Until May 15, the Quake Museum is once again open in Belém. The immersive museum tells the story of the tragic earthquake that occurred in Lisbon on November 1st, 1755 and guides visitors through the world of earthquakes, with various activities for kids and children. One of the activities present in the museum is the Treme-Treme Game, created by Professors Rui Prada and Pedro A. Santos, former master’s students Pedro Barreto, Duarte Botelho and Inês Batina, and the Designer Hugo O’Neill.
The game was launched in 2015 and resulted from a participation of the Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS) under the European Commission’s Urban Prevention Strategies using Macroseismic and Fault Sources (UPStrat-MAFA). The initiative for the creation of the game was the lack of pedagogical and educational resources to explain the seismic risk to children, explain Mónica Amaral Ferreira and Professor Rui Prada. Thus, Treme-Treme explains in a practical way and is adapted to children, so they know what to do in a situation of potential earthquake or tsunami.
The original game, which is already in the 3rd version, consists of four levels. The first teaches how to create an emergency kit. The second allows children to identify safe places and dangerous places indoors in case of an earthquake. The third level teaches what to do if you are near the coast in case of a tsunami. And the last and fourth level explains how to get into a safe place, teaching techniques to avoid building and other obstacles that could put people in danger, by managing emergency resources, to reach a meeting point. All levels feature a quiz, at the end, to test the knowledge of the participants.
The effectiveness of the objective of the game and the analysis of the results is done in partnership with some schools. Given that risk literacy is a field of study that encompasses several areas of learning, such as disaster management, mitigation and preparation, this is a project that is aligned with the principle of sustainable development as part of the 2030 Agenda, consisting of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (ODS).
Treme-Treme integrates Quake Museum with a slight adaptation to two levels, in one of the museum’s interactive stations, according to researcher Mónica Amaral Ferreira. The full version of the game is available for free, for computer, smartphone or tablet.
