International partnerships
Participation in European consortia increases your impact. Discover our role as a design partner in international collaborations and European programs, where we actively expand our network and initiate new projects.
Green Transitions
Intergenerational learning for a sustainable future
Together with partners from Portugal (Aproximar CRL), Greece (OECON GROUP), and Slovakia (Technical University of Košice), we contributed to the European project Green Transitions. At the heart of this initiative lies the power of intergenerational learning: young and older people learning, reflecting, and taking action together on sustainability and climate change. 8D played a key role as facilitator of the design process and developer of an interactive serious game that translates theoretical learning modules into engaging, scenario-based experiences.
Goals
1
Train youth workers in intergenerational learning focused on sustainability and climate
2
Bring young and older generations together in joint learning processes
3
Develop a serious game that links theory to realistic, recognizable choices
Want to know more about Serious Games?
Mail stephan.burghout@8d.nl
Strategic Designer Stephan tells you all about it!
Connecting generations through intergenerational learning
The urgency of climate action is felt worldwide. Yet knowledge sharing about sustainable practices often remains limited to fragmented campaigns or isolated learning moments. Intergenerational learning offers a more holistic and long-term approach, where different generations reflect together on consumption, energy use, and civic engagement.
By actively involving both young and older people, the learning process becomes truly reciprocal. Young people bring urgency and fresh perspectives, while older adults contribute valuable experience and context. This dynamic increases the likelihood of lasting behavioral change and transforms climate communication into a two-way exchange rather than one-way instruction.
Approach
In a scenario-based game, one of the greatest challenges lies in creating the content: the narrative scenarios and the branching choices. How do you condense complex knowledge into short, accessible situations? And how do you build consensus within an international consortium of partners and experts? To make this process run smoothly, we designed a collaborative writing system with structured formats and clear guidelines for content and translations.
This, to us, is design in its broadest sense: not only the gameplay and visual end product, but also shaping the process itself so that creativity can flourish within clear boundaries. In this way, endless brainstorming is avoided, and a consistent, appealing result is achieved. We essentially oversee the process from above and see that as part of our role as designers.
Results
The project resulted in a fully designed and developed serious game, graphically and technically created by 8D. In the game, players select a character and work through five modules: Sustainability and Green Transitions, Resilient Cities, Sustainable Life Cycle Assessment, Green Urban Spaces, and Acting for Sustainability. Each decision influences the mood and color of Green City: greener and more vibrant for sustainable choices, redder and darker for less sustainable ones. Every question is accompanied by additional knowledge, and at the end, players receive a score that highlights where further improvement is possible.
The project is still in development. The game will soon be available in five languages (English, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, and Slovenian). In addition to the game, the project also delivers an Intergenerational Learning guide for youth workers, a training program for adults and young people, and several capacity-building activities. In doing so, the project directly contributes to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and the European Green Education agenda. More information can be found on the official project website: greentransitions.eu
Research in the midst of society
Participatory research can solve three bottlenecks that researchers face: data collection, effective knowledge transfer and dissemination. Potential forms are game-based research and design-based research. We are happy to inspire you with examples from our portfolio.
Dissemination strategies for researchers
How can research findings truly land in policy and practice? At 8D, we believe that effective dissemination strategies for researchers require design thinking and close collaboration with the target audience.
This is how we build knowledge dissemination that goes beyond project websites or isolated social posts. Our view: dissemination should be an integral and meaningful part of the entire research process, not just an afterthought.