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Games 4 All

2022-1-CY02-KA152-YOU-0000691452022Mobility of young peoplefinalized
Countries: CY|RO|PL|IT|ES|EL|HU|FR · Grant: €44,089
Physical and mental health, well-beingEuropean identity and valuesCreativity, arts and culture

Objectives

"Games 4 All" was a youth exchange within the frame of Erasmus+ about how to use games, sport and non formal methods as tools for social transformation and inclusion of diversity. Youth exchange gave the opportunity for groups of young people from 8 different countries to meet, live together for a short period of time and work on the same projects. During the project, youth participated in various activities: seminars, exercises, discussions, role-playing games, outdoor activities, etc. The interesting thing is that old and modern board games share, in essence, the same DNA. In fact, all successful games share the same principles. Good games, whether they be board games or digital games, create goals so that a player is encouraged to learn and engage with the mechanics of the game to make meaningful decisions in pursuit of those goals. By playing games young people have opportunities to develop language and communication skills, math skills and thinking skills in a fun way. Young people who engage with and learn fundamental academic skills from great board games have the chance for better academic outcomes than those who do not have that opportunity. These were the Needs and issues of the project: - The need to improve the knowledge and skills of young people in the field of mental health protection - The need for support of young people during self-isolation - The need to motivate young people to use games as a tool during self-isolation - The need to involve young people in physical activities for better mental health OBJECTIVES - to explore games as learning tools in different settings and develop strategical thinking, inclusion and non violent communication - to introduce tips and principles of "gamification", to apply in education (discussing also their negative side effects) - to empower young people and youth leaders and equip them with tools to increase confidence, literacy and life skills, reduce radicalization and xenophobia, and promote a less violent society - to develop Education Games based on the learning needs of different youth target groups - to analyze learning achievement and recognise learning progress in gamified tools - Improving the competencies and knowledge of young people in the field of mental health protection; - Presentation of measures for prevention and protection of young people for improved mental health and well-being; - Fighting the stigma of mental health problems through the development of methodologies for awareness and responsibility; - To promote respect, tolerance, equality and peace in sports We carried out an 8-day-mobility based on non-formal learning methods. Apparently, the methodologies we discussed are considered as “boosters” of non-formal learning. So, it is beneficial to partners to be organizing these activities as they will apply it to the future projects of theirs. Participants have been taking part in workshops, discussions, debates; they were playing and learning, gamifying situations; making role-plays, simulations; attending masterclasses and putting their ideas into practice. During 9 days, participants from 8 countries worked together to discover and learn how to transform our society through sports. We want to use games to promote the inclusivity of young people in every part of our society. We noticed that some hateful and non-inclusive language is taking place in our spaces, and we want to stop this by educating the younger population about inclusivity. In that way, we can build a more diverse, inclusive and respectful future for everyone. We want to achieve this goal using games as a tool and methodology due to its power to transmit values such as respect, comradeship, teamwork and solidarity. We know that games is a useful tool for social transformation, and that's why we think it will be enriching for youth workers to know more about it and to learn about its possibilities. Sport has also a lot of health benefits, we currently lead more of a sedentary life away from nature. Therefore, we believe that this is a good way to introduce sport into the lives of children and teenagers and create healthy habits while transmitting values. 56 participants had an opportunity to to explored sport and games as a tool for inclusion and integration and to contribute with their shared practices from their countries. The project was created with the aim to provide an experience of intercultural learning activities to all the participants involved. The program itself was focused on personal development through sports and outdoor activities, with an objective to bring more awareness about equality in everyday life for all the people involved in sports and give participants the platform of information and knowledge about the topic as well as motivate participants to spread their experience further on.

Project partners (8)