London Mayor Sadiq Khan has taken to Minecraft to ask players to redesign the town of Croydon in a bid to help tackle the climate crisis.
Minecraft has partnered with City Hall and C40 Cities for the 2023 Design Future London Schools Challenge, which invites students to redesign Croydon town centre as a “greener, safer, and more prosperous place for everyone”.
Sadiq Khan appears in Minecraft to introduce the challenge, which is open to all students across London. The aim of the initiative is “to inspire young Londoners to develop an interest in designing beautiful, affordable and sustainable places to live, work and visit.”
“Every young Londoner is eligible for a free Minecraft Education licence to take part in the challenge. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a custom built Minecraft world of Croydon Town Centre, and build their solutions block by block in Minecraft,” continues the description of the challenge. Find out more information here.
Khan is chair of C40 Cities, which is a global network of mayors working together to tackle the climate crisis.
“Creating a greener, fairer and more prosperous London for generations to come is a key priority of mine,” said Khan (via Eurogamer). “Achieving my missions of tackling air pollution and reaching net zero carbon by 2030 are a huge part of this, so I’m thrilled to be getting help from the voices of tomorrow.”
“It was an honour to be rendered in blocks and join the Minecraft family to launch the Design Future London Schools Challenge to young Londoners. The London Minecraft World is a fun and engaging way for young Londoners to think critically about the built environment, collaborate with friends and peers, and be creative in showcasing their vision for the capital’s future,” he continued.
“I can’t wait to see the brilliant ideas that come out of this challenge and wish all young Londoners taking part the very best of luck with their entries.”
In recent months, Minecraft Education has teamed up with BBC documentary series Frozen Planet 2 to create a series of educational worlds, worked with Europe’s biggest conservation charity to put the spotlight on the ancient ruins of the United Kingdom and launched a series of projects that aim to help teach young people about climate change, the environment, and flooding.
Elsewhere, one Minecraft creator reportedly spent three months recreating ‘Africa’ by Toto in the game.
In other news, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann has said the studio might never make a follow-up to ‘The Last Of Us Part 2’, despite the success of the HBO television adaptation.
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