Climate change is changing the risks that different communities around the world face. Flooding, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and other extreme weather events are increasingly challenging the way we live. Yet, understanding these climate risks is one thing; knowing how to prepare for them is another.

Welcome to Burning Lowlands, an interdisciplinary VU Dream Team exploring how climate adaptation can be made tangible, engaging, and accessible.

Our team brings together students from different academic backgrounds to translate scientific and practical knowledge about climate risk and adaptation into an interactive experience. At the centre of our work is Burning Lowlands, a collaborative serious game in which players experience the challenges of preparing for multiple climate hazards.

What is the “Burning Lowlands” game?

In the game, players become households that are exposed to multiple hazards. They must balance individual adaptation decisions with collective action, all while managing limited resources and maintaining the livability of their city.

These decisions are not always straightforward - an adaptation measure that benefits one household may affect others, while some climate risks can only be effectively addressed through collective action. For example, a player might decide to install air conditioning to protect their household during a heatwave. While this provides effective indoor cooling, it also releases heat outdoors and increases energy demand. What happens when many households make the same decision?

By making these choices themselves, players experience how climate adaptation involves trade-offs, uncertainty, cooperation, and interconnected risks.

We are designing the game so that it not only serves as an educational tool, but also provides an engaging and enjoyable experience that motivates people to keep playing.

From a student idea to an award-winning serious game

Through research, game development, playtesting, and continuous iteration, Burning Lowlands has grown from a student-led idea into a playable serious game.

In 2026, we presented and playtested the game at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna, where many researchers, experts, students, and other attendees experienced the game and provided valuable feedback. Our work was recognised with an Outstanding Student and PhD Candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award from the EGU Natural Hazards Division.

Our experience at EGU also showcased the game’s potential beyond its original audience. In addition to engaging citizens and students, Burning Lowlands can serve as a tool for educators, researchers, and climate professionals to facilitate learning, discussion, and engagement around climate adaptation.

What is next for Burning Lowlands?

Burning Lowlands currently exists as a playable prototype, but we have bigger ambitions for where the game can go next. We want to further develop and refine the game into a complete physical version that can be used in classrooms, workshops, events, and other educational settings. In the longer term, we would also like to explore the possibility of developing an online version, making the game accessible to a wider audience.

At the same time, we want to expand the game beyond its original setting, so that Burning Lowlands can become a flexible and adaptable serious game. By changing the hazards, adaptation measures, and local context represented in the game, the concept could potentially be applied to different regions and audiences while retaining its focus on climate adaptation, multi-hazard risk, decision-making under uncertainty, and collective action.

To ensure the game responds to the needs of those who will ultimately play and use it, we continue to develop and test the game together with students, researchers, educators, communities, and other organisations.

Join Burning Lowlands

Burning Lowlands is an interdisciplinary student team, and students from all academic backgrounds are welcome. Whether your interests lie in climate science, communication, psychology, policy, game design, research, technology, or something completely different, there are many ways to contribute.

As part of the team, you could contribute to areas such as:

• Game Development & Design
• Climate Adaptation & Research
• Design & Communication
• Partnerships & Events
• Finance & Funding

Are you curious, eager to learn, entrepreneurial and want to make a real impact? Send an e-mail to dreamteams@vu.nl with the title “Application -  Burning Lowlands Dream Team” including your:

• CV
• Programme and year of study
• A paragraph or two telling us why you want to join our team

What do we expect from you?

Time commitment - Around 2-4 hours per week, including a weekly team meeting and independent work.

Interest in climate and society - Curiosity about climate risks, adaptation, resilience, and how people and communities respond to them.

Active contribution - Take an active role in research, game development, communication, events, partnerships, or outreach, depending on your background and interests, while bringing your own ideas and perspective to the project.

Collaboration

Researchers, educators and organisations interested in using Burning Lowlands, organising a playtesting session or workshop, collaborating on research, or contributing to the project's development can contact us at burninglowlands@gmail.com.

Ambassadors:

Lecturer Ambassador: Dr Marleen de Ruiter
University lecturer at the Department of Water and Climate Risks at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU Amsterdam. Co-chair of the international RiskKAN network.

Lecturer Ambassador: Dr Sjoerd Kluiving
Associate Professor of Geoarchaeology and Anthropocene Studies at VU Amsterdam. Expert in the long-term relationship between humans and landscape.

Lecturer Ambassador: Dr Marilena Mela
Assistant Professor of Heritage Studies at the VU Department of Arts & Culture, History, and Antiquity. Her research interests lie at the intersection of heritage, sustainability, landscape, and climate.

Lecturer Ambassador: Dr Anne van Loon
Associate Professor in Drought Risk within the Water & Climate Risk (IVM). She is a hydrologist and interdisciplinary drought (& flood) risk scientist, interested in the relationship between water, people and the environment.

Researcher Ambassador: Alex Neidermeier
PhD Candidate in the Environmental Geography department at the Institute for Environmental Studies IVM. Her research focuses on fire spread modelling, forest health, and balancing fire risk and ecosystem services.

Researcher Ambassador: Lars de Graaff
PhD candidate at the department of Water and Climate Risk (IVM). His PhD research is part of the UPWAS project, which aims at upscaling local water storage measures by Dutch farmers in order to adapt to droughts.

This team is linked to the VU profile theme Connected World.