It is 2030 and rising ocean levels are threatening to flood low-lying Metro Vancouver neighborhoods.

Welcome to Future Delta, a new videogame created by UBC researchers to help the citizens of Delta, B.C. to reduce their carbon footprint and prepare for climate change, including major flooding risks related to global warming.

In November and December, the researchers will begin presenting a prototype game to schools, city staff, gaming experts and community groups. They want to gather ideas to help make a 2.0 version of the game entertaining and engaging enough to inspire learning and action.

The project is led by UBC Prof. Stephen Sheppard, an expert on visualizing climate change and director of UBC’s Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning (CALP). Sheppard says it will be the world’s first videogame to immerse citizen-players in an interactive, virtual version of their own real-life community, allowing them to explore future possibilities using the best available scientific data on the regional climate.  Full article available in UBC Reports Vol. 59 Nov. 4/2012.