Game On – Inclusive and Accessible Participation

Background The world has undergone significant changes in recent years due to war and globalization. People from conflict-affected countries seek better opportunities and safety in other countries, while others consider themselves global citizens and move abroad. This has created a Europe-wide problem, where young people from different backgrounds face barriers to learning due to a combination of social, economic, and cultural factors. The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated matters, adding to the challenges faced by young people in their pursuit of success. Objectives Our project specifically focused on young immigrants and people from diverse cultural backgrounds, who have been among the most affected groups during these times. The project aimed to help them develop career competencies that are aligned with current business needs through the use of board games. The competencies the project targeted included mother tongue fluency, foreign language acquisition, mathematical literacy, competence in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, interpersonal, intercultural, social and civic competence, entrepreneurship, and cultural expressions. Implementation -Needs research: All partners conducted a needs research in order to gather data about the problems we’re trying to work on. -Outline the main principles of the games: We discussed and decided upon the mechanics and rules of each game before producing the beta versions -Beta testing and improvement of the games: During this phase, the games has been put into action in workshops and training of immigration and youth workers, working with the target group, selected by the partnering organizations. -Fine-tuning and finishing the games: Based on the input from our beta testers, we introduced changes to the games in order to make them easier to understand, better working and overall more enjoyable to play. After this, we developed the finalized versions with the games. -Train the trainers packs: Based on out experience with using the games with our target group, as well as the feedback from our partners and youth workers, we developed the train the trainer packs. Our goal was to develop an output that is self-sufficient and easy to use. -Dissemination: This phase of the implementation was related to the public announcement of Game On. Our final task within the scope of the project was to disseminate its result and popularize the idea. Achievements The result we have produced are: - a 30% increase of young players’ employability and suitability for higher-paid jobs - 600 young people between the ages of 15 and 21 using the games and tools during the first year after the games have been released - To reach over 6000 young people in total in all partnering countries in 5 years from the project completion. - To equip 50 youth workers from NGOs and the public sector to use the tools actively and effectively during the first year of tools release.