Coast Craft
An immersive environmental education experience set in the coastal town of Bude, North Cornwall. Students tackle coastal erosion, flood management, and environmental decision-making.
Play on Minecraft Education →Teaching Climate Resilience Through Play
The Environment Agency, as part of their £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, wanted to inspire the next generation of environmental champions. They needed a way to teach complex coastal processes — erosion, flood defence, sand dune ecosystems — in a way that 9-to-14-year-olds would find genuinely engaging.
Working alongside Cornwall Council, DEFRA, and the Geographical Association, we were tasked with creating a Minecraft world based on a real UK coastal town that would bring geography and science curricula to life.
A Real Town, Real Decisions
We chose Bude in North Cornwall as the setting — a real town facing real coastal challenges. Students step into the role of a coastal manager with limited resources to invest in protection strategies. They must balance hard engineering (sea walls), nature-based solutions (sand dune restoration), and managed retreat.
There are never enough resources to do everything, so students must make difficult trade-offs — mirroring the real decisions facing coastal communities today. The world features real-time erosion simulations, cinematic cutscenes explaining complex processes, and 3D bar chart scoring systems.
See It in Action
What We Built
Real-Time Erosion Simulation
Watch the coastline change in response to player decisions. The land recedes, buildings are threatened, and the consequences of each choice become immediately visible.
Dune Embryo Care
Students guide a dune embryo through its development stages, learning about sand dune succession and nature-based flood defence solutions.
3D Data Visualisation
In-game bar charts provide visual feedback on environmental, economic, and social impacts of player decisions — building data literacy alongside geography.
Career Exploration
A dedicated careers room introduces students to real roles in coastal management, environmental science, and engineering — connecting learning to future pathways.
Explore Coast Craft
BETT Award 2026
CoastCraft won the 2026 BETT Award for Secondary – Digital Learning Product. The BETT Awards are the world's largest EdTech awards, connecting with over 35,000 educators and industry leaders.
Judges praised it as an "authentic digital learning experience that brings climate change and coastal geography vividly to life" by connecting curriculum content with real-world data.
From Government Programme to Classroom
CoastCraft launched on 3 October 2025 as a free download on Minecraft Education Edition, available to every school in the UK. It was developed with curriculum experts at the Geographical Association to meet National Curriculum requirements in Geography and Science.
The project received coverage from BBC News, GOV.UK, and specialist education publications, establishing it as a landmark example of how game-based learning can tackle real-world environmental challenges.
Learning Objectives & Curriculum
Learning Objectives
- Understand coastal erosion processes and causes
- Evaluate hard and soft engineering flood defences
- Make evidence-based decisions about coastal management
- Explore environmental science careers
Curriculum Links
- KS2-3 Geography (coastal landscapes, physical processes)
- KS2-3 Science (Earth science, environmental change)
- National Curriculum aligned with Geographical Association
Skills Developed
- Data analysis and visualisation
- Environmental decision-making
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Career awareness in STEM
In the Media
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