Millennium Village Simulation

Partner(s): Jeffrey Sachs, Gordon McCord The Earth Institute, SIPA Access: Open to all Released: March 2008 VIEW PROJECT

The Millennium Village Simulation is a web-based simulation of economics and survival for one family and their village in a sub-Saharan African village. In a virtual world of extreme poverty, disease, and environmental variability, students are challenged to help a family of two survive and prosper over a fifty-year period. By making decisions regarding the family's allocation of time and financial resources, students develop a greater understanding of the manifold disciplines -- such as agronomy, nutrition, economics, epidemiology, public health and development management -- that constitute sustainable development and how those disciplines interact with each other in "real world" scenarios. The simulation's creators hope that, by immersing themselves in the daily life of a family, students will identify more deeply with the local experience of extreme poverty.

The simulation was created as a study tool for students in Professor Jeffrey Sachs' undergraduate course Challenges of Sustainable Development, and is freely available to sustainable development practitioners and the general public.

Related project categories:
Simulations | Social Sciences

Related links:
Download the informational page (PDF)
Watch "Simulations & How They Enhance Interdisciplinary Education" from CCNMTL's 2008 NME Conference