Grace James (she/her)

How are you using education to build more sustainable and equitable communities? Tell us about your EE work and impact. 

I use game-based learning, storytelling, community knowledge, and hands-on activities to help young people understand environmental challenges and see themselves as part of the solution.

Through GreenQuest Innovations, I developed GreenQuest: Rescue Tides, a flood-resilience educational game informed by the lived experiences of flood-prone communities in Lagos. I combine the game with facilitated learning sessions where students explore flooding, waste management, drainage protection, preparedness, and community resilience.

Between November 2025 and June 2026, the project recorded approximately 520 direct engagements, including about 347 young people aged 9–18. At Ken Ade Private Secondary School, approximately 250 students participated in game-based learning, environmental activities, a DIY flood-management workshop, and a Flood Innovation Challenge where teams designed solutions to local flood problems. We also engaged refugee youth through partner-supported game testing.

I worked with community elders and leaders to document local flood experiences and Indigenous adaptation practices, including traditional warning signs and community-based response systems, and integrated these insights into the game's educational narrative and decision-making mechanics.

The project also included two environmental cleanup campaigns, with participants learning about waste segregation, drainage maintenance, and flood prevention. Ken Ade Private Secondary School has since committed to adopting Rescue Tides within its climate and environmental volunteer programme.

Through CropIQ, I extend this education-focused approach to farmers through workshops on climate-smart agriculture, sustainable fertilizer use, soil health, and climate adaptation.

Tell us about your journey to where you are today. What inspired you? What has your path been like? 

My journey into environmental education became personal when flooding in Kogi State affected more than 2,000 people, including my grandmother. Seeing the disruption caused by flooding made climate change feel immediate and personal. I began thinking about how people, especially young people, could better understand environmental risks before they became disasters.

With a background in technology and a passion for storytelling, I started GreenQuest Innovations to explore a different way of communicating environmental issues. Instead of relying only on traditional awareness campaigns, I began using games and interactive experiences to help people learn by exploring problems, making decisions, and seeing consequences.

This led to GreenQuest: Rescue Tides, a flood-resilience game shaped by conversations with students, community members, elders, and local leaders in flood-prone communities in Lagos. Their experiences and Indigenous knowledge became part of the educational content and game design.

The journey has taught me that environmental education is strongest when people are not simply told what to do. They should have opportunities to share what they know, experiment with solutions, and connect learning to their own communities.

That belief continues to guide my work with young people through GreenQuest and with farmers through CropIQ.

How can people learn more about or support your work? 

People can learn more about my work through GreenQuest Innovations, where I develop games and educational programmes that connect climate challenges with storytelling, community knowledge, and real-world action.

Our work with GreenQuest: Rescue Tides brought together students, educators, community leaders, elders, refugee youth, volunteers, and partner organizations to explore flood resilience through game-based learning and practical environmental activities. The game is available through Google Play, and I welcome opportunities to bring it into more schools and youth programmes.

I am particularly interested in partnerships with educators, schools, environmental organizations, researchers, youth groups, and community organizations that want to experiment with creative approaches to environmental education.

People can also support my work by helping us expand access to climate education, contributing educational or technical expertise, connecting us with schools and communities, or supporting further development of our games and learning programmes.

Learn more about GreenQuest Innovations > 

A Little More About Me

What makes you most excited to be an EE30U30 awardee?
I am excited to learn from environmental educators around the world and bring what I learn back to Nigeria, while sharing our experiences using games and community action to make climate education engaging.

What is your superpower?
My superpower is turning complex problems into experiences people can understand, explore, and act on. I love finding the story inside a difficult problem.

What (or who) keeps you hopeful for the future?
Young people keep me hopeful. When I see students turn a climate lesson into a cleanup, an idea, or a question about their community, I am reminded that learning can become action.