How to Make Neighborhoods More Resilient to Extreme Weather Events
One innovative way to enhance neighborhood resilience to extreme weather is by empowering residents to transform their gardens into climate-proof spaces through a fun and interactive competition.
The Concept: The Garden Battle
In the Garden Battle, residents participate in a digital twin city—an online platform where the entire city, including streets and homes, is represented as a virtual model. Participants can locate their own street and home, claim their garden, and get started on redesigning it to be as climate-proof as possible.
The competition allows residents to compete individually and as a community. Neighbors vie for the best garden design, while neighborhoods compete to see who can create the most climate-resilient environment. Whether it’s the city center or the suburban districts, the challenge brings communities together to build a greener, more resilient future.
The Goal
The primary objective is to encourage residents to collectively reimagine and redesign their outdoor spaces in ways that improve climate resilience—not just virtually, but in their real environments as well.
How the Game Works
Garden Battle is designed for easy participation, with short, engaging sessions played either indoors or outdoors. Players can experiment with their virtual gardens, exploring aesthetic ideas while considering climate resilience. The game presents challenges like extreme rainfall, prolonged drought, and intense heat, allowing players to test their designs under simulated conditions.
Players gain valuable insights into how their design choices affect their garden’s ability to withstand these conditions. The game even links directly to real-world solutions—participants can view and purchase items to implement their designs in their own gardens. Through integration with ARCgis, the game highlights the climate resilience of neighborhoods, motivating players to turn their digital designs into reality.
Beyond Private Gardens
The game also allows participants to redesign public spaces in their neighborhoods. These designs can be shared with others and reviewed by local authorities, enabling broader community impact.
How It’s Distributed
The game is accessible on laptops, desktops, or tablets, making it easy for residents to participate. By combining individual competition with collaborative neighborhood goals, the Garden Battle encourages a shared sense of responsibility for creating sustainable and climate-resilient environments.
The Impact
The Garden Battle inspires residents to take proactive steps toward making their outdoor spaces better equipped to handle extreme weather events. It fosters awareness, creativity, and action, ultimately contributing to greener, more pleasant neighborhoods that are resilient to the challenges of climate change.
This approach not only educates residents but also enables them to make meaningful changes in their environments—proof that climate resilience begins right at home.
