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Timetravel Collector
A World Heritage GamePoul Erik Christoffersen and Carsten Skjoldborg, Ungdomsbyen (Youth Town)
Tension is high in the room as the judges enter. Twenty pairs of eyes follow us as we take our seats. Fifteen students and four teachers from four different schools have come together in the Municipal Hall of Ungdomsbyen to present the games that they have developed.The fifteen students represent eleven classes at those Danish WHE schools which in 2010 have participated in Project Time Travel Collector. The idea of the project has been to increase the awareness of the students of what the individual WHE sites are, and why we must protect those places, monuments etc.
A World Heritage Game
The challenge for the participating classes has been for the students to use their imagination, creativity and their own experiences with games to develop a game based on UNESCO's World Heritage sites, such as:
- Monuments
- Buildings – solitary or together
- Locations – created by people or the result of interaction between people and nature
- Nature reserves
- Intangible Cultural Heritage
To be able to develop the game based on WHE sites, the students have had to look for information in a variety of fields: geography, history, demography, tourism, archeology, biology, determination of preservation value.
It quickly turns out to be quite a task for the judges. As the games are presented, it soon becomes apparent that much energy and much effort has gone into both the processes and the end products.
Around the world
An adventurous journey throughout the world begins. The first trip is a cruise with 'WHE Travel' to six continents and the chance to visit a great number of sites.
The next trip takes us to Kronborg Castle where various storytellers take us digitally through four centuries of Kronborg's history.
Another group focuses on Roskilde Cathedral. If we answer the questions correctly, we can gradually build three different versions of the church.
Then it is back to the whole world again. Five different games take us to Galapagos Islands, the Mount Sinai, the Cheops Pyramid, the Iguazu waterfalls, the Illulissat Icefjord and the Taj Mahal.
Finally another four very different WHE games give us the chance to visit places and sites we still haven't had the time to investigate.
It is a joy to watch the presentations and experience the creativity and enthusiasm of the students.
Through the work with developing the WHE games the students have come closer to answering such questions as - what, when, how and why a place is awarded Heritage site status.
The element of competition has, of course, had a motivating influence on Time Travel Collector. But that must not overshadow the many positive experiences which have gone before in countless lessons and at parents' meetings at the schools, where the students have presented and tried out the games together with their parents in the classrooms.
After the competition the idea is to apply for funds to digitalize one or more of the games and possibly have them translated into English. The outlook is global – it is about the world's common heritage.