Published in: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) website
Teachers and parents looking for exciting new ways to capture students’ imaginations can try the Mt Resilience augmented reality experience.
Mt Resilience provides a great way to engage students in climate and sustainability issues, allowing them to take a virtual field trip to an Australian town that’s been designed around impacts of climate change and disaster preparedness.
Students will discover stories about important issues such as bushfires, floods and coastal erosion, and they will move through the 3D model town of Mt Resilience to see how residents have responded to these challenges.
These learnings include the latest solutions and innovations to tackle climate change, as well as grassroots, household-based actions that everyone can put in place right now to prepare for disasters.
With severe weather impacting several Australian states and regions recently, Mt Resilience can help students imagine a sustainable and hopeful future, where climate change impacts are mitigated and managed.
Tips for communicating during disasters
Inspired by the ABC’s Big Weather program, Mt Resilience covers helpful tips such as how to keep in touch with neighbours and friends during a severe weather event.One communication tip includes setting up a WhatsApp or Facebook group for neighbourhoods to coordinate responses. Whether it's communicating a safe assembly place to gather or arranging a street party, it will be easier if you already have an established social media group.
Mt Resilience also recommends preparing an emergency kit with two-way radios or walkie-talkies as a backup in case of power failures — with a reminder to not forget spare batteries! Having these can help family members and local groups keep in touch with one another.
With communication being one of the first things to break down in an emergency, tips such as these are vital during a disaster response.
Emergency preparedness
Mt Resilience also highlights important ways to prevent emergencies from turning into disasters in the first place. Preparedness and planning are the key here.
Some of the things Mt Resilience allows you to explore include building flood- and fire-resistant homes with specialised building materials, and creating green zones around towns that can double as either flood or fire breaks — green zones also boost community wellbeing by providing space for recreation, enjoying nature and relaxing.
Explore real-world solutions
Mt Resilience draws on real-world examples in the solutions it allows players to explore.
For example, you can learn about the crucial role of local community centres in preparing for and recovering from disasters. A community centre can become a place to coordinate volunteers, liaise with disaster teams and work to connect everyone in town in times of crisis.
The community in the historic town of Cobargo, south-east NSW, is a great example of this. The people of Cobargo have been proud of their capacity to work collectively since the fires of 2019, and one of the features of their bushfire recovery plan has been the Cobargo Resilience Centre.
How to play
So what's it like to explore Mt Resilience? You can walk through the town’s streets, fly above for a drone-like overview and stay out of the way of the tornado that strikes the town at one scary moment in this augmented reality (AR) experience.
When playing on mobile devices, it’s best to find a clear space on a tabletop or desk, and turn up the volume. Set aside at least 15 minutes to discover everything, as there's a lot to see and learn in Mt Resilience!
And it's no longer just a webAR application for mobile devices. The Australian Museum partnered with the ABC and extended-reality studio PHORIA to improve the desktop navigation of Mt Resilience. This means Mt Resilience now also works well on desktop computers and tablets, bringing the virtual town of Mt Resilience right into the classroom.
If you're using a computer, take note of the pop-up instructions at the start about using the mouse and keyboard to move, zoom and travel through the 3D town. You'll get the hang of it with just a few clicks.
With teachers striving to find new ways to connect with a generation of students who spend their playtime in global gaming platforms like Roblox, innovative AR experiences such as Mt Resilience are both relevant and engaging.
After the virtual field trip, students will know how sustainable building materials can help withstand severe storms, and they will gain a deeper understanding of cultural burning by First Nations people plus other insights into community planning and disaster preparedness.
That’s the beauty of Mt Resilience: big picture learning outcomes taught in a fun, interactive way.
Natalia Mroz is a media producer at the Australian Museum. She specialises in using digital media to create and promote community stories, particularly around cultural issues and sustainable development.