Nesta Playbox- Designing Healthier Neighbourhoods

We have collaborated with Nesta– the UK’s innovation agency for social good – to launch a funded Virtual Healthy Neighbourhoods Challenge, designed to produce a more accurate understanding of how food environments shape access to healthy and affordable food.

A £50,000 prize is up for grabs for Scottish videogame designers who can successfully deploy game design and game technologies to develop a virtual environment that tests new approaches to increasing access to healthy food.

The current status of this project is:

Stage 1 – Initial Application (CLOSED)

We invited game studios, media SMEs and established development teams based in Scotland to submit a pitch deck. Details of the opportunity were laid out in the challenge call document and summary heads of terms. The deadline for applications was 09:00 on the 8th of November 2021.

Stage 2 – Shortlisting and Briefing (NOW LIVE)

Applications received during stage 1 are now being assessed. Successful applicants will be invited to attend the Playbox Briefing day, where they will discover more about the challenge and Nesta. Applicants will be asked to deliver a lightning talk about their experience and approach to the challenge. Successful applicants will be invited to the briefing day no later than Friday 19th November.

Project Team

  • Chris Lowthorpe, Senior Fellow in Collaborative R&D
  • Katja Steel Kusáková, InGAME Producer

About Nesta

Nesta is the UK’s innovation agency for social good. It designs, tests and scales solutions to society’s biggest problems. Its three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future where the economy works for both people and the planet. 

Cluster of the Future Challenge Calls

InGAME’s Cluster of  the Future (CotF) Challenges are ambitious competitions to jumpstart high-risk, high-reward collaborations. Our calls are designed to harness and apply the awesome potential of videogames to provoke breakthrough solutions to known but difficult challenges, inventing new futures and driving positive change.

Our Challenge Calls are co-productions with respected Challenge Sponsors from across the globe. Together we co-design and co-fund the challenge, then we catalyse the amazing creativity and innovation potential of Scotland’s games industry in response. If you’re interested in becoming a Challenge Sponsor, please contact us.

Related Projects