Domminique/Eco-Quest-Africa

## Inspiration Our inspiration stems from a glaring gap in climate education: a lack of resources that resonate with the unique experiences of young people in Africa. We noticed that many global climate education platforms focus on issues like melting polar ice caps, which feel distant and irrelevant to a learner in a community facing drought, food insecurity, or coastal erosion. We believe that for climate education to be effective, it must be deeply personal and rooted in local context. Our goal is to empower a generation of African youth to not only understand climate change but also to see themselves as part of the solution, using knowledge that is relevant to their daily lives and futures. ## What it does Eco-Quest Africa is a gamified, mobile-first learning platform that uses AI to deliver localized and engaging climate education. Learners embark on "Quests" that are personalized to their region, covering topics like sustainable agriculture, water conservation, and renewable energy. The app features "Koko the Climate Companion," an AI chatbot that uses natural language processing to explain complex concepts in simple, culturally relevant terms and in multiple local languages. After completing a Quest, learners are given a real-world "Mission" to take action in their community, which they can share on a community board to earn rewards and inspire others. It transforms passive learning into active, community-driven change. ## How we built it We built Eco-Quest Africa using a lean, agile development approach. We started with user research, conducting interviews with students and educators in several African countries to understand their needs and challenges. The platform's frontend was developed using a mobile-first framework to ensure a smooth experience on various devices, even with low bandwidth. For the backend, we used a cloud-based serverless architecture for scalability and cost-efficiency. The AI personalization engine and the Koko chatbot were deve …