‘Climate and Society’ Game: People’s different vulnerabilities to climate change and their different abilities to be change-makers. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-instructions-for-the-climate-role-play-game-Climate-and-Society-Dec-2020-update.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. The ‘Climate and Society’ Game: People’s different vulnerabilities to climate change and their different abilities to be change-makers. 2020. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-instructions-for-the-climate-role-play-game-Climate-and-Society-Dec-2020-update.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=The ‘Climate and Society’ Game: People’s different vulnerabilities to climate change and their different abilities to be change-makers |date=December 2020 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-instructions-for-the-climate-role-play-game-Climate-and-Society-Dec-2020-update.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2020climate, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{The ‘Climate and Society’ Game: People’s different vulnerabilities to climate change and their different abilities to be change-makers}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Facilitators-instructions-for-the-climate-role-play-game-Climate-and-Society-Dec-2020-update.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }