Over the past year, we have taken another step forward in our major effort to promote game-based climate education in Europe. Through a project funded by Nordplus Horizontal, we launched Danish and Finnish versions of the Climate Call card game, giving hundreds of teachers and students in both countries the opportunity to discover how climate issues can become both engaging and fun to discuss.
This is the story of what we did, the people we met – and what we are taking with us into the future.
Part of our long-term commitment to climate education
This project is part of ETIP – Empowering Teachers, Inspiring Pupils – our multi-year initiative to strengthen climate education in Europe. Since 2023, we have collaborated with local partner organizations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to create country-specific versions of Climate Call, train teachers, and share our proven methods for game-based learning.
Read more about the ETIP initiative here
With support from Nordplus Horizontal and together with our partners in Denmark and Finland – Økolariet and the Natural History Museum of Denmark, and ENO Schoolnet Association and Dodo in Finland – we have now taken the next step. Through this project, we adapted, translated, and distributed Danish and Finnish versions of the game in Denmark and Finland, and built networks that can carry climate education forward even after the project has ended.
The Danish edition of the Climate Call card game is called Klimacool, and the Finnish edition is called Ilmastotietäjä, which roughly translates to “climate expert” in Finnish.
Together for climate education: our project partners in Finland and Denmark
To launch Climate Call in Denmark and Finland, we collaborated with some of the region’s most dedicated and prominent actors in the fields of environment and education. Here we present the organizations that made the project possible.
Økolariet
Økolariet, located in Vejle, Denmark, is an interactive science and environment center offering free exhibitions and school programs on climate, energy, and sustainability. With a strong focus on experience-based learning, Økolariet gives children and young people the chance to use all their senses as they explore how we affect the planet.
Discover more about Økolariet here!
Natural History Museum of Denmark
The Natural History Museum of Denmark is the country’s national natural history museum, located in Copenhagen and part of the University of Copenhagen. The museum houses extensive collections of more than 14 million objects, offers school programs, and actively engages in climate and sustainability issues.
Read more about the Natural History Museum of Denmark here
ENO Schoolnet Association
ENO Schoolnet Association is a global school and communication network based in Joensuu, Finland, dedicated to education for sustainable development. ENO has worked with climate issues in educational contexts for over 20 years and is active in more than 100 countries.
Click here to visit ENO’s website
Dodo
Dodo is a Finnish environmental organization working with community engagement and complex climate issues, from local initiatives to international solutions. Dodo combines environmental education with creative methods and cross-sector collaboration. The organization was not part of the project from the beginning but joined later to support us and ENO in distribution efforts in Finland and to help spread the game through public events, among other activities.
What we achieved: 1,300 games and many meetings
The project, which ran from May 2024 to April 2025, resulted in 1,300 distributed games – more than the original target – along with extensive teacher engagement in both countries.
One of our Danish partners also took the initiative to print an additional 300 copies, demonstrating how well the game was received from the very beginning. This meant we were able to reach significantly more teachers and students than planned – and lay the groundwork for continued dissemination.
The games were accompanied by a teacher’s guide in each language, containing a suggested lesson plan for lower and upper secondary school students.
All materials are now available on dedicated websites for each country. Check out the pages via the links below! There you will also find the teacher guides we developed for each country.
The games are also available for purchase and can be ordered by emailing us!
Big Bang in Odense, Denmark – meetings with 150 engaged teachers
In March 2025, we launched the Danish version of the game at the Big Bang Conference in Odense – one of Denmark’s largest meeting places for teachers and educators. Together with Økolariet and the Natural History Museum of Denmark, our Danish project partners, we hosted an exhibition where around 150 teachers tried out the game and brought teacher materials home with them.
The photos below are from the launch in Odense.
“The game sparked great enthusiasm and the teachers really enjoyed it. Many teachers expressed that Klimacool was exactly what they needed – a concrete and playful entry point into climate education,” says Karl Sterner Isaksson, project manager at Climate Call.
Following the conference, we organized a professional development session for educators at Økolariet and visited the Natural History Museum of Denmark as well as the Technical Museum in Helsingør, where we discussed how the game could be integrated into their educational programs.
In May 2025, we also visited Naturmødet in Hirtshals, Denmark, where we shared information about the game and made new connections through networking with exhibitors and participants. Naturmødet is a large public festival focused on nature and sustainability, where politicians, experts, organizations, and the general public gather to debate, exchange ideas, and find solutions related to nature management, biodiversity, and links to health, culture, and quality of life.
Launch in Finland: meetings with students and teachers at Sci Fest in Joensuu
The launch of the Finnish version of Climate Call (Ilmastotietäjä) took place during the Sci Fest fair in Joensuu in May 2025, where students and teachers had the chance to try the game at our booth, which we shared with our Finnish partner ENO Schoolnet Association.
The game session was led by behavioral psychologist Sinikka Hynninen-Otva. Maire Turunen, environmental education coordinator from ENO, explains:
“Sinikka is fantastic with children and young people – she managed to spark conversations where the students themselves began to explore climate issues in depth.”
We also took part in the Educa fair in Helsinki in January 2025 – a key meeting place for teachers – and organized a public dinner event together with our other Finnish partner, the environmental organization Dodo, where the general public was invited.
The photos below are from the launch of Ilmastotietäjä in Joensuu.
What we learned – three insights from the project
We take with us several lessons from our work to spread the game and methods for teaching climate issues in Denmark and Finland:
Playfulness reduces climate anxiety. The game provides a safe and constructive entry point to difficult topics.
Partnerships are crucial. Collaboration with museums, environmental organizations, and school networks gave us access to important target groups.
The need for concrete tools is great. Teachers are asking for materials that can be used directly in the classroom – and that make climate issues manageable.
We continue building networks
The project funded by Nordplus Horizontal may have come to an end, but the work goes on. In autumn 2025, we are planning a joint digital meeting with all our partners in Europe, including the Baltic region, to evaluate the work and plan the next steps. The network also includes partner organizations in Estonia (MTÜ Mondo), Latvia (Green Liberty – “Zaļā brīvība” in Latvian), Lithuania (LINEŠA), and Poland (Center for Citizenship Education, CCE), which have been part of the ETIP initiative since it began in 2023.
Karl Sterner Isaksson, director of Climate Call, shares his vision for the future:
“This is only the beginning. Our vision is to continue developing and spreading game-based methods for climate education in the Nordic region and further across all of Europe.”
Try it yourself – order a teaching kit with games!
Are you a lower or upper secondary school teacher? Would you like to try new, proven, and engaging ways of teaching? Then try our educational and fun card games, which fit into many different subjects! A teaching kit includes five games for the price of four and is enough for an entire class.
Learn more about our teaching kits for schools and order directly in our webshop!
We currently offer teaching kits in English with Climate Call and Chemistry Call, with new games to be added in the future.
Three reasons to use our card games in school
✓ Creates engagement and participation: The games activate the whole class, trigger students’ competitive spirit, and spark curiosity.
✓ Encourages reflection and discussion: By playing in groups, students are encouraged to think critically, reason together, and exchange perspectives.
✓ Connects to school subjects and goals: All games are designed to fit teaching in subjects such as science, social studies, and geography – and contribute to a deeper understanding of important issues.
Want to collaborate with us?
This project clearly shows how much we can achieve together with committed partner organizations. To continue spreading Climate Call and our methods for game-based climate education, we are now looking for more partners to join us on this journey.
If you are interested in spreading knowledge about climate change and sustainability in a playful way, this is a unique opportunity! If you have specific connections to new countries, that’s an extra bonus!
By collaborating with us, we can create a version of the Climate Call card game tailored to your country and its specific challenges. We believe in the power of cooperation and in raising awareness through game-based learning. So if you share our vision and would like to be part of this exciting initiative, contact us today at hello@climatecallgame.com!