Estidama Craft: The UAE-designed Minecraft world created to teach lessons on sustainability

Five different biomes have been designed to mimic natural and man-made locations in the UAE

In Estidama Craft, players can explore five different biomes and learn more about the UAE's efforts in sustainability. Photo: UAE Year of Sustainability

Few video games have become more popular than Minecraft over the past two decades. Since its release in 2011, it has captured the imagination of many who mine for resources and build villages that become cities.

The game has more than 166 million monthly active players. Recognising this popularity, the team at the UAE’s Year of Sustainability have created Estidama Craft, a Minecraft server – a server allows players to play online or via a local-area network with other people – that teaches lessons through activities and mini-games.

Estidama Craft is described as “an educational video game that encourages sustainable behaviours, inspired by the UAE’s natural landscape”. The server guides players into a world of sustainable exploration and behavioural change that is complemented by five curated lesson plans. Each is designed to transform a gaming session into an educational journey. The word estidama is Arabic for sustainability.

The server is part of the UAE's Year of Sustainability which began in 2023 and was later extended into 2024. President Sheikh Mohamed previously said the decision underlined the country's efforts to “protect and preserve the environment for the benefit of future generations”.

The project is led by Ayesha Bin Haidar, who guided the development of the server with input from her younger brothers who play Minecraft regularly. “I had no experience in Minecraft or growing up with Minecraft,” she said. “But luckily, my brother is a huge fan.”

“Our main strategy is to reach everyone who calls the UAE home. Then we were considering the younger audience. We hadn't reached out to them. This is where Minecraft came into place. Kids are already familiar with the game.”

Bin Haidar explained that there were initial plans to build a video game from the ground up, but she then realised it would not be feasible and that the tools in Minecraft already allow for creating such a server. “It's much more sustainable to create within a game that already exists,” she said.

The five different biomes in the server are The City, The Mountain, The Desert, The Marine and The Coast. Through each of these habitats, players learn something new about the UAE’s efforts to maintain natural resources and foster sustainable behaviour.

Across the five, there are details that are unique to the UAE and its culture, such as characters with Emirati names that wear traditional clothing. There are also familiar buildings and natural areas that players will recognise.

Bin Haider wants children who play Estidama Craft to have fun first and then learn through their enjoyment of the game. “If they have fun with sustainability as a concept, I think we won with that,” she said.

“That is the seed that we want to put in their hearts. Once they grow up, they will become leaders and individuals that are able to make the right decisions from a place rooted in their hearts.”

Bin Haider also hopes players can apply lessons learnt on the server to their everyday lives. Learn how to recycle waste in the game, she says, and it can translate to the real world.

“In one of the areas, there are references to buildings that players can get inspired by and they can build a sustainable house or a sustainable farm,” she added. “I think that's a place where it's nice to stay a little bit longer and play with because you can finish the game, you can finish the exciting things, but it's nice to use the world to bring your ideas to life.”