Tandiss Hatami is translating, modifying and expanding the Factor 10 Club's MIPS fur Kids, a game in which kids need to design a party that has the least ecological impact. This will lead on to a series of children's stories and games introducing them to perceiving and valuing relational sustainability.
MIPS (Materials Input Per Service) is a concept from the Wuppertal Institute in Germany. The idea of MIPS is to measurably increase service efficiency in the economy. Service efficiency means reducing environmental impact by delivering highly efficient end-services to consumers using minimum materials and energy.MIPS measures the flow of natural resources and builds ecological rucksacks (similar to ecological footprints) to determine the sustainability of goods and services. This applies to national economies and informs business and product development (extending to phases of production, use and disposal of products). The Wuppertal Institute has used these principles in the development of a children's game entitled 'Sarah's world', published in the book: Clever leben: MIPS fuer Kids (in German).
We are using this as the basis for developing games for Australian children (aged 9-12yrs).MIPS for Kids targets unsustainable consumption and lifestyles to combat environmental problems. 'MIPS fuer Kids isn't trying to teach children and teenagers a particular way of thinking - it doesn't teach a particular “eco-ethics” - but it sharpens children's awareness of our eco-system and inspires them to find eco-intelligent consumer behaviour'.
(Translated by Tandiss Hatami from: Carolin Baedeker, Michael Kalff, Maria J. Welfens, Clever leben: MIPS fuer Kids, Germany: oekom verlag, 2002)
