Evoeco: a bamboo-based educational game to cultivate divergent thinking for future environmental problem-solving

Abstract 21st-century skills, particularly creative thinking, are a crucial foundation for equipping future generations to face complex global environmental challenges. Effective environmental education is no longer simply a matter of transferring knowledge; it must also foster higher-order thinking skills, particularly divergent thinking, to generate innovative solutions. This research aims to design a teaching aid called “EvoEco” that addresses this need through play-based learning. Using a qualitative approach with a case study method, this research produces EvoEco, which consists of three main components: a creative module based on laminated bamboo technology, environmental challenge cards, and a guidebook. This tool is designed to teach the nine mutational mindsets of the Evolutionary Creativity framework in a concrete and tangible way. The main contribution of this research to the field of environmental education is the integration of sustainable materials that implicitly teach the concept of Life Cycle Thinking, with a game method that encourages children to apply creative mindsets in Evolutionary Creativity in environmental problem-solving scenarios. Thus, EvoEco becomes an effective medium for achieving the learning objective of developing divergent thinking skills as a provision for solving environmental problems in the future.