LEVEL X: ECO-QUEST "Achieving Sustainability, Civic Engagement and Community Planning Goals through Digital Gaming"

Digital gaming technologies are increasing in popularity and sophistication. Scholars and social scientists have documented this new medium as a model of collaborative learning and cognitive development. The measured benefits of gaming, coupled with, the infinite combination of outcomes, makes the correlation of gaming and real world problem-solving of critical importance. Increased use of digital gaming technology that combines education, entertainment and a commitment to improve the world is proposed to address urban growth and sustainability challenges communities will face within the next fifteen (15) years. An open-sourced, usergenerated content sustainability gaming model will encourage greater innovation and can increase opportunities and successes of real-world objectives and outcomes. Modeling, scenariodevelopment and community planning factored by the number of users and contributors can help lead to improved sustainability performance and overcome traditional barriers to civic engagement. Several examples of urban and consumer information technology innovations including, Cisco's Urban Operating System, IBM’s City One and Sixth Sense can be used as a model of social innovation, information management and gaming to help model and solve complex real world challenges.