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Ecomonopoly introduced to teach children environmental issues
Annisa Hasanah, a student of landscape architecture at the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), created a game, dubbed Ecomonopoly, in 2009 — around the time climate change issues began to get the attention of the Indonesian people
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nnisa Hasanah, a student of landscape architecture at the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), created a game, dubbed Ecomonopoly, in 2009 — around the time climate change issues began to get the attention of the Indonesian people.
Her green version of the board game Monopoly has not only landed in classrooms but also many parts of the world.
“I created the game because at that time we still lacked games or media to educate children about environmental issues. The other reason is that many of us don’t care much about the environment, so we have to create a mindset at an early age of how important the issue is for our future,” said Annisa.
Ecomonopoly, just like the original version, is played in group. The difference is that the content is not about real estate, but biodiversity, national reserve parks, carbon footprints and landscape architecture.
Ecomopoly JP/Theresia Sufa
The green idea was also implemented in the packaging of the game. The die is made from scrap wood, the player pieces from recycled paper and the cup from used aluminum tin, while the bills are made from used paper. The game has been diversified into the national park and carbon footprint versions.
The game has been introduced to classrooms at state elementary schools near the IPB campus in Darmaga, Bogor, and to the children of Rembul village in the foot of
Mt. Slamet, Central Java.
“I have also created a community, the Ecofun community, of which members include university students and elementary school students. The activities include planting trees, recycling and upcycling — creating valuable goods from garbage,” Annisa said.
Recognition
Annisa had received various awards for her creation, including Best Project Young Danamon Leaders Award in 2009, Ashoka Young Change-makers in the same year and the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy in 2010.
The board game made her eligible to be one of four Indonesian environment ambassadors who took a trip to Leverkusen, Germany, and met ambassadors from 18 other developing countries.
“It was in Leverkusen that an IT student from Bangalore, India, offered to collaborate to create an online version of the game, but I haven’t heard from him since,” said Annisa.
She was also invited to be a guest speaker at the annual Scientific Week in Denpasar, Bali, and World Youth Congress Exhibition in Istanbul, Turkey.
Annisa hoped for support from both the government and private sector to get intellectual propriety rights of the product and produce and distribute the board game as an educational tool for teachers and parents.
The game doesn’t come cheap. The national park version of Ecomonopoly – sized 40 centimeter by 40 cm – costs Rp 70,000 (US$8.19), while the carbon print version is
Rp 80,000. A mass production and distribution will make the price more affordable, said Annisa.
“There are companies who are interested in ordering the board game to have as handouts at the environmental activities they hold,” she said.
A lecturer at IPB’s landscape architecture department, Qodarian Pramukanto, said that the Ecomonopoly was an innovation because it’s informative but at the same time fun to learn and easy to understand, especially for elementary school children.
“I hope more IPB students can achieve what Annisa has done. Students are supposed to make innovations that benefit the people at large,” he said.
