For the past few years, parties that languished on the fringes of European politics have been winning elections across the continent. Some analysis of EU political representation suggests that these results are part of a broader ideological shift in European politics. Extreme positions are represented more frequently in European governments, especially those positions at the far-right end of the political spectrum. Additionally, as the European elections are coming very soon, it is needed more than ever to educate young people on the values of democracy and values of participation and dialogue, to avoid their radicalisation and engagement with far-right or far-left movements. The consortium of four partners (PaNoKe, Ekvalis, La Fenice and Asociación Juvenil Inter), joins strengths in the project “EduGames vs. Political Radicalisation: Strategies for Beginners” to tackle the political divide among young people in Europe, and combat political radicalisation. We believe that this problem is quite transversal and it’s happening globally so if we want to deal with it, we have to take a transnational approach engaging as many different stakeholders as possible. As already stated, although in every country there are some specificities, still the main propaganda aspects of the extremist and radical parties are present everywhere. The main aim of the project is to tackle political radicalisation and divide among young people in Europe. The project activities are revolving around the following objectives of the project: -To raise awareness about the lack of space and motivation to engage in a constructive discussion within the political discourse -To map out the specific root causes for political divide and political radicalisation -To identify a set of solutions and approaches to tackle the root causes for political radicalisation -To develop and test online digital games that can promote democratic values and engage youngsters in dialogue The entire project works on developing: - Research on the grassroots feelings, causes and thoughts towards political radicalisation and extremism inf/for young people - Co-Manual for Online Gaming Platform - Online gaming platform with online educational games that tackle political radicalisation of young people as well as interactive resources There are four main targets of the project based on the main needs of the four main partners: Ekvalis, North Macedonia - The main topic here is to look at Gamification as a methodology of dealing with causes and causation of ethnic division on a holistic and political level. It will look at what impact political radicalisation has on the ethnic division within the young people’s communities. How beneficial certain political policies are towards those encased in youth provision already as well as if such policy works in terms of prevention of ethnic division. The project will aim to tackle ill-truths on all sides from the liberal bias of ‘we are the same’ to the conservative standpoint of ‘coexistence is impossible’. The project for North Macedonia will look at developing games to help young people to make informed choices on the areas of ethnic cohesion on personal, social and political levels with Ekvalis pioneering this concept. APS La Fenice, Italy - As La Fenice works directly with refugees and migrants the main target group in Italy will be local young people who have been radicalised towards far-right fascist parties that target such people. This directly followed a dramatic shift from a centre-left party to a far-right anti-immigration party in the area in recent local elections. La Fenice will look into combating this through Gamification and creating a more cohesive Tortona. AJ INTER, Spain - AJ Inter are based in an area of high poverty and work with a large number of young people who are radicalised in different directions due to a life of hardship. AJ Inter will look into methods of Gamification to be used in communities of poverty to help develop critical thinking skills to avoid such political radicalised and break free from a cycle of imposed poverty through targeted political ideology. In terms of this, Spain’s topic is to tackle poverty through Gamification to prevent political radicalisation, as poverty is almost always a major factor in the radicalisation process. PaNoKe, Estonia - PaNoKe is based in a far-right area in Estonia and as such a large number of young people have become somewhat Xenophobic, especially towards the non-white and LGBTIplus community (mostly due to fake news). These young people are very much into their gaming, yet the culture of the games that they play only entrench these views. The main target based for PaNoKe is young people aged 11-19 and the topic is to develop a Gamification strategy to promote tolerance and wellbeing within the society. This will also aim to create a mutual understanding and friendship with the ethnic Russian community in the area
The project activities were revolving around the following objectives of the project: Raise awareness about the lack of space and motivation to engage in discussion within the political discourse Map out the specific root causes for division and political radicalisation Identify a set of solutions and approaches to tackle the root causes of political radicalisation Develop and test online digital games that can promote democratic values and engage youngsters in dialogue The main needs of the 4 main partners: Next Generation, North Macedonia; The main topic here was to look at Gamification as a methodology for dealing with causes and causation of ethnic division on a holistic and political level. As La Fenice works directly with refugees and migrants the main target group in Italy was local young people who have been radicalised towards far-right fascist parties that target such people. AJ Inter is based in an area of high poverty and works with a large number of young people who are radicalised in different directions due to a life of hardship. PaNoKe was based in a far-right area in Estonia and as such a large number of young people had become somewhat Xenophobic, especially towards the non-white and the LGBT plus community.
Please be aware the project was written pre-covid. In the prior years before application, parties that languished on the fringes of European politics (anti-lgbt, racist, etc) had been (and still are) winning elections across the continent. Some analysis of EU political representation suggested that these results were and part of a broader ideological shift in European politics, others due to a rise in political apathy amongst young people. Extreme positions were being represented more frequently in European governments at the time of application and unfortunately that has not been a dramatic change. Especially those positions at the far-right end of the political spectrum you can see this in the rise of EKRE in Estonia, the far right being elected to power in Italy and in other EU nations. We believed (and still do) that this problem was quite transversal and happening globally, so if we wanted/want to deal with it, we had to take a transnational approach engaging different stakeholders. As already stated, although every country is different, still the main propaganda aspects of the extremist and radical parties were present everywhere. The aim of the project was to tackle political radicalisation among young people in Europe.