What are educational escape rooms?
The methodology behind educational escape rooms is rooted in experiential learning and game-based education. At its core, it uses the structure of a traditional escape room – puzzles, time pressure, teamwork – but integrates real-life challenges and knowledge connected to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Instead of solving abstract riddles, participants engage with tasks that reflect actual global issues, like food insecurity or unsustainable consumer habits. The goal isn’t just to “escape,” but to reflect, discuss, and learn through doing.
What makes this method powerful is that it activates both the logical and emotional sides of learning. Teams must collaborate, think critically, and apply knowledge to solve each step of the game, while also being immersed in a scenario that makes the topic feel immediate and relevant. After the game, reflection sessions help connect the experience to real-world actions, encouraging deeper understanding and personal engagement with the SDG themes.
How did it all start with the SDG-themed escape rooms?
When we visited a training course in Sweden by our partner organization Awesome People and learned about the method of educational escape rooms, we didn’t expect that our follow-up activities would be so much fun and so much engaging for both learners and facilitators. And before you think that it requires too many resources to build an escape room, don’t worry – we’re talking about portable escape rooms that can be as big as a backpack and use a lot of recycled materials.
Afterward, together with Sustainable for the Future Foundation, we worked hard to recreate two of the rooms. The two rooms we recreated focus on pressing global challenges highlighted by SDG 2 and SDG 12. SDG 2: Zero Hunger addresses the urgent need to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. It encourages players to reflect on the inequalities in food distribution, the impact of climate change on farming, and the role each of us plays in building a more just food system. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production urges us to rethink the way we use resources, produce goods, and consume as individuals and societies. The room built around this goal is centered on the issue of fast fashion, encouraging critical thinking about overproduction, labor conditions, and the environmental cost of our clothing choices, while empowering participants to consider more sustainable alternatives in their daily lives.
This is only the beginning
Somehow, carried away in playing and learning, we managed to have 30 people playing the amazing SDG-themed educational escape rooms we’ve been recreating. The feedback was so positive – everyone who played was very thrilled to dive deep into the topics using this fun interactive method. Youngsters, youth workers, educators, and specialists in different fields, all were excited! Some wanted to build their own escape rooms to tackle more topics! It’s in our pipeline of future projects, too – we’re designing projects focused on mental health and other topics, using the methodology of educational escape rooms.
If you are interested in playing or learning more about this method, please do contact us!
