On 15 October 2026, the GAME4CHANGE EU Conference: Digital Serious Games for Climate Change Education took place in Leiria, Portugal, bringing together researchers, academics and other stakeholders to explore how digital serious games and playful learning approaches can support climate change education in higher education.

The conference aimed to disseminate and share the results achieved within the Erasmus+ GAME4CHANGE – Digital Serious Games for Climate Change Education project. The project seeks to strengthen university educators’ pedagogical skills in using serious games and gamification strategies to teach climate change and its mitigation. It also promotes student engagement through innovative educational methodologies, technologies and tools, supporting the development of new learning resources, curricula, awareness-raising initiatives, mobile applications and collaborative networking solutions. The programme addressed several key themes, including new perspectives on gamification and learning design, the GAME4CHANGE approach to an AI-supported digital learning environment, and research findings on the use of serious games for climate change education.

The conference featured invited speaker António Baía Reis from the University of Aveiro, who delivered a talk entitled “This Is Not a Game! From Gamification to Gameful Pedagogy”, encouraging participants to rethink the role of games and playful approaches in education.

The event provided a platform for scientific exchange, keynote presentations, research sessions and discussions on opportunities for future collaboration and partnerships. The conference took place at the School of Technology and Management (ESTG), University of Leiria and Oeste. Explore the conference programme: https://g4ceuconference.ulo.pt/program.html and conference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG5I5qBHtD4

The GAME4CHANGE EU Conference provided an important opportunity to share project results, strengthen cooperation among higher education stakeholders and advance innovative approaches to climate change education.