Spoiler Alert: Our story begins in the year 2050, when the world is celebrating the Earth’s temperature coming back down. The Sage in Sue Blythe is 103 years old, with a head full of the memories of a lifetime.
EarthFlash! April 2050
“Tell us a Flash!Back,” said Sage’s oldest great-granddaughter, 10-year-old Ginnie.
“How far back do you want to go?” asked Sage. She loved telling stories about the olden days.
“Tell us about the early days of the Earth Charter Games,” said Annabeth.
Sage smiled, leaned back, and got that look in her eyes as she traveled through time and space on the Web of Love.
EarthFlash! October 2015
“I had just learned about the Earth Charter Game at the University for Peace in Costa Rica, where I a course on the Earth Charter, Storytelling and Theatre. I wanted everyone to play the Earth Charter Game — for real. I could see it as a board game that anyone could play, in lots of fun ways.”
EarthFlash! May 2012
I finished a year-long pilot program at Trilogy School in May of 2012. The kids had learned about this critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. They made commitments to address these themes of the Earth Charter:
They created action plans and carried them out together. They envisioned projects that they could carry into the future. And they shared their experience and visions at the FutureFlash! Show for families and friends.
In the final evaluation, the students said the program was good, but it was too long and slow. Could we make it happen faster? One girl asked, “Can you make it a game? You know we’re all about games.’
EarthFlash! May 2016
Four years later, I went back to Trilogy School with the Earth Charter board game from Brazil. I played the game with all 60 high schoolers at Trilogy School over several weeks. They thought everyone should play. They made an Action Plan for a Family Earth Charter Game Night.
EarthFlash! June 2019
I imagined adding a card game with the 16 principles of the Earth Charter,
And the 16 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all member nations of the United Nations in 2015. We’d have to win them all by 2030 to make the world work for 100% of humanity and the community of life on Earth, our home.
EarthFlash! April 2016
I started imagining the Earth Charter Game as a musical play that would take our players into the real world, with singing and dancing and action plans for a sustainable, just and peaceful future.
The Earth Charter Club took Sing for the Climate to the Florida Museum of Natural History for Earth Day in 2016.
I could imagine an animated musical with Pacha, where kids all over the world send in their own artwork and videos.
I could see it as a Florida Connected Challenge.
EarthFlash! October 2014
In 2014 Danny DeVito from Sidney Lanier School inspired teachers all over Florida to connect their students with classrooms in other parts of the world.
EarthFlash! April 2016
When I played the Earth Charter Game with my grandson’s Curiosity Hacked club, they said they wanted to build it in Minecraft. I remember the first day they explored their Minecraft Earth Charter World.
Over the years, my grandsons kept me up-to-date on what was possible in Minecraft.
- In my imagination, we added characters and the whole storyline of Pacha’s Pajamas: A Story Written by Nature.
- I could see players teleporting from one world to another.
- I could see little Minecraft books with excerpts of the story of Pacha and the Game: On the Road to 2030 and Beyond.
- I could see decision points, where the player has to choose Door 1 or Door 2.
- I could see lots of kids developing new aspects of the game that I couldn’t even imagine!
EarthFlash! October 2019
I could see the Nature Festival from Pacha’s Pajamas played out in the different biomes on the Earth Charter Game board — and in our Minecraft Earth Charter World.
When the characters realize they can’t solve the problems without the help of the humans, we reach out to the real humans who were busy imagining a community-wide climate conversation-to-action program.
From the Global Co Lab’s Hunger Hub – News clip of the community garden
EarthFlash! April 2021
A team of youth and elders called Tomorrow’s Dreamers put together the prototype EarthFlash! Games Show in April 2021.
And they said
It’s time to play … the Minecraft Earth Charter Game!
WHO will help us build the Minecraft Earth Charter Game?
That’s when the technology teachers at Alachua County Public Schools came on the scene.
And they said,
YOUR TESTIMONIAL HERE
Please submit your thoughts on this Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSej8EXpqmjdaqYjr_seOznPRhq7245fO_uyOUo9iNujFQRGnA/viewform?usp=sf_link
And their students wrote their own chapter in our collaborative storytelling adventure.
EarthFlash! April 2022
The 2022 Earth Day EarthFlash! Games Show was played live and live streamed from the Florida Museum of Natural History.
- Lewis Rhodes introduced the finalists in the Minecraft Earth Charter Game Challenge.
- Kids at _____ schools had worked on the Minecraft Earth Charter Game all through the 2021-22 school year.
- _____ coordinated the project.
- They built it on ________ server.
- They created a Minecraft summer camp for kids at Camp Tuscawilla. They added real-world elements to their game.
- John Nix, from Facilities, championed food forests for the camp and at Alachua County schools
- Dave Conser, City Arborist, championed planting fruit trees to support the Trillion Trees Challenge
- They established rules for the friendly competition among Alachua County schools.
- Each team built one Earth Charter Game biome in order to participate in the coopetition.
- Arctic – _______ Middle School
- Desert- _______ Middle School
- Jungle – _______ Middle School
- Forest – _______ Middle School
- Savanna- _______ Middle School
- Swamp – _______ Middle School
- Ocean – _______ Middle School
- City – _______ Middle School
- More rules
- For students
- For teachers
- For facilitators (in schools and community)
- Each team built one Earth Charter Game biome in order to participate in the coopetition.
- The Minecraft Earth Charter Game became a highlight of the EarthFlash! Games.
- The Minecraft players reflected what was happening in their real community, and the community played with them.
- EarthFlash! Treasure Hunt
- Together We Will Dream On – Expressions through the literary, visual and performing arts
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Earth Charter Principles.
- Alachua County was top on the leaderboard going into the finals, so all of Florida tuned in.
- Team Florida Connected included students from _____ counties around the state.
- Team Florida was at the top of the USA leaderboard.
- Team USA was at the top of the Earth, Our Home leaderboard.
- And what do you think happened?
- Now WE get to tell the Rest of the Story on the Road to 2030 and Beyond.