Bringing Climate Solutions to Life: Digital Twins Meet Serious Games
Communities around the world face increasingly complex challenges as they adapt to climate change. From managing resources to planning resilient infrastructure, decisions need to be informed, collaborative, and forward-thinking. This new research project, led by Dr Izni Zahidi, Civil Engineering at Monash University, and Dr Feng Mao, School for Cross-Faculty Studies at the University of Warwick, is exploring an innovative approach. The team are combining digital twins, virtual models of real-world environments, with serious games to make climate planning more interactive and accessible.
Digital twins provide highly detailed, data-driven simulations that allow scientists and policymakers to model scenarios and test interventions. They can predict outcomes and optimise strategies for everything from urban planning to ecosystem management. However, these tools are often highly technical, making it difficult for communities and decision-makers to engage with them or connect their outputs to local contexts.
To overcome this barrier, the project will integrate serious games into digital twin technology. This combination aims to keep the analytical precision of digital twins while adding the interactivity and experiential learning that games offer, making climate solutions easier to understand and apply.
Over this academic year, the team will build collaborations between Monash, Warwick, and key stakeholders, conduct a case study in Malaysia to understand local needs, and develop a prototype that merges digital twins with serious games. This innovative platform will support proactive decision-making and optimise resource allocation, helping communities become more climate-resilient.
By blending cutting-edge technology with community-driven solutions, this project offers a practical way to turn complex climate data into actionable strategies for a sustainable future.