Acknowledging the indications of Europe 2020 (objective 4) and Agenda 2030 (objective 4) on lifelong learning, the project aimed at improving the training offer in the EDA sphere, by confronting adults over 40 with an activity with a high training potential such as chess. More specifically, the project wanted to use chess in order to promote the development of relevant soft skills (e.g. the ability to plan and organise, problem solving strategies, resistance to stress, etc.), develop divergent thinking through the elaboration of different solutions to the same problem, encourage learning by insight, make adult learners understand the laws of cause and effect, develop analytical skills and decision-making skills.
Trainers over 40 in the AE sector need to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in soft skills and emotional intelligence, in order to be able to develop key transversal skills such as learning to learn. This is why using chess as a teaching tool is a perfect method to give AE trainers new tools and new knowledge. The other main need is the one involving the end beneficiaries of the training, ie adults over 45 and especially those from a disadvantaged background (financial issues, a diverse cultural background, low level of schooling). These adults may be subject to forms of radicalisation and extremism, with a consequent distancing from active participation in community life. The project has promoted the reintegration of these adults into society through the development of the key competence of active citizenship, which enables conscious and responsible participation in civic and social life.