Project goal is to explore and master the design of board games with educational purposes, particularly in climate education. By innovating how we learn about sustainability, we aim to reignite young people’s interest in climate action through engaging gameplay.. 

 

The project took place in Vienna, Austria, from 24 to 31 August and involved 31 youth workers from Latvia 🇱🇻,   Austria🇦🇹 , Croatia 🇭🇷, Czechia 🇨🇿, Greece 🇬🇷, Hungary 🇭🇺, Romania 🇷🇴, Slovakia 🇸🇰, and Slovenia 🇸🇮.

 

Climate anxiety is currently one of the most pressing problems affecting youth. At the same time, young people see protecting the environment and fighting climate change (34%) as their top priorities in the latest Eurobarometer on Youth report. Both the climate prioritization and climate anxiety underline the importance to increase our efforts for environmental and sustainability issues and address them through innovative and practical approaches that bring solutions, instead of amplifying the problem or increasing the hype. At the same time, many youth are now distancing from climate action to some destructions caused by climate groups. Therefore, youth workers are needed to help regain and retain the interest of young people in the issues of climate, environment, and sustainability, and to ensure the continuous and positive involvement of young people in climate-related activities. For this purpose, we decided to use an innovative methodology/learning approach which is gamification and game-based learning, especially Board Games. This stimulating and innovative approach would enable the exploration of the engagement strategies and mechanisms inherent in the dynamics of board games, and the potential to infuse them with significant educational purposes through purposeful play. By doing so, these games can become powerful tools for increasing awareness, building a sense of initiative, driving solidarity, and doing activities for the environment & and sustainability. As Diane Ackerman says “Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning”. Hence, our training aims to provide youth workers with a more comprehensive approach, namely Purpursful Play, as a pragmatic and innovative approach that can tackle several youth issues on the local level.​ In order to maximize learning outcomes, interculturality and intersectionality play a key role in the program of the training. 

Participants will be equipped with the necessary concepts, tools, and techniques to craft board games that not only entertain but also educate young individuals on environmental sustainability. They will engage in hands-on, small-group collaborations to design games that tackle various environmental issues, thereby translating theoretical knowledge into tangible educational resources.

The culmination of this course provides participants with a unique chance to test their created board games, allowing for a practical evaluation of their educational impact. Furthermore, this process opens up a platform for collective reflection on future initiatives. These action plans, conceived during the course, aim at local implementation, targeting young audiences and extending their influence to foster broader community engagement in environmental sustainability.

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Project activity schedule:

Day 1 we dove into the world of game-based learning, explored the essence of the Youthpass, and reflected on our diverse realities. Ready to embark on this exciting training journey together.

 

Day 2 was all about using board games as powerful educational tools! We discussed the principles of game-based learning and the mechanics that make games both fun and impactful.

 

Day 3 we delved into the dos and don’ts of board game design, with sessions on game development principles and idea generation. It’s all about turning great concepts into engaging games that educate and inspire.

 

Day 4 we were experimenting with our game ideas, refining designs, and testing concepts in the lab. Creativity is in full swing as we bring our ideas to life.

 

Day 5 was all about preparation and testing! We beta-tested our board game creations, gathered feedback, and made final tweaks. Seeing our ideas in action is so rewarding—ready to present our games to the world.

 

Day 6 - wrapping up our training course with reflections and celebrations! We’re transferring our knowledge to local youth work, journaling our learnings, and saying our goodbyes with a farewell party.