Democracy places high demands on citizens. Political decisions have an impact on many different areas of life, they often affect future generations or neighbouring countries and they are influenced by international and global developments. One sixth of the world’s population is young and the importance of youth participation for the future of economic, societal and political development is widely acknowledged. Democracy education enables young people to recognize and represent their interests, to participate in political processes and, in doing so, to meet their fellow human beings and their concerns with respect. The project DEMOGAMES is based on the didactic approach of game-based learning and applies it to teaching young citizens on democracy. Mediated knowledge on democratic processes, norms and values often remains abstract. In contrast, highly complex facts can be conveyed in an activating, participative and engaging manner through game based learning. With the project proposed here, several game based learning tools will be designed and later on applied in promoting democracy education in youth work and non-formal education with the main purpose to engage, connect and empower young people. We are confident that democracy education can lead to greater understanding of democratic processes, norms, and values and increase the ability of young people to effectively participate in society and political life. DEMOGAMES will advance democracy education with respect to learning about, through and for democracy. Our objectives are to introduce young citizens to the topic of democracy in an engaging and participative way by playing analog and digital games. The active participation in playful units awakens young citizens’ interest in the subject and promotes experiential learning. The project includes several activities for young people and practitioners in youth work and non-formal education to engage in discussions on democracy related topics beyond their local, regional or national experience.
The Demogames project is based on the didactic approach of "game-based learning" (GBL) and the project outputs – eight analogue and two digital games – advance democracy education with respect to learning about, through and for democracy. Existing GBL approaches for democracy education, however, are usually catered to very specific target groups and contexts and seldomly provide the necessary educational materials to be transferred to and applied in different settings, most importantly, non-formal youth work. This project tackled these challenges by means of developing analogue and digital game-based learning tools particularly targeted at non-formal youth work and providing low-hurdle access to all educational materials (i.e. via print&play tools, creative commons licencing, and the project webpage www.demogames.eu). Building on the “Reference Framework of Competencies for Democratic Culture” (RFCDC), from the Council of Europe, the project outputs were concepted from the very beginning to include different perspectives on democracy, highlighting the benefits of cultural diversity for social and political life, and aiming to increase social inclusion through fostering beneficial dispositions towards democracy and the EU.
The objectives of Demogames were to introduce young citizens to the topic of democracy in an engaging and participative way. Therefore, several game-based learning tools were designed to promote democracy education in youth work and non-formal education with the main purpose to engage, connect and empower young people. We – the project partners – are confident that democracy education can lead to greater understanding of democratic processes, norms and values, and increase the ability of young people to effectively participate in society and political life. The project included several activities using the developed game-based learning tools for young people and practitioners in youth work and non-formal education to engage in discussions on democracy related topics beyond their local, regional or national experience. Thereby, the project made a substantive contribution to several of the areas of action of the renewed EU Youth Strategy proposed by the European Commission for 2019-2027: Engaging, connecting and empowering young people. The game-based learning tools developed in the project, tie in with the Erasmus+ Youth in Action KA2 thematic priority to promote active (European) citizenship for young people.