The project “Verbraucherteilhabe durch Nachhaltigkeitskompetenz in der Circular Economy” ran from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023 and was funded under the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Funder code 28V1408X20). It was led by Professor Dr Bärbel Fürstenau and Post‑Doctoral Researcher Dr Inéz Labucay at the Technical University of Dresden, with support from Dr Maria Neubauer. The research team developed and tested a novel multi‑method intervention that combined a serious game (MOBILITY), concept mapping, a knowledge survey, and a mobility diary to foster sustainability competence among university students and experts.
The technical core of the study was a pre‑post experimental design involving 65 students from business, engineering, and education and 25 experts from urban planning, mobility research, and mobility agencies. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group that played the MOBILITY game and a control group that received no game. The game was delivered online and integrated into the experimental protocol; concept mapping was conducted virtually on the MIRO whiteboard platform, and a mobility diary was kept over nine weeks. A knowledge test, aligned with the game’s content, was administered before and after the intervention. The study also included a systematic review of serious sustainability games focused on mobility, which informed the design of the intervention and the interpretation of results.
Results showed that the game did not produce a statistically significant improvement in sustainability knowledge or self‑reported behavior compared with the control group. However, concept maps produced by the experimental group after playing MOBILITY scored higher on a structured scoring rubric than those of the control group, indicating an enhanced ability to apply structural knowledge to new contexts. The scoring system allowed propositions that differed from the reference map but still captured correct system relationships to be counted as correct, thereby revealing nuanced gains in conceptual understanding. The concept maps of experts served as a benchmark, and the comparison highlighted the qualitative difference between novice and expert knowledge structures. The longitudinal mobility diary, spanning nine weeks, provided rich data on real‑world sustainability actions, a duration longer than typical studies that use only days or a few weeks.
The project’s methodological innovation lies in the integration of concept mapping as both an intervention and a data collection tool, coupled with a serious game embedded in a pre‑post survey and a longitudinal diary. This multi‑method design proved robust and yielded insights into how visualisation and interactive play can shape sustainability competence. The study produced several journal articles, including contributions on game‑based learning, concept maps, and the mobility transition from expert and novice perspectives, and is preparing additional manuscripts on expert‑novice comparisons.
Collaboration was centred at TU Dresden, with the project leaders coordinating the design, data collection, and analysis. The project’s timeline followed a quarterly milestone plan: the first year completed work packages 1‑4 and the initial part of work package 5, while the second year focused on finalising the intervention, data collection, and dissemination. The funding from the German federal ministry enabled the procurement of software licences, participant incentives, and the support of research assistants. The project’s outcomes demonstrate the feasibility of combining serious games, concept mapping, and behavioural diaries to assess and enhance sustainability competence in higher education and professional practice.