A pilot was underway before Christmas 2025 when Gamze Guven Yalcin, an University Lecturer-EFL Learning Designer, Doctoral Researcher, AI-ELT Teacher Leader from Yıldırım Beyazıt University in Türkiye had an innovative idea on teaching United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) She wanted to experience how games and gamification and AI could help to transform learning into meaningful actions.
We were excited to support her work through our gamified sustainability platform – League for Green Leaders. However, we were also curious to see how our approach would work with higher education students.
Gamze and her team exceeded our expectations with the results of the pilot.
They combined the League program’s carbon footprint tracking and gamification features with three AI-powered bots. Students investigated sustainability issues and engaged with three simulated characters, developing their ideas and exploring possible solutions.
Over the four-week pilot, students developed three sustainability projects:
A clothing swap corner to encourage clothing reuse.
An underground waste collection system to improve waste management.
A mobile game promoting public transit to encourage more sustainable commuting.
The results were particularly encouraging given the students’ starting point. None of the participating students had previously learned about sustainability or the SDGs at school. Yet, after spending approximately 7–8 hours learning about sustainability over the course of a month, they were motivated to develop three practical project ideas.
What made this learning experience meaningful? Gamze shared a framework that offers a compelling answer.
The idea is simple, but powerful:
PLAY gives students an experience.
REFLECT helps them make sense of that experience.
CONNECT brings learning into their own lives and communities.
ACT turns learning into action and agency.
REVISIT creates opportunities to reflect, build on previous learning, and continue taking action.
With the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) approaching, this is an opportune moment to explore how we can better prepare young people to understand sustainability challenges and take meaningful action.
Building on the pilot experience, we are inviting higher education educators and researchers to participate in an international research project exploring innovative approaches to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).
In collaboration with researchers from Yıldırım Beyazıt University in Türkiye and Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Ireland, we aim to explore how gamification, AI, and international collaboration can help students turn sustainability learning into action.
Our central research question:
Information Session Recording
You can watch the information session recording here.
Timeframe
We will use a gamified online sustainability competition platform, League for Green Leaders (LFGL), as the learning environment for this research project.
• Round 1: 3–16 November 2026
• Round 2: 17–30 November 2026
• Round 3: 1–14 December 2026
Rounds 1 and 2 align more closely with COP31 and the wider global conversation on sustainability, but please choose the round that best fits your academic calendar.
During the competition, students will engage with online sustainability activities, track their carbon footprints, and meet with you for approximately 4–5 sessions. You can adapt the sessions to your context and research goals. You can refer to Gamze’s learning design here.
Cost
To support educators participating in this research project, we offer a discounted class license of $99.99 USD per class, covering up to 30 students and 2 teachers, including platform access, learning activities, one-on-one onboarding and technical support, and educational resources. You can begin planning before securing institutional funding, with payment arranged once your funding is confirmed.
Student Data Privacy and Institutional Access
Please review our Privacy Policy and consult your IT department about access to:
• www.springbaystudio.org
• www.springbaystudio.com
We can share anonymized student platform usage data with their educators to support learning analysis. Any further research use or data sharing should be coordinated in line with institutional ethics requirements, consent arrangements, and applicable privacy policies. Reach out to us to discuss research collaboration with interested colleagues.
Connect Across Countries
We would love to create opportunities for students in Türkiye, Ireland, Egypt, Hong Kong, and other participating countries and regions to exchange ideas through online conversations. These encounters could help students see sustainability through different cultural and local lenses, while learning from one another.
Next Step
Decide to join us? Here is your next step – reach out to us – support [at] springbaystudio.com and let us know your decisions on the following:
1. Your preferred competition round.
2. Use single sign on with Google Classroom or not to access the League program
3. Your interest in international student collaboration.
4. A suitable time for your one-to-one onboarding call.
Let’s explore how we can help students move beyond learning about sustainability to developing ideas, collaborating across cultures, and taking meaningful action.
