The European Union is a con-federal union of sovereign states, with a strong economic focus, that includes 28 member states and a combined population of over 500 million people. The origins and aims of the EU are quite clear. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community were formed in 1951 and 1958, with the premise to create an ever closer union, and to avoid the conflicts that had devastated Europe during the preceding decades. Since the 1950s the EU has consistently grown in both size and operating remit, with the 1993 Maastricht Treaty establishing the current EU and creating a common citizenship. Yet it was at this point that established political parties began to be challenged within individual member states about their continued support for the EU. The EU currently endures a period of existential angst. Central to the second of two priorities from the “Europe for Citizens” Work Programme is democratic engagement and civic participation; the EU Commission state: “there is a need to deepen further the discussion on the future of Europe on what kind of Europe citizens want, also stimulating new forms of civic participation whilst reinforcing those existing.” Across Europe there is polarisation of views about many different issues with differences of opinion becoming increasingly intense and in some cases confrontational. It appears that underlying many of these issues are Europeans’ conflicting views about the balance between national and European identity and values. Kwame Anthony Appiah (2016), an expert on the ethics of identity, argues that “We live in a world where the language of identity pervades both our public and our private lives.” but he also stated that there are profound sources of confusion in our thinking about identities. The current proposal aims to develop an innovative online game, the RU EU? GAME, that aims to help young people across Europe to develop a better understanding of their own national and European identity and values, as well as those of others, to examine and reflect upon the impact of their own identity and values on their interactions with others, and to challenge them about their attitudes and prejudices in tackling problem solving tasks involving national and European identity. The game will provide opportunities for young Europeans to extend and test their knowledge of Europe; engage in discussions on a range of issues relevant to young Europeans; explore their identities; and solve problems collaboratively. The project will be organised into 4 main phases: preparation, implementation, follow-up and closure. Phase 1 (preparation) covers design activities including a literature review focusing on national and European identity, a user requirements analysis for the game and the design specification for the game. Interviews, focus groups and questionnaires will be used in the user requirements analysis to assess what potential players of the game would like to see in the game. The key activities in Phase 2 (implementation) will be the development of the game and additional resources to support the game. Key activities in Phase 3 (follow up) will be the piloting and evaluation of the game, while phase 4 (closure) will address sustainability. Dissemination activities will take place throughout the project to increase awareness of and interest in the game and to maximise impact. 3 main groups of Higher Education students will be targeted by the game. Firstly social science and business students will take part. It is argued that developing a deeper understanding of European identity and values is core learning for these students. Two other groups of students will also be targeted by the game: the game will help Erasmus students to maximise their experiences of studying abroad by developing a better understanding of national and European identity. In addition students who, for whatever reason, cannot take part in the Erasmus mobility scheme will be included. Comparison between these 3 groups of students will help to decide which group benefits most from the game. It is hoped that the RU EU? GAME will provide a novel and engaging method of supporting students as they build up an understanding of national and European identity and the impact that attitudes and values have on the decisions made in issues that are relevant to young people in Europe. In line with the Erasmus guidelines the project will have a positive impact on the participants in: • developing a greater understanding and responsiveness to social, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity; • developing a more positive attitude towards the European project and EU values; • approaching a better understanding of practices, policies and systems in education, training or youth across countries. The effectiveness of the game in achieving these goals will be fully evaluated.
Context/background of the project The RU EU? Project was conceived against a background of ongoing change and division across Europe. Issues relating to National and European identity are highly topical and of fundamental importance to our sense of who we are in the world. A better understanding of these issues is urgently required, given the power of perceived differences between groups to lead to conflict. Another influence on the project was the increasing interest in “the use of ICT as a driver for systemic change to increase the quality and relevance of education”. Serious games provide modern digital approaches to learning that emphasise 21st century skills which prioritize what students can do with knowledge, rather than just focusing on knowledge acquisition. Consequently it was thought that a game-based approach to exploring National and European identity might help to provide students with an innovative approach to understanding this complicated topic. Objectives The Erasmus+ funded RU EU? project aimed to develop an innovative digital game, the RU EU? game, to provide an engaging platform for students across Europe to confront some of the complex issues surrounding National and European identity and to help these young Europeans to develop a better understanding of their own and others’ feelings of belonging to or alienation from the EU. The project also developed support materials for teachers to help them use the game most effectively for their students. The game and support materials can be found at the project website: https://rueu-project.eu/ Number and type/profile of participants The intended audience for the RU EU? game is social science and business students across Europe who need to know something about European identity as part of their degree course. Games design students will also be interested in the game as a case study in game design, looking at how the learning outcomes were specified and how the game mechanics address the learning outcomes. The game will also be of particular interest to Erasmus students and other international students at university in Europe, as well as staff who teach on programmes and modules where European identity is relevant or who support international students in their studies. Description of activities undertaken The early project activities provided background information to assist in the design of the game: O1: the literature review of European identity summarised varied approaches to understanding European identity and provided a strong theoretical foundation for the game; O2: the resource review identified existing paper and pencil and learning resources (including games) in the areas of politics and national and European identity, and O3: the user requirements analysis provided empirical evidence from potential players of the game about their understanding of European identity, what they would want to and expect to see in such a game, as well as their game preferences. The findings from these activities as well as extended discussions fed into O4: Development of the game content and decision-making scenarios which provided the initial description of the journalist narrative and the proposed game tools: the interview tools, the discussion tool, the Newsflash tools and Final assignment tools as well as the content for the 5 game scenarios (Brexit; Who is European? Different attitudes between nations; The rights of citizens to work in different partner countries; Changes to European identity over time and Immigration and the rights of migrants). O5: Design specification document for the game provided a more detailed and coherent account of how these would fit together to provide the blueprint for the game development. O6: The game and game platform are the key deliverables for the project. The game development implemented the ideas presented in O5 and the final working version of the game can be downloaded from the RU EU? Project website: https://rueu-project.eu. A full description of the final game can also be found here along with O7: The Support materials for the game that describe how the game can best be used in teaching and training activities. 5 best practice case studies and use case scenarios that describe the varied teaching opportunities for using the game can also be found. O8: Piloting and Evaluation: The final project activity was full piloting and evaluation of the game. Results and impact attained The project has been very successful in academic dissemination, via journal articles and conference papers to a diverse audience of learning technology experts, games experts, learning and pedagogy experts as well as social scientists, the content experts. The multiplier events extended this dissemination to a diverse audience of educationalists and technology experts. Longer-term benefits. We have a working game and this will be used in classes where an understanding of European identity is relevant, as well as game design classes.