2nd Edition of the Hybrid Sustainability NEXUS Conference

Promoting a community of practice and interest for a sustainable game industry 

The date: 12 November 2024 |the time: 9.30 am | blue skies over Stockholm.

Last checks for sound and camera feeds for the about to begin second edition of the Sustainable NEXUS conference – streamed live from the Stockholm Business Region’s own studio. The conference offers the framework for online presentations, a live keynote and panel, and dedicated satellite events in Malmö, Berlin and Cologne. 

The panelists are arriving and getting to know each other and revel in each other’s achievements and ongoing projects over coffee and cardamom “fika”. No event without fika, says Jenny, our gracious hostess. 

On the dot of 10 am, Jenny and Christine kick off the conference handing over to Patrick for his keynote “The Map to Systemic Sustainability… and how to fight a Dragon”. Patrick Prax, assistant professor at the Department of Game Design at Uppsala university and expert on game design and sustainability, presents us with the need for a systemic approach to sustainability, what role the game industry can play in this respect and how game creation and industry need to approach this issue. The 17 SDG goals are not a buffet from which to choose one’s titbits: they are interdependent and one cannot just focus on environmental sustainability, but always need to include the other salient  Segue good examples for innovative tools and models such as the free tool for game studios to measure their carbon footprint, presented by the developers of the tool U&We, partners in the Susindi project. Maria Wagner introduces us to the SGA – Sustainable Games Association – which provides guidance and a model (in progress) to be prepared for the coming legal requirements with regards to sustainability reporting and propose requirements that befit the nature and idiosyncrasy of the game industry. The question of DEI as part of the sustainability approach is raised by Emil L. Hammar from the Royal Danish Academy as part of the Erasmus+ co-funded project “Fair Game”. Finally, Matthes Lindner from Spielfabrique gives us food for thought regarding economic sustainability. 

Back to the live studio, Jenny hands her over the relay to Gabriella Kalteneckar from RISE, the Swedish research institute. With plenty of good humour and industry savvy, she orchestrated a thought-provoking discussion with a strong focus on the inclusion and empowerment of women and non-binary persons. The easy and willing panellists were Patrick, Jenny Brusk from Swedish Game Arena, Women-in-Games ambassador Linn-Marie Edlund, Volha Kapitonava, producer and manager with Wooga and Positive Impact Games, and Hugo Bille, a genius developer and the instigator of the SIG climate with IGDA. 

Panning shot to the satellite events in the afternoon: 

Hello Malmö! Are you there? – Yes, we are here. Hello from Malmö and Game Habitat where in a hybrid workshop the Susindi tool “play, … “ can be tested under the guidance of the developers of the tool, U&We”. To be joined at 13h45 

Hello Cologne! Are you there? – Yes! Greetings from Cologne. This afternoon we will be looking into the policies around sustainability. Joost Verwoort from the University of Utrecht and partner in our Horizon-project Strategies will be our facilitator. Join us online. 

Hello Berlin! Are you with us? – Yes! We are live at the DE:HIVE, the University of Applied Sciences Berlin’s game design studies and incubator programme. 

Two and half an hours later… the satellites are coming back to us, presenting us with an outline of their discussions and work. Really cool was the graphic recording made for the workshop. 

Programme Manual Online

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