image above: Fresque du Cl!mat at the Haus pour Bienne, 2025, Jan Eckert.
In a world increasingly affected by climate change, understanding the complex web of causes and effects has never been more important. The Fresque du Cl!mat (Climate Collage) is an educational game that addresses the lack of climate literacy by transforming people’s understanding of climate science.
Founded in 2018 by Cédric Ringenbach – an engineer, lecturer and energy transition consultant – the Fresque du Cl!mat aims to improve climate literacy worldwide and accelerate understanding of global climate issues, ultimately helping to trigger the changes needed to sustain life on our planet.
What makes this approach effective is its accessibility. Rather than overwhelming participants with jargon or statistics, the Fresque du Cl!mat uses a collaborative, game-based methodology that makes climate science accessible to everyone. Based on a decentralised approach that has proved remarkably effective, the workshop has been translated into more than 45 languages and disseminated in over 160 countries in just a few years. With the help of over 90,000 volunteers, more than 2 million participants have experienced the Workshop and deepened their understanding of climate change.
Our experience
Thanks to facilitator Marie Valentin and the generosity of Haus pour Bienne in providing a venue, we explored the Fresque du Cl!mat one evening in February 2025. The workshop proved to be both intellectually stimulating and enjoyable.
At the heart of the experience is a deck of 44 cards, each representing either a cause or an effect of climate change. The mechanics are elegantly simple, yet profoundly educational: we worked together to arrange these cards into cause-and-effect chains, creating a visual representation of the complex systems that drive climate change.
What began as individual elements gradually transformed into an intricate collage illustrating the relationships between human activities, greenhouse gas emissions, rising temperatures and their cascading effects on our planet’s systems.
What made our experience of the Fresque du Cl!mat particularly powerful was how it transformed abstract scientific concepts into tangible relationships that we could literally see and touch. As the collage grew, so did our understanding. Moments of revelation were common – that ‘aha’ moment when someone suddenly understands how ocean acidification is linked to the loss of marine biodiversity, or how deforestation amplifies the greenhouse effect.
The workshop didn’t end with the completion of the collage. In between and after the mapping sessions, we engaged in reflective debriefing sessions facilitated by the workshop facilitator. Marie provided additional background information and guided our exchange of emotions, solutions and actionable steps. This progression from knowledge to emotion to action created a holistic learning experience that often catalyses real behaviour change.
Join the movement
The beauty of Fresque du Cl!mat is its simplicity and scalability. Workshops can be held virtually anywhere – in schools, businesses, community centres or even your living room. Once you’ve participated, you can train to become a facilitator yourself and join the growing network of climate educators worldwide.
As climate change continues to reshape our world, tools like the Fresque du Climat offer hope through education and collective action. By understanding the problem in its entirety, we are better equipped to imagine and implement solutions.
Want to experience the Fresque du Climat for yourself? Check the Fresque website for upcoming workshops near you.