The “BetaJam: Earthquake Awareness” event combined earthquake reality and digital game

Istanbul Beykent University integrated the reality of earthquakes with the gaming world to raise awareness during Earthquake Week. Students from various faculties collaborated to design games highlighting different aspects of earthquakes.

The event, organised by Istanbul Beykent University took place on 3-4 March 2025. After the opening speeches by Istanbul Beykent University Vice-Rector, Yalçın Kırdar, and the Faculty of Communication Dean, Ece Baban, two sessions were held: “Earthquake Reality in Istanbul” and “Games and Narrative in the Information Age.” Following the expert panel, a total of 100 students, organised into teams of 10, worked intensively for 24 hours to design games aimed at raising earthquake awareness.

“We want to improve proactive communication instead of fear management.”

Providing information about the project, Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Yalçın Kırdar stated, “Unfortunately, earthquakes are a reality in our country, and we all acknowledge this. However, instead of approaching the issue through fear management, focusing on disasters, crises, or remembering the suffering, we aim to develop proactive communication methods for prevention. In this context, Istanbul Beykent University Faculty of Communication organised a special event, by which our students aim to contribute to society by raising awareness and fostering consciousness through games. To achieve this, they will undergo comprehensive training over two days, combining both theoretical training and practical experience.”

Prof. Dr. Kırdar continued his words as follows:

“In fact, we aim to introduce these games to society by bringing together two seemingly contradictory concepts: play and earthquakes. They will first practice it here. Then, through our students, we hope to first provide lectures and later organise awareness-raising activities. Indeed, this aligns with the science communication initiative recently introduced by YÖK (Council of Higher Education). In other words, there are ongoing efforts to transfer the knowledge produced at universities both to inter-university platforms and to wider society beyond academia. In this context, we actually aim to present it to society as a science communication event.”

“We will make productive use of digital games.”

The Dean of Istanbul Beykent University Faculty of Communication, Ece Baban, stated, “In today’s educational landscape, we are organising the Betajam event to utilise every channel and platform not only to raise awareness and inform people but also to contribute to education. Students from 10 teams, comprising a total of 100 participants, come together to design games focused on earthquake awareness. We are well aware that digital games are one of the spaces where young people spend a significant amount of time. Our students will compete to deliver this in the most impactful and beneficial way. They will design a game focused on earthquake awareness, including what to do during an earthquake and what precautions we should take to raise awareness about earthquakes. I believe this is of great importance and value, because this will not be limited to just this event, and the fact that it is taking place within an academic setting is also significant. By increasing such

activities, we aim to highlight and address the issues that require awareness in our country, at least through these competitions on digital platforms.”

“If these trainings become second nature, earthquakes will no longer be viewed as a risk.”

Eray Dinç, the Head of the Digital Game Design Department at Istanbul Beykent University, stated that students from the departments of Digital Game Design, Architecture, Environmental Planning, and Psychology came together for this project and said, “If you are not educated about a subject, you will be afraid of it. At this point, if the right precautions are taken and these trainings become a reflex rather than something to fear, earthquakes will be seen as ordinary natural events rather than risks. Here, we aim to create games focused on earthquake awareness by harnessing the power of digital games, communication, and the talent of the young generation, working alongside them. We will develop solutions not only in Istanbul but also across all of Türkiye. We aim to produce significant projects related to environmental planning, focusing on pre-earthquake, during the earthquake, and post-earthquake phases, by harnessing the simulation power of games and raising awareness. Computer gamers will then be able to experience these projects online.”