Join the Peace with Nature Challenge with Minecraft and UNESCO

By now we are aware of the severity of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution resulting from human activity. We need to act together to understand the impacts of the warming planet and create new ways of living sustainably.  In 2015, the world’s nations agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of interconnected goals to help us achieve a more sustainable future by 2030. These 17 Global Goals provide a framework for collectively responding to the complex set of challenges including hunger, urban development, clean water, and climate change.

To help you explore the SDGs with your students, Minecraft and UNESCO have partnered to present the Peace with Nature Challenge, a global build challenge that invites learners around the world to design ways to live more sustainably in Minecraft: Education Edition. This is a unique opportunity to engage students in issues that matter and energize your school community in an international competition. It covers key issues from a diverse range of curriculum such as geography and biology, embedded in social context and student empowerment – creating a motivating game-based learning experience.

The Peace with Nature Challenge invites students around the world to build solutions for your communities that show how we can replace unsustainable behaviors with ways of living in harmony with nature. The challenge is the perfect opportunity to give students a voice and come up with positive approaches to tackle these critical global challenges.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to integrate the program into your curriculum with special classroom activities. We’ve created a custom Minecraft world, curriculum and learning materials, and webinars with real-world experts. Kickstart creativity with resources from UNESCO’s work on education for sustainable development, that cover topics including cities, clean water, waste, climate change, and clean energy. Culminate the learning by creating a unique build in Minecraft: Education Edition that demonstrates how to protect our planet.

Students will brainstorm approaches to the prompt, plan their projects as individuals or working in teams of up to four classmates, and build their Minecraft creations on an in-game build plate. Learners might imagine methods for harnessing local renewables to provide clean power. They could find a way to reduce the footprint of human activities on animal habitats. Or they might devise a plan to clean pollutants from natural environments.

Once students complete their builds, they can create a video (screen recording tour through their Minecraft build with voiceover) and short, written description of how their build addresses the Peace with Nature prompt. Throughout the process, students will work toward achieving sustainability in their lives and communities. Students will have the chance to win custom swag and other exciting prizes. Minecraft will announce the top builds in December.

Here’s how to take part in the challenge:

1. READ THE CHALLENGE: Start on the challenge website to review the prompt and access resources and lesson plans, available in more than 15 languages.
2. EXPLORE THE MINECRAFT WORLD: Find the custom Peace with Nature Challenge world in the in-game library for Minecraft: Education Edition or download the world here. Explore the immersive world and interact with different characters to learn about the SDGs and actions that can be taken to shape the future.
3. BUILD AND SUBMIT: Students work individually or in teams to brainstorm, research, plan, and construct their creations. Submit videos of your learners’ projects through our online submission form. Encourage students to get creative with their videos!

Assemble your builders, start brainstorming, and create ideas for attaining the SDGs. Submissions are due November 19, 2021, so get started today!* Together we can make 2021 a turning point for the planet and transform our relationship with nature! 🌱

Learn more about the challenge and get started here.

*Open only to educators, instructors, parents/guardians of students ages 8-18. The Peace with Nature Challenge ends 11/19/21. For full Official Rules, see https://aka.ms/gbcrulesregs.