We noticed an ongoing trend in mobile games where they either focused on destruction and demolition, or glamorised animals as pets and wildlife in captivity. Recognising that these negative trends provide no tangible or educational value regarding animals, wildlife, or the environment, we set out to find a solution.
We created World of the Wild; a unique game app that allows young people to participate in real-world wildlife conservation and environmental restoration scenarios. This app gamifies the concept of wildlife/environmental conservation and allows users to rescue, rehabilitate and care for animals and habitats within their own carefully crafted world. The game supports 17 charities; each animal and habitat in the app represents a particular cause.
Our objectives:
Highlight the plight of endangered and threatened species and environments all over the world;
Engage youth in wildlife and environmental conservation and education through fun gameplay;
Transform online game culture into something more positive and impactful;
Highlight the work of charities around the world;
Create a global ecosystem where people can connect with wildlife and environmental initiatives; where they can learn, feel inspired and be encouraged to make change;
Be a leading resource for individuals and charities around the world to feel empowered to take action;
To provide our next generation with the tools to be able to ensure the survival of our planet and all of its species.
Our strategy was to demonstrate the importance of youth engagement and technology in wildlife and environmental conservation and education. We sought to harness the power of youth and create inclusive, empowering, positive and impactful communities that were dedicated to ensuring a brighter future for the planet in a new era of technological advancement.
We began by gamifying and personalising the concept of wildlife and environmental conservation through our mobile app platform, World of the Wild. We created animal characters, individual species and habitats that would each represent a singular charity within our app. These characters were brought to life in our game, World of the Wild and were launched in the App Store in January of this year.
World of the Wild engages young people in wildlife and environmental conservation in a fun and educational way that has a lasting and real-world impact. The game includes personal animal stories, habitat-building features, tree-planting opportunities, pop quizzes, virtual wildlife conservation and habitat building scenarios and opportunities to connect with 17 global charities, including Grow Trees Foundation, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Borneo Orangutan Survival and African Conservation Foundation.
Additionally, we developed a national survey to gauge children's interest in environmental conservation, delivered social campaigns in conjunction with our partner charities, launched a website that has received over half a million hits, and created a video to illustrate the purpose of World of the Wild. We launched an effective PR campaign showcasing our app and brought wildlife to children all over the world!
Through our network of 17 global partner charities, as well as our affiliation with Australian schools and social enterprises, we harnessed the power of global youth activists and environmental conservationists to develop technological platforms that would enhance the efforts of global youth engagement and wildlife and environmental conservation.
Why we are unique
It is critical that we begin to build upon the wildlife and environmental education resources to prepare today's youth with the knowledge, experience and connections to meet the challenges that will define their generation. This is why World of the Wild is made with input from children around the world, so that they can play an active role in addressing the challenges of this century.
World of the Wild is now live in the App Store and represents 17 global charities, who have a collective reach of over 5 million people. Our game has been featured in over 15 news publications and 1 book, was recognised as one of Australia's best environmental startups by StartUp Smart, and recently won the Platinum Award for 'Best App for Children' by the Best Mobile App Awards.
We have engaged children from over 15 different countries, who are active users of World of the Wild and have created a platform for them to learn about wildlife and environmental conservation, while connecting with charities and building their own personal 'wild world'.
The success of this campaign was measured by social engagement, surveys, app downloads, website hits, media coverage and impact on our partner charities. To date, through these avenues, we have engaged over 900,000 people, and have paved new understandings of the relationship between environmental conservation, youth engagement and technology.
