Eco Echoes was a one-day online creative jam making music & games inspired by environmental awareness and action, organised by Tinderbox Collective as part of The Dear Green Bothy.
The event began with a lovely morning of live music from Jed Milroy, before designer Yann Seznec joined us from Sweden to kick off the jam with an inspirational talk on what makes a game!
Following a short coffee break, while some jammers left us to go and create, we swiftly moved onto a live songwriting session led by Jed. Throughout a thought-provoking discussion on what environmentalism means to us, and the reasons why we want to care for our planet, a song composed collaboratively by the group took shape.
Throughout the day some of the jammers came together for several check-in sessions, where the designers shared their work and also knowledge on using game-making tools such as Bitsy.
In the evening after games & music were submitted, everyone got together one last time for a cosy occassion, sharing the songs composed, playing the games, and talking about the message and meaning of eco-awareness and collective action. The games ranged from a mix of digitally-created thoughtful, poignant reflections on climate change and commercialism; to in-person group activities that encourage global cultural awareness. And we were also treated to live music and improvisations from Liam Dempsey aka Deep Sea Creature, who composed live soundtracks to some of the games as they were played!
You can check-out all the pieces made throughout the day here:
All in all a creative and thought-provoking day was had – many thanks to all of the attendees who joined us, to the artists & team for hosting, and to The Dear Green Bothy, University of Glasgow’s College of Arts & Games and Gaming Lab for inviting us to join the festival.