Over the last few months, current events have shown that old demons, that we thought dead and forgotten in the EU for a long time, are again raising their ugly head. We are faced with worrying examples of xenophobia, exclusion and selfishness tainted with nationalism when it comes to the most vulnerable members of our societies, namely foreigners (immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers). Then there is the problem of long-term unemployment in the case of youngsters coming from underprivileged backgrounds. The aim of the project “Pandeura’s Box: Play- Think - (Re)Act“ is to raise awareness of the dangers linked to exclusion and to show that taking steps towards openness and solidarity within the EU will improve the current situation. Three European secondary schools, which are situated in regions where the above social problems are most keenly felt, will be involved in the project. The Hainault region in Belgium is home to a high rate of long-term unemployment, while the country itself is faced with the problem of radicalization of youngsters coming from underprivileged Muslim backgrounds.In the wake of reunification, there was a considerable loss of jobs in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region, especially in agriculture and industry, and part of the population is now on social benefit. In addition to that, Germany will have to find ways how to integrate a large number of refugees and asylum seekers successfully in all the “Bundesländer”.Even if Luxembourg seems to be better positioned in terms of the job market, it is nevertheless noticeable that its population does not always look favourably on immigration and the arrival of refugees. In fact, nationalist tendencies, which used to be considered indecent, are again rearing their ugly head.Around 40 adolescents, aged between 16 and 18, will take part in the project for two years and they will work together across borders.They will meet three times during the project to create “Pandeura’s Box”. This is a set of games in a broader sense (board games, strategic games, role plays and sketches) which will be developed and put at the disposal of teachers, educators, youth clubs, youth associations etc. These games will then allow the people in charge to sensitize the children and adolescents in their care to the problems of exclusion through games (Play), encourage them to reflect and discuss (Think) and demonstrate solidarity ([Re]Act). “Pandeura’s Box” will not be available as a finished product, but the material will be and will also remain available according to the “print and play” principle on the Internet sites of the various schools. A booklet will have to be downloaded containing explanations of the rules of the games, printable cards, frames used to trigger role plays as well as instructions on how to build various objects needed. The booklet will be available in three languages: French, German and English.During the test phase, the games will be presented to and tested by youngsters in various classes, reception centres and associations.During the three transnational meetings, the students will exchange the results of their research on the situation in their respective countries. Guided by specialists, they will learn how to create games and role plays and they will test and assess the newly-created games together. Between the meetings, contact between participants will be maintained with the help of IT and a permanent exchange on the development of the games box will allow them to push the project forward.In a first phase, the methods used will be individual data research as well as the establishment of contact with the target people through the intermediary of NGOs. During the second phase, which will be the longest of the project, students will employ the “learning by doing” method when inventing games, as they will have to find means themselves to sensitize other children or adolescents. The last and final phase, which is destined to ensure the survival of the project, will compel them to find potential partners who are likely to use “Pandeura’s Box” widely and are willing to adapt it. With the help of eTwinning, they will try to get in contact with teachers from other European countries, they will present the fruit of their labours to local or national politicians and to institutions that train teachers and educators.The expected outcome of the project for the children and adolescents is to better understand the concepts of social marginalization as well as an increase in feelings of solidarity. In the medium term, “Pandeura’s Box”, which is inexpensive and easily adaptable to different age groups as well as various local, national or European situations, should find its place in a certain number of schools and registration centres. Both teachers and educators are encouraged to work actively on the development of the box by imagining variations or even completely new versions of the games on offer.
Summary Over the last few years, current events have shown us that old demons, that we thought to have been dead and forgotten in the EU for a long time, are again raising their ugly heads. We are faced with worrying examples of xenophobia, exclusion and selfishness, tainted with nationalism when it comes to the most vulnerable members of our societies, namely foreigners (immigrants, refugees and people that are subject to international protection). We also have to solve the problems of long-term unemployment or the social discrimination of youngsters coming from underprivileged backgrounds. The aim of the project “Pandeura’s Box; Play, think, (re)act“ was to raise awareness of the dangers linked to exclusion and excessive turning in on oneself and to show that taking steps towards openness and solidarity within the EU can improve the current situation. Three European secondary schools, which are situated in regions where the above social problems are most keenly felt, were involved in the project. The Hainault region in Belgium is home to a high rate of long-term unemployment while the country itself is faced with the problem of radicalization of youngsters coming from underprivileged predominantly Muslim backgrounds. In the wake of reunification, there was a considerable loss of jobs in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region, especially in agriculture and industry, and part of the population is now on social benefit. In addition to that, Germany has had to find ways how to integrate a large number of asylum seekers in all the “Bundesländer” successfully, whilst public demonstrations such as those which took place in Chemnitz recently show a growing hostility towards foreigners. Even if Luxembourg seems to be better positioned in terms of the job market, it is nevertheless noticeable that its population does not always look favourably on immigration and the arrival of foreigners. In fact, nationalist rhetoric about identity and immigration can again be heard and is becoming socially accepted. Around 50 adolescents, aged between 16 and 18, took part in the project which started in September 2016 and ended in July 2018. They were students from the Lycée classique in Echternach (Luxembourg), the Collège Notre-Dame de Bonne-Espérance in Vellereille-les-Brayeux (Belgium) and the Gymnasium Carolinum in Neustrelitz (Germany). They actively cooperated during the past two years and met each other in person three times during the project to create “Pandeura’s Box”, a set of board and strategic games which were developed together across borders. These games are intended to be used by teachers, educators, youth clubs, youth associations etc. They are now at the disposal of the general public and allow all the people in charge to sensitize the children and adolescents in their care to the problems of exclusion through games (play), encourage them to reflect and discuss (think) and demonstrate solidarity (re(act)). The 10 board games have been developed for children and adolescents (from 8 years onwards). Once the rules and the required material have been downloaded and assembled, the games can be played with or without a teacher or educator. The games focus on the following issues: - refugees, asylum application and integration (Migramy, Take Refuge! Who Can you Trust, Save your Country, Will you Arrive, Integration Poker) - prejudice, for instance, about criminality and religions (Save your Country) - unemployment, job search or the companies’ responsibility as far as employment is concerned (Synergia, Monopole de l’Oie, Werpen to Win) - poverty and economic migration (Save your Country, Jobskat, Synergia) “Pandeura’s Box” will not be sold on the open market, nor even presented as a finished product, but the 10 games created by the students are and will remain available according to the “print and play” principle on the website www.pandeurasbox.eu. Here a booklet containing explanations of the rules of the games, printable cards, as well as instructions on how to build various objects needed (pawns etc.) can be downloaded. The booklet is available in three languages: French, German and English. During a test phase, the games were presented to and tested by youngsters in various classes, reception centres and associations in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. During the three transnational meetings the students exchanged the results of their research on the situation in their respective countries. Guided by a specialist, they learned how to create board games and they tested and assessed the newly-created games together. In a first phase, the methods used were individual data research as well as the establishment of contact with the target people through the intermediary of NGOs that are working in this particular field. During the second phase, which was the longest of the project, students employed the “learning by doing” method. When inventing games, they had to show that they understood the mechanism