Game: The walk of life.
Instructions:
1. Divide into 4 groups at one end of the room. The length of the room represents this century. The start wall represents today and the end wall represents
the year 2100. Position chairs or signs to mark each 5 or 10 years.
2. You are going to be asked to make some choices about your lifestyle. The decisions you make will have a real impact on the world. To reflect the real
world, it is the overall decisions of the group that are imposed, not the desires of one individual.
3. You have to make a decision as a group. Anyone can argue in favour or against any decision. The decisions you make will have an impact on the future of
the planet, of your children and their children. Try to imagine this is real life – it could be!
4. Like the real world, some of our future is unpredictable and so will be left to the roll of the dice
5. Add up your scores – Answer 1 = 1 point, 2 = 2 points, etc. Dice roll 1 = 1 point, 2 = 2 points, etc.
YEAR
2012
2015
Choice
Waste
You set up the first local
recycling livelihoods project.
You will recycle if someone
else provides the facilities
You will try to buy fewer
disposable items and create
less waste.
You want the right to live like
Europeans & N Americans:
use and dispose anything.
Impact
None
Chile mines exhausted, 1000s
lose jobs.
West African mines exploited,
mass food insecurity.
West and Central Africa
mines exhausted – mass
migration to Europe.
Travel
You move close to work so
you can walk or cycle there
every day.
You take public transport to
work.
You live over 10 miles from
work and share the car with
2-3 other people.
You live over 10 miles from
the office and drive to work
by yourself
Impact
None
Floods in London - $30 Billion
damage. Properties declared
uninsurable.
Floods in Bangladesh,
displacing 7 million people.
Drought & food crisis in the
Sahel, 100,000 people die.
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No change
Holidays
You “holiday” at home,
through enjoying local
amenities with local family
and friends.
You holiday within your
country, using your car.
You travel long distance by
public transport to another
country to see family or
friends.
You fly to other countries to
holiday
Impact
Temperature rise projections
reduce to 2 degrees
Temperature rise projections
reduce to 4 degrees
Temperature rise projections
stay at 6 degrees
Permafrost in Siberia rapidly
melts causing the loss of gas
supplies to Europe and
2. No change
3. No change
4. No change
5. Floods displace
200 thousand
people in your
country
6. Canada
mountain forests
burn and
100,000s of
hectares lost.
millions of tonnes of methane
enter the atmosphere.
2020
2025
Shopping
You re-use, repair and recycle
everything, swap possessions
with neighbours and live
simply.
You set up a community
sharing group and don’t buy
anything you can borrow.
You replace your mobile
phone, computer, television
and car when they break or
look quite out of date.
Your family must have the
newest and the best of
everything
Impact
Global food prices reduce
Food prices increase 30%
Global food prices double.
All nations stop exporting and
scramble to try to become
self sufficient.
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
Energy
You buy solar / wind / hydro /
biomass electrical equipment
to generate your own
electricity
You lobby your electric
company to generate
electricity from non-fossil
fuels
You unplug appliances and
switch off lights when they
are not being used.
You never think about
switching off televisions.
Lights, heating or cooling.
Impact
Government declares 50%
renewable energy target by
2030.
Fuel prices increase 30%
Fuel prices double.
5 oil refineries are bombed
across northern nations
Water
You install rainwater
harvesting and self
composting toilets at home.
You re-use bathing water for
the whole family then the
garden.
You take 3 minute showers, a
water butt for the garden and
only use your washing
machine when it is full.
You use the taps to water
your garden, wash your car,
shower twice a day.
Impact
Your government agrees to
bco-fund renewable energy
powered reverse osmosis
water treatment plants across
North Africa.
National water rationing
introduced.
China builds a fresh water
pipeline from Africa and
declares it has bought the
rights to several countries
entire water resources.
Multiple international waterwars start
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
Food
You change to producing
2. No impact
2. No impact
3. No impact
3. No impact
You give up eating meat, buy
organic, and grow some of
4. Australian bush fires
engulf the city of Perth
and kill 30,000 people.
4. Summer sea ice
disappears from the
Arctic.
5. China removes
all financial
subsidies from
and stops all
exports to the
USA
6. Global flu
pandemic kills
100M people
5. Huge droughts 6. Huge fires in
& famine in the
the Amazon,
horn of Africa,
destroying 25%
killing 2M people.
You reduce to eating organic
You continue eating meat for
2030
2035
most of your own food.
your own food.
meat 3 times a week.
most meals.
Impact
Your country sets targets to
reduce food miles and
become food self sufficient.
Global foot and mouth crisis,
12 month ban on all sales and
consumption of beef and
lamb. 100,000s cattle
slaughtered.
Government commandeers
all private gardens for
growing national crops.
Global flu pandemic international travel
prohibited for 3 weeks.
Supermarkets empty. Global
food rationing.
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
Housing
You invite your parents and
your partner’s parents to
move in with you so others
can live in their houses.
Your siblings, children and
cousins all move to other
countries in search of work.
You vote for your government
to fund new housing in an
adjacent country, stop all
construction here and 2
relatives move into your
house.
You support an increase in
single person households
Impacts
Global emissions reduced by
50%. We’re on track to stay
below 2 degrees warming.
On track for 2-4 degree
temperature rise.
Your country goes to war with
the adjacent country to
prevent immigration.
Global temperature rise of 2
degrees happens early. On
track for 6-8 degree rise.
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
Work /
Livelihoods
You agree to share your job
50/50 with someone else and
take a substantial wage cut
and use the spare time to
grow your own food and help
with community projects
2. No impact
2. World bee
populations
plummet – global
crop pollination
at risk.
3. The world’s
last elephant dies
in captivity.
3. Bird flu
pandemic leads
to global ban on
chicken
consumption.
You agree to a national 4 day
working week and salary cut.
4. Massive land slides in
Rio de Janerio, kill 3000
people.
4. Malaria declared the
world’s number one
killer.
5. Flooding in
Bangladesh
permanently
displaces 20
Million people.
Bangladesh
declares war with
India after the
UN refuse pleas
for help.
5. The United
States of South
America declare
war on the USA
You agree to a 30% salary cut.
6. Asian
monsoons go into
reverse bringing
storms and
droughts in the
“wrong seasons”
causing food
insecurity for 1Bn
people
6. Global fishing
reaches the end
of the line. 300
Million people
lose their
livelihoods.
You demand the right to
reach your full employment
potential, and keep the huge
disparity between the rich
and poor in your country.
2040
2045
Impacts
An international agreement is
introduced to measure
development in terms of
“well -being” instead of GDP.
Government welfare services
are cut 50%, reducing health
and education provisions. All
state secondary schools
introduce tuition fees.
Global banking crisis causes
the collapse of the dollar and
the euro. Chinese currency
becomes the currency of
choice.
The global insurance industry
declares itself bankrupt and
unable to provide any
insurance
Migration
You bring the community
together to develop a number
of new local sustainable
livelihoods and grow your
own food, encouraging young
adults to remain.
You encourage your children
to go to an adjacent country
in search of work.
You smuggle your children in
to Europe illegally in search of
work – knowing that some
succeed, some die, some go
into prostitution.
You vote for your government
to go to war against European
countries for the right for
your people to move to
Europe
Impacts
You make lots of new friends
and enjoy living in
community.
You make new friends but
lose your garden.
National housing shortages.
National “build for food”
programmes
2 countries declare war on
your country and fight to
remove your national
boundary.
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
Healthcare
You help set up self funding
local community hospitals
with doctors available to
consult over remote video
connections.
You vote for a national ban on You agree to the government
all non-essential surgery.
closing 50% of the hospitals in
the country and only
performing lifesaving medical
care.
You demand government
provision of free hospitals for
all.
Impact
National crime rates fall 50%
Low cost voluntary charitable
community clinics
established.
National health service
privatised. 20% increase in
national mortality rate.
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
2. No impact
2. No impact
3. Sea level rise
submerges the
islands of Tuvalu,
Kiribati and the
Maldives. Island
states declare
“war on the G20”
3. Global 0.5M
sea level rise
displacing 100M
people
4. Mass retribution from
developing countries
and countries most
impacted by climate
disasters – “terrorist”
acts across all polluter
countries.
5. The newly
formed United
States of Africa
declares war on
Europe
National riots and votes of no
confidence in 3 national
leaders in 3 years.
4. Global 1 metre sea
level rise displacing
400M people.
5. Global 2 metre
sea level rise,
displacing 1Bn
people
6. West Antarctic
ice sheet melts,
causing global
sea level rise of
7m and the death
of 100M people,
destruction of 9
major cities and
displacement of
1.5Bn people.
6. Global 7 metre
sea level rise,
displacing 3 Bn
people.
Natural
resources
You vote for international
treaties to establish zero
waste, no growth sustainable
economies.
You vote for international
treaties to halve
deforestation, water and
mineral uses. Your family has
to agree to substantial travel
and consumption restrictions.
You vote for your government
to ban all exports, in the
knowledge others will ban all
imports.
You vote for your government
to ration individual
purchasing and consumption.
Impact
Emissions reduce, energy,
technology and food prices
fall.
Large numbers of small
sustainable companies
established.
The 5 biggest companies in
your country collapse.
National industrial collapse
and huge unemployment
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
Conflict
You vote for your government
to sign an international treaty
removing all international
borders and private property
rights. Anyone can move
anywhere, whatever the
consequences.
You vote for your country to
merge with 3 adjacent
countries in an attempt to
achieve food security,
sustainable population and
combined defence capability.
You vote for your country to
establish treaties to share
armies, water resources, food
supplies with 2 adjacent
countries.
You vote for your government
to do everything it can to
protect it’s nationhood,
independence and individuals
independence and rights. This
means war over water, fuel &
food.
Impact
Mass global migration.
Temporary mass food
insecurity and water stress,
with the emergence of a new
global multi-racial
community.
Break up of the UN, WTO,
IMF, World Bank, collapse of
all international treaties and
conventions.
Middle East cuts off supply of
fossil fuels to the rest of the
world whilst becoming the
world’s top emitter.
Your country is at war with 8
other nations who are also at
war with each other.
2060
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
2. No impact
3. No impact
4. Disease wipes out the
majority of conifer
species globally
5. Collapse of
world livestock
6. Global plague
killing 700M
people.
2070
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
2. No impact
3. The last tiger is
buried in
captivity.
4. Global aviation
industry is forcibly
grounded.
5. Africa declared
uninhabitable.
6. The global gulf
stream switches
off throwing the
earth into a
2050
2. No impact
3. Hurricane
sweeps through
the Caribbean
and back to
Miami causing
devastation.
4. Coral reefs and shell
fish stocks collapse due
to increase in ocean
carbonic acid
5. Global ban on
fish
consumption.
6. The world’s
oceans fish
supplies are
declared
exhausted. 300M
people lose their
livelihoods.
thousand year ice
age.
2080
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
2. No impact
3. Global
epidemic
decimates
amphibians to 5%
of populations.
4. South Asia unable to
grow food. 100s of
millions of refugees
head for other
countries.
5. Scientists
declare 50% of all
global species are
extinct.
6. Humans in
conflict fight over
land rights in the
arctic & Antarctic.
2090
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
2. No impact
3. Global
pandemic causes
huge rise in infant
mortality.
4. Global
geoengineering project
fails devastating the
ozone layer. Massive
cancer increase
5. USA declared
bankrupt.
6. Southern
nation launches
nuclear attack on
2 northern
nations.
2100
Roll the dice
(Potential
tipping
point)
1. No impact
2. Malaria
spreads across
northern Europe
and N America.
3. China, India,
Brazil, Russia, the
world’s 4 largest
economies
demand USA &
Europe
compensate
southern nations.
4. China, India, Pakistan,
Russia and Japan all
declare war on each
other.
5. The world’s
last glacier melts.
6. Jet Stream
switches off,
causing global
temperatures to
rise more rapidly
than projections.
Score of <50
51-80
81-110
>110
<1 degree increase
2 degree increase
4 degree increase
6 degree increase
The world is relatively safe:
30% of all species are extinct.
Global food prices have risen
50%
But the world has
transitioned to a low carbon
economy, and is becoming
more equitable for all.
Huge food security and water
stress issues in Africa, South
Asia, south Europe, much of
south America.
Most of Africa declared
uninhabitable. Huge food
insecurity across south Asia.
Mass migration to Eurasia.
Conflict. 30% of all known
species lost.
Global population peaked in
2050 at 9Billion, huge CC,
disasters & conflict dropped
population to <150 million
people. 90% of all species are
extinct. Rule of law is gone.
Society, economy,
technology, food production
devastated. The atmosphere
is acrid. Will humans survive?
Outcome: