Bună! Hola! Olá! Hi! gamED is here!
It’s perfectly fine if you’re wondering why we greet you in Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and English. The answer would be that this is the way some of our colleagues work with our national and international friends with whom we set up the strategic project “Gamification for Developing Essential Competencies in Youth Work”.
Born on the initiative of some enthusiasts during the pandemic time, through this project we aim to help youth workers develop adolescents through more engaging games and non-formal activities.
Specifically, we focus on developing key skills for a successful life while instilling values in young people. We’re talking about values such as fairness, social justice, non-discrimination and community involvement. All of this is made possible through gamification and game design skills.
How will we keep our promise? And why does the word gamED appear in the title?
gamED. Game on!
We invited more than 25 youth workers, members of different NGOs, to the launch event of the gamED, a board game developed in the strategic project we were telling you about.
The event took place on Tuesday afternoon (February 7, 2023), at the Youth Hub Romanian Angel Appeal in Bucharest (16 Tunari Street). Thus, we facilitated the first interaction with the game. We wanted them to try it, to tell us how they like it, to play it further with other young people.
But as we’re in no hurry, we’ll tell you how the afternoon went. After our guests made themselves comfortable, our guests were invited to choose a character (a healer, a diplomat, a ranger, a champion, a wizard) that represents them and whose statement underlines a need in working with young people. Then, they were asked by Adela Tarpan, our colleague, to find a group message.
We will share with you some of the chosen slogans: “Empathy saves Romania”, “To grow, you must find your place”, “A youth worker must connect with his community”, “Education is the magic tool to transform lives”, “We grow from nature”. Somehow, the groups’ messages were linked together.
The evening ended with the testing of the board-game: two teams were formed. During the game, the players offered mutual support.
They had a lot of challenges. Some were individual, some were group.
How does gamED play?
gamEd is a versatile game with minimalist rules that can be easily adapted. The ten themes the game focuses on are Creativity, Critical Thinking, Diversity, Empathy, Employability, Ecology, Learning, Mental Health, Teamwork and Values.
It can be played in groups of 10-20 players divided into teams of 3-5 members with the help of 1 or 2 facilitators. Players explore a main theme, solving quests and progressing through the map. The game can be played in a short one-hour session, playing a single theme, or over several hours (up to 10 one-hour sessions).
How will we use this gamED? In our work with the youth and we will share it with our partners.
We thank those who joined us Tuesday night and we promise to open the doors of the Youth Hub Romanian Angel Appeal again, and not only to young Romanians and Ukrainians.
And some essential information
“Gamification for Developing Essential Competencies in Youth Work” is a Key Action 2 project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership in the field of youth programmes of the European Union.
The partners are: World University Services of the Mediterranean (WUSMED) and Blue Room Innovation from Spain, Instituto Politecnico de Setubal and Produções Fixe from Portugal and Universitatea “Vasile Alecsandri” Bacău from Romania.
