EcoMania was originally developed for the Phoenix Permaculture Guild to debut at Make a Difference Day 2008 at the downtown Phoenix Farmer’s Market. The game was conceived and written by Julie Hall Allison, a volunteer and supporter of the Urban Oasis Center for Sustainable Communities.

Her idea was born out of concern over the degree of change that people may need to adopt and how quickly that change may be needed. She saw that while quite a lot of information on sustainable living was available in many different places, it was not yet in a form that brought it all together and made it easier to assimilate and apply. Ms. Allison’s vision was that some day EcoMania would be played at green living events all over the country and adopted by many grassroots groups and teachers.

The original version of the game was just over 100 questions. Since then it has expanded to over 300 questions that are organized into 6 main categories and 26 distinct modules. EcoMania is available now as a downloadable package that includes all the modules and supporting files for a public or classroom presentation. The modest cost supports environmental education.

Ms. Hall Allison has a BA in Film and a Masters equivalent in Instructional Design.  She had a 15-year software career first as a multimedia producer of learning and training programs and she won many top awards.  Some of work is part of the National Archives in the Library of Congress.

Later she joined a Silicon Valley startup that developed and marketed eLearning software management tools – the software to create courseware and manage a curriculum online.  She retired from her software career in 2000.  Within a short time, Julie became interested in the field of philanthropy and became a member of the Silicon Valley Social Venture Partners.  She relocated to the Monterey Peninsula where she worked for the Community Foundation for Monterey County. She then founded and chaired the Women’s Fund of Monterey County.  She relocated to Arizona in 2005 and has a home in Prescott, Arizona, where she experiments with rainwater harvesting. She drives a Prius and installed a solar electric system at her home.

Contact Julie Hall Allison at julie@ecomania-game.com