#883: Syncretic Designs for Young People’s Social and Ecological Imagination across Virtual–Natural Worlds

This study explores how syncretic designs for game-based learning that interweave digital and physical modalities, human and more-than-human actors, and imaginative and embodied forms of knowing can nurture young people’s social and ecological imagination. While such approaches have been examined in literacy contexts, their potential to cultivate socio-ecological imagination across virtual and natural worlds remains underexplored. Drawing on a Social Design-Based Experiment (SDBE) conducted in an out-of-school program, twelve youth engaged in sustainability design challenges in Minecraft alongside outdoor ecological explorations. The study investigates: (1) how syncretic designs for learning can support youth’s ecological and social imagination across digital and real-world nature contexts; and (2) what pedagogical possibilities emerge when virtual world-making intertwines with embodied experiences in natural environments. Findings show that youth envisioned sustainable futures grounded in their cultural repertoires, designing virtual neighborhoods that reimagined the ecological and social possibilities of their communities.