A serious escape game to train on sustainable IT: Accenture Belgium bets on innovative learning

How do you turn environmental awareness at work into an immersive and engaging experience? Accenture Belgium found the answer by trusting The Wokies to roll out a 1.5-hour serious escape game for its teams. A look back at a responsible team building initiative that combines innovative learning and CSR commitment.

A collaboration that stretches from France to Belgium

Building on an existing collaboration with Accenture France, The Wokies saw its expertise recognized beyond borders. The Belgian adventure started when Accenture discovered The Wokies on the website of ISIT-BE (the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT), of which Accenture is a member.

This natural extension of the collaboration perfectly illustrates the value of the Belgian sustainable IT ecosystem, where committed companies find the resources and partners that match their ambitions. The trust shown by Accenture France paved the way for this new Belgian adventure, a sign of the quality and relevance of the solutions offered by The Wokies.

"ISIT-BE plays an essential role in bringing together sustainable IT stakeholders in Belgium. Our platform lets companies like Accenture discover innovative solutions such as those offered by The Wokies," explains Olivier Vergeynst, Director of ISIT-BE.

An escape game format that is changing responsible digital training

Learning excellence that drives engagement

The results speak for themselves: with an overall score of 4.56 out of 5 and a learning level rated 4.22 out of 5, The Wokies' serious escape game won over the Accenture teams during this 1.5-hour session in English (also available in French). These outstanding scores show the effectiveness of an approach that turns learning into a collective adventure.

Ann-Charlotte Vandeputte, Corporate Citizenship Lead for BeLux at Accenture, says: "We were looking for a remote format to raise awareness of sustainable IT among our employees, who are spread across Belgium. The Wokies' escape game exceeded our expectations by combining engagement, learning and fun."

Total immersion in the issues of sustainable IT

The gripping storyline: Teams are dropped into a mission to discover the challenges and solutions of responsible digital. Each participant receives a specific role and complementary clues, so collaboration is essential to move forward.

Revealing puzzles: Participants must, among other things, rank eco-gestures by real impact (prioritizing not over-consuming and extending the life of equipment) and optimize data flows (eco-design, adapted video quality, lower energy consumption).

Active learning: The experience keeps a brisk pace, with a sequence of puzzles, learning videos and a quiz repeated 5 times to anchor knowledge for good, all in a collaborative spirit where no "free rider" is possible.

Striking revelations

Participants discover figures that make them stop and think: 800 kg of resources are needed to make a computer, and digital technology already accounts for 3 to 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with a worrying projection of 6 to 8% by 2040 according to several converging reports.

Participant feedback: "It was an effective way to discover the main orders of magnitude and concepts on the subject while having a good time with colleagues. We absolutely have to help each other because we have complementary clues, and it is a nice metaphor for the solutions we need to find to move toward a more sustainable world."

Immediate reactions: Teams were particularly struck by the amount of resources needed to manufacture equipment and by the average lifespan of a smartphone (only 2 to 3 years).

The moment of truth: announcing the results

One of the highlights of the session is the announcement of the final results, where the competition between teams is often very tight. This moment crystallizes the commitment of all participants and highlights the collaborative spirit built throughout the experience.

Accenture Belgium and environmental awareness among its employees

A concrete, measurable CSR commitment

Organizing this escape game fits fully into Accenture's global Corporate Citizenship strategy, which relies on the Sustainability Education pillar to raise awareness and mobilize employees around climate and social issues.

This initiative takes on special meaning given Accenture's ambitious environmental targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): -80% absolute emissions by 2030 and -90% across all scopes by 2040. Raising awareness of responsible digital thus becomes a strategic lever for reaching these goals, notably by reducing the carbon footprint of IT equipment and optimizing data flows.

A global framework for action: The event with The Wokies took place as part of the Season of Impact, an initiative that mobilized 149,267 unique participants across more than 253,000 activities worldwide in 2024. This scale shows Accenture's commitment to making environmental awareness an operational priority, by investing in innovative formats that leave a mark and generate measurable impact.

ISIT-BE, a catalyst for sustainable IT innovation

The context of responsible digital

Digital technology accounts for about 4% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, more than civil aviation. Its emissions are growing faster than those of many other sectors and are expected to quickly reach 6-7%, the equivalent of truck transport, notably because of the rapid development and use of artificial intelligence and the data centers it requires.

Belgian government initiatives to reduce the GHG emissions of digital technology and its societal impacts remain limited. Still, some initiatives deserve a mention, mostly at the regional level:

• The Brussels responsible digital program is led by Paradigm in collaboration with Brussels Environment, Hub Brussels and other administrations.
• In Wallonia, Digital Wallonia, run by the Agence du Numérique (the regional digital agency), promotes circular digital (eco-design, maintenance, refurbishment).
• The "Circular & Fair ICT Pact", initiated by the Dutch government with Belgium as co-lead, under the umbrella of the UN's One Planet Network, includes the BuyerGroup ICT, which brings together Flemish and Dutch public buyers.

In Europe, France is clearly ahead, both in regulation (the REEN and AGEC laws, RGAA accessibility standard, the law against greenwashing...) and in the number of actors and organizations committed to more responsible digital. By comparison, Belgium follows the slower pace of Europe. While the CSRD and CSDDD had helped raise the priority of sustainability actions, recent geopolitical and economic changes, as well as the European "Omnibus package," have put competitiveness first again, at the expense of environmental protection.

In today's uncertain context, it remains essential for Belgian organizations to speed up their responsible digital initiatives: these increase their resilience, reduce their costs, their risks and their dependence on Big Tech, help develop a degree of digital sovereignty, and, icing on the cake, they are good for the environment.

An ecosystem that serves companies

To promote sustainable IT and help organizations reduce the carbon footprint of their IT, ISIT-BE offers tools, guides, training, webinars, conferences and workshops. Some of these are reserved for members, but many resources are available for free. ISIT-BE has nearly 90 member organizations and nearly 150 signatories of the Responsible Digital Charter. These organizations are of every type: large companies, small businesses, nonprofits, public services, universities...

The most important asset is undoubtedly the community that ISIT-BE is building in Belgium and beyond, connecting the various Belgian and foreign responsible digital actors. Thanks to the work of this community, media coverage of the topic is growing, more people are being made aware, and some behaviors are changing despite the marketing sirens that keep pushing us to buy the latest smartphone or television. Purchasing policies are being changed to extend equipment life, digital services are being eco-designed, and a responsible digital culture is increasingly being set up in private and public organizations alike, supported by the presence of political leaders at the ecosystem's major events.

The Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT proves its added value by bringing together the needs of its members and the expertise of its partners such as The Wokies. This match-making perfectly illustrates ISIT-BE's mission: to speed up the transformation of our societies toward more responsible digital.

Olivier Vergeynst adds: "Beyond creating and listing awareness tools, ISIT-BE organizes conferences, round tables and the GreenTech Forum Brussels. Our goal is to create a collective momentum that benefits all the actors in the ecosystem."

The Wokies: where expertise meets innovation

Credibility strengthened by excellent partnerships

The long-standing collaboration with Accenture France, now extended to Belgium, and the support of ISIT-BE position The Wokies as a leading player in responsible digital awareness across Europe. This recognition by sector leaders in several countries validates the company's innovative approach and its learning expertise.

Proven, recognized know-how

The excellent results achieved with the Accenture teams show The Wokies' mastery in designing immersive learning experiences. The company proves its ability to turn complex issues into captivating adventures that foster engagement and learning.

This expertise is also recognized by other large companies, as shown in our client feedback video with testimonials from Decathlon, Nexity and Enedis, who also put their trust in our awareness solutions.

Ann-Charlotte Vandeputte concludes: "This experience shows that it is possible to combine learning effectiveness and employee engagement. We encourage other organizations to explore these innovative approaches to responsible digital training."

Want to organize your own responsible digital awareness escape game? Discover our solutions tailored to your challenges and plan your discovery session now. Together, let's build more responsible digital.

Contact us for a demo