We estimate the impact of a game-based educational program aimed at promoting practices for sustainable water usage among 2nd–4th grade students and their families living in the municipality of Lucca, Italy. To this purpose we exploited unique data from a quasi-experiment involving about two thousand students, one thousand participating (the treatment group) and one thousand not participating (the control group) in the program. Data were collected by means of a survey that we specifically designed and implemented to record students’ self-reported behaviors. Our estimates indicate that the program has been successful: the students in the program reported an increase in efficient water usage and an increase in the frequency of discussions with their parents about water usage; moreover, positive effects were still observed after six months. Our findings suggest that game-based educational programs can be an effective instrument to promote practices supporting sustainable water use behaviors in students and their parents.

我们评估了一项基于游戏的教育计划的影响，该计划旨在促进居住在意大利卢卡市的二至四年级学生及其家庭的可持续用水实践。为此，我们利用了来自大约 2000 名学生的准实验的独特数据，其中 1000 名参与（治疗组）和 1000 名未参与（控制组）。数据是通过我们专门设计和实施的调查来收集的，以记录学生的自我报告行为。我们的估计表明该计划取得了成功：该计划的学生报告说，用水效率提高了，并且与父母讨论用水问题的频率也增加了；此外，六个月后仍观察到积极效果。