‘My Sustainable Living Challenge’ is a gamified 6-week online course accompanied by webinars and expert support. The challenge is designed to promote behaviour change through practical commitments. It is jointly implemented by the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC), the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Group of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and GO4SDGs. The initiative supports the concept of ‘generational restoration’ (#generationrestoration), seeking to change the way people think about how they move, shop, eat and live.
The Global Opportunities for Sustainable Development Goals (GO4SDGs) project has awarded 2,000 scholarships to participants. The challenge, running since 19 August, has brought together students, universities, educational institutions and youth organisations from around the world to form teams of 7-10 people.
This year's programme provides grants for 330 participants from Central Asia and the South Caucasus, with a focus on teams of university students. The course is available in English, French, Spanish and Russian.
Participants engage with questions and sustainable actions in an immersive environment, tracking progress through a virtual "treemagotchi" that grows as they make sustainable choices. Over the course of six weeks, teams compete, earning points for their progress and sustainable actions. The game format includes knowledge testing, exercises, discussions, voting and information sharing to make learning fun and interactive. At the end of the challenge, teams will be awarded a Sustainable Lifestyles Champion Badge and certificate.
