To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Minecraft has teamed up with EIT InnoEnergy, Europe’s largest sustainable energy innovation engine and the Minecraft creators at Blockworks to launch two educational gaming programmes about renewable energy for housebound students to play during the coronavirus outbreak.

The Lumen City Challenge and Lumen Power Challenge are designed to be two immersive worlds to encourage students learning from home during coronavirus-related school closures to explore different energy sources, solve a town’s power problems and manage a sustainable city, all in the Minecraft environment.

Learners will tackle important questions about energy production such as where electricity comes from, what is the energy transition, how can communities act and what are the challenges associated with different energy sources.

These programmes are available for free – educators and students with Minecraft: Education Edition can access them in the in-game lesson library.