Students tasked with designing Calgary park, CTrain station in Minecraft

Calgary students will have the opportunity to make additions to a digital city of Calgary in Minecraft through the Level Up Calgary challenge. (Source: City of Calgary)

Calgary students will get to show off their design skills and creativity by making additions to a digital version of Calgary in Minecraft, as part of a city-run challenge.

Level Up Calgary, in partnership with the City of Calgary, the Calgary Board of Education and Minecraft Education, is a student-driven civic engagement program that encourages students to unleash their creativity through the popular block-based building and adventure game.

For season three of the campaign, students will have a chance to use their imagination to create and share their designs for two downtown locations: Haultain Park in the Beltline or the future underground 4th Street Station on the CTrain Green Line.

“During this creative adventure, students are encouraged to focus on either a portal, highlighting the seamless integration between underground and above-ground spaces, or demonstrating their ability to create safe, accessible, and inclusive public park space within Minecraft,” the City of Calgary said in a news release.

The challenge will begin on Feb. 19 and will remain open for 10 weeks. Students can submit a video of their designs by April 26.

Once complete, the students’ builds will be reviewed by school districts, before being handed over to a panel of experts from the City of Calgary, leaders from the Indigenous community, the CBE and community representatives.

The winners will be announced in June.

Students in the CBE and Rocky View Schools (RVS) who want to participate in Level Up will have access to Minecraft Education through their school division’s website.

Level Up Calgary launched in 2022. The first campaign attracted 12,000 CBE students. For season two, the challenge included students in the Catholic School District (CCSD) and RVS.

More than 30,000 students took part in 2023, with 19 winners picked out of 72 finalists.

“In the last two years, we’ve seen Level Up Calgary evolve into a dynamic learning community for students,” Mike Nelson, interim superintendent of school improvement with the CBE, said.

“It encourages creativity and problem solving all while simulating real-world situations for students to apply theoretical knowledge in practical contexts.”

Visit the City of Calgary’s website to learn more about Level Up.