Photo by Vitaly Gariev
Children and young people aged 9 to 14 are being introduced to the challenges of coastal flood resilience and climate change through CoastCraft, a custom-built Minecraft world publicly launched on 3rd October. The educational game, developed for Minecraft Education and aligned with the curriculum in England, challenges players to respond to rising sea levels and climate impacts whilst balancing community needs and environmental protection.
Based on the landscape of Bude in Cornwall, CoastCraft has been developed in partnership by Minecraft Education, Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency as part of the latter’s £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme. The game allows students to explore coastal management strategies being trialled in Cornwall, bringing the consequences of their decisions to life within the virtual Minecraft environment.
Through interactive gameplay, CoastCraft inspires players to learn about coastal landscape features and processes, with particular emphasis on understanding the characteristics of sand dunes and their function as nature-based solutions for flooding and coastal erosion. The game challenges students to experiment with different approaches to managing a dynamic coastline under pressure from climate change.
Caroline Douglass, Executive Director for Flood and Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency, said: “Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process and England’s coastline has never been static, but we know climate change is increasing the risks. CoastCraft inspires young people to use their creativity to experiment with solutions to real world problems within the virtual Minecraft world, ensuring the next generation has the knowledge they need to face challenges now and in the future.”
Floods Minister Emma Hardy said: “As a former teacher, I’m thrilled that CoastCraft will help young people understand the impacts of our changing climate, empowering a new generation of scientists. This virtual Minecraft world brings coastal change in communities like Cornwall to life, to show how the risk of flooding and coastal erosion is increasing due to climate change. We’re investing a record £7.9 billion in capital funding over 10 years to better protect these coastal communities and are committed to making sure flood risk management is fit for the challenges we face now and in the future.”
The game’s development involved direct input from students at Sir James Smith School in Camelford and Windmill Hill Academy in Launceston, who worked with Cornwall Council’s climate adaptation team to help develop and test CoastCraft. The tool is now available for young people across the globe through the Minecraft Education platform.
Loic Rich, Cornwall Council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “We’re really proud that our coastal community of Bude serves as the backdrop to this innovative game that teaches young people about coastal and flood resilience. We want to say a big thank you to students at Sir James Smith School in Camelford and Windmill Hill Academy in Launceston, both of whom worked with our climate adaptation team to help develop and test CoastCraft which can now be played by young people across the globe.”
The launch builds upon the success of the Environment Agency’s previous Minecraft games, Rivercraft and Rivercraft 2, which provided educational resources for flood risk management and nature-based solutions to flooding. CoastCraft extends this approach to coastal environments, addressing the specific challenges posed by sea level rise and coastal erosion.
The game connects to real-world coastal management initiatives being trialled at Bude through the Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, where innovative approaches to more sustainable use and development of the coast are being tested. By situating the gameplay in an actual coastal community, CoastCraft enables students to understand the practical application of coastal resilience strategies.
As lead authority for managing the risk of flooding from rivers, estuaries and the sea, the Environment Agency is delivering the government’s record £7.9 billion capital investment over 10 years to 2035/36 to protect 840,000 properties from flooding—the largest such programme in history. From 2015 to 2021, £2.6 billion was invested to better protect the country from flooding and coastal erosion, of which £1.2 billion was invested to protect around 200,000 homes from coastal erosion and sea flooding.
CoastCraft is available through Minecraft Education for teachers and educators working with students aged 9 to 14.