Digital Media Types and Nature-Deficit Disorder: Exploring the impact of video games on human-nature connection and conservation support

In an increasingly urbanised world, direct human contact with nature is declining. People may then suffer 'Nature-Deficit Disorder' - a condition characterised by a detachment from nature, and linked to low environmental care and awareness. Given the current threat of mass anthropogenic extinction, new ways to reconnect humans with nature is vital. One approach to this is through video games: they can bring threats facing biodiversity into the mainstream, and provide immersive environments for learning about species protection. However, insight into their value for influencing the human-nature connection and pro-environmental behaviour is mostly speculative. Since video games reach more than 3 billion players globally, there is scope for a novel project to thoroughly examine the impact of video games as strategies to communicate conservation topics. Understanding how to use these tools successfully could provide substantial benefit to the conservation sector.

For my research, I aim to do the following:
- Review the potential impacts of using video games as tools for driving public engagement with conservation behaviours
- Empirically investigate how different types of video game may influence player experiences, and thus symptoms associated with 'Nature-Deficit Disorder'
- Critically analyse and measure how the design and development of these tools may affect players and the environment

To address many knowledge gaps in this area of study, I plan to employ a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies not yet used in the relevant literature. Randomised control trial experiments can show whether environmental behaviours and measures of Nature-Deficit Disorder are improved when players experience games with conservation-focused messages. Interviews could explore whether players can apply their virtual experiences to the real world, as well as the emerging and controversial use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in games to support conservation work. Finally, ethnographic research will allow thorough examination of how conservation-focused games are designed; follow-up impact evaluations would assess whether they successfully engage players with environmental awareness, care, and action to satisfy developers' conservation goals.

This research aligns with the EPSRC remit because it will help conservationists maximise their productivity potential when designing these digital communication strategies. The work also meets the 'Digital Twins' research theme: inspiring behavioural change to preserve biodiversity is done using virtual replicas of the natural environment, and will deliver wider economic and societal benefits (by ensuring the continuation of critical ecosystem services).

I am currently collaborating with environmental non-governmental organisation On The Edge to conduct my ethnographic work on the design of conservation-focused games. I hope to partner with other experts and institutions on this matter for the remainder of my research.