Fate of The World: computer gaming for conservation?

Abstract

In Magdalene College, Cambridge, in November 2011, under the auspices of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, a group of people gathered to debate the apparently peculiar subject of the relationship between computer games and conservation. Organized by Bruno Monteferri, a graduate of the Initiative’s MPhil in Conservation Leadership and chaired by Andy Clements, Chief Executive of The British Trust for Ornithology, a panel of interested professionals debated a game called Fate of the World, released by Oxford-based computer games developer Red Redemption. On the panel were Andrew Balmford, of the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, Chris Greenwood, Development Director at Fauna & Flora International, and Jude Owers, Chief Executive of social games developer, Playmob. Speakers were Ian Roberts of Red Redemption and Tadhg Kelly, a computer games consultant.