Bradford African Festival of Arts (BAFA)

Playing for the Planet: GenCGov Brings Climate Stack to BAFA 2026

What happens when climate education moves beyond presentations and reports and becomes something people can play, discuss and experience together? At the Bradford African Festival of Arts (BAFA) 2026, GenCGov set out to answer that question through Climate Stack—an interactive game designed to make climate change and climate action easier to understand and connect with everyday life.

On 7 and 8 August 2026, GenCGov joined artists, families, young people and community members at BAFA, one of Bradford’s major celebrations of African arts, culture and community. In partnership with Real Hope CIC, the GenCGov team created an open and welcoming space where festival visitors could play, ask questions, exchange ideas and explore climate issues in an engaging way.

From curiosity to conversation

For many visitors, the first point of connection was curiosity.

Some stopped to watch others play. Some wanted to understand how the game worked. Others joined immediately and began testing their knowledge. Before long, the platform became a place for conversations about the environment, personal choices, community responsibility and the different ways climate change affects people’s lives.

Through public demonstrations and facilitated game sessions, participants engaged with questions and scenarios that encouraged them to think about environmental challenges and possible responses. Rather than presenting climate change as a distant or purely technical issue, Climate Stack brought it into a setting where people could explore it through play.

The result was more than a game. Each session became an opportunity to learn, reflect and exchange perspectives.

Young voices, shared learning

Children and young people were among the most enthusiastic participants. Many were keen to explain what they had learned, showing how interactive tools can help younger audiences understand climate issues without making the subject feel overwhelming. One of the most encouraging aspects of the engagement was seeing different generations play together. Children, young people and adults shared the same space, considered the same questions and learned from one another’s responses.

Climate learning becomes more powerful when people are given the opportunity not only to receive information, but also to question, discuss and discover together.

This intergenerational exchange added an important dimension to the experience. Younger participants brought curiosity and fresh thinking, while adults contributed knowledge shaped by their experiences, communities and cultural backgrounds.

The diversity of those who participated also showed why community festivals are valuable spaces for climate engagement. People from different cultural backgrounds could approach climate issues through a shared activity while bringing their own perspectives to the conversation.

An experience worth sharing

Perhaps one of the clearest signs of the game’s appeal was that some participants returned to the platform or brought others to take part. They did not simply complete a session and leave. They wanted friends, relatives or other festival visitors to experience the game as well. This helped extend the conversation and showed that Climate Stack was capable of generating interest beyond the initial interaction.

Feedback gathered during the festival indicated that participants found the game enjoyable, engaging and easy to understand. They also described the experience as educational and thought-provoking.

These responses matter because effective climate communication is not only about providing accurate information. It is also about creating the conditions in which people feel comfortable engaging with that information, asking questions and relating it to their own lives. Climate Stack allowed participants to do just that.

Why play matters in climate education

Climate change is often communicated through scientific findings, policy documents and technical language. Although these are essential, they do not always provide an accessible starting point for public engagement—particularly for children and young people.

Play offers another route.

It can turn learning into participation, make difficult subjects feel more approachable and create space for people to discover ideas together. It can also encourage conversations that might not emerge through a conventional presentation or information leaflet. The BAFA experience demonstrated that play does not diminish the seriousness of climate change. Instead, when thoughtfully designed and facilitated, it can help people engage more confidently with the subject. Thus, climate education becomes more powerful when people are given the opportunity not only to receive information, but also to question, discuss and discover together.

Learning from the community

For GenCGov, participating in BAFA was also an opportunity to listen. The way participants approached the game, the questions they asked and the feedback they shared provided useful insights into how Climate Stack can be strengthened. These observations will support further improvements to the game, particularly its accessibility and responsiveness to the learning needs of children and young people.

The engagement also reinforced the importance of taking climate conversations into public and community spaces. Not everyone will encounter climate education through a formal training programme, conference or academic publication. Community events can therefore provide important opportunities to reach people in environments that are familiar, inclusive and socially engaging.

Building on the BAFA experience

GenCGov intends to build on the lessons from BAFA 2026 by improving Climate Stack and exploring opportunities to use it at more community events, schools and youth programmes. Particular attention will be given to expanding engagement with children and young people, whose participation at BAFA showed both a strong appetite for climate learning and an impressive ability to engage with environmental questions when presented in an accessible format.

The experience also strengthened GenCGov’s commitment to developing practical and inclusive approaches to climate education, approaches that recognise people as active participants in learning rather than passive recipients of information.

A shared effort

GenCGov appreciates the BAFA organisers for creating a platform that brought together arts, culture, enterprise and community engagement in Bradford. We also acknowledge Real Hope CIC for its partnership and on-site support, including the provision of water and light refreshments for visitors to the platform.

Most importantly, we thank everyone who played Climate Stack, shared feedback, participated in the climate conversations or encouraged others to visit the platform. Photographs documenting the engagement were taken and shared with the appropriate consent.