Social simulations: Green & Great and The World's Future

EIT Climate-KIC is a European knowledge and innovation community working to speed the transition to a zero-carbon economy. It is supported by the European Commission through the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and was active in 24 countries with 28 offices across Europe, among them Brussels, London, Paris and Berlin.

The Center for Systems Solutions at EIT Climate-KIC is an international organization established in 2005. It applies social simulations and computer modeling to knowledge brokering, science-policy integration and social dialogue, and its team numbered more than 40 experts. Program Leader Piotr Magnuszewski describes a social simulation as a type of serious game with elements of systems analysis, creative group scenario building and role-playing. It does not depend on computer algorithms to study behavior, and its design has more in common with dynamic role-play.

Green & Great is aimed at business managers facing the shift to sustainable development and socially responsible business. Its page today says players take the roles of managers in large consulting firms whose companies compete for clients and profit while pursuing social goals and cutting environmental impact.

The World's Future is built around the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development that world leaders agreed in September 2015 for 2030. Players take high-level leadership roles in a world much like ours and feel the trade-offs and synergies between goals. Carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases appear as grey cubic tokens whenever a player changes land use or manufactures goods. At the end of each round the moderator collects the tokens and splits them between an atmosphere track and an ocean track. Once a threshold is passed, hurricanes and floods sweep away players' assets. Decarbonizing then does not fix the problem at once, which many participants find shocking.

The Energy Transition Game puts players in roles across a complex energy system: producer, provider, technology start-up, a government department or a non-governmental organization. It needs a tablet or PC, two tables and 12 to 36 players, and takes five to six hours.

The center now runs socialsimulations.org under the name Centre for Systems Solutions. In November 2026 the site is online with a portfolio that pairs The World's Future with clients such as the European Commission and the OECD, and Green & Great with EY and Al-Sayer Group. It names the Energy Transition Game for the Estonian Ministry of Environment and, separately, the Wuppertal Institute.

Green & Great and The World's Future each have a page of their own. The World's Future says it can be played in person or online, and both pages offer workshops or training for moderators. The Energy Transition Game has no page of its own on the site.