Project DEMOGAMES

Project period: 09/19 – 06/22

Democracy places high demands on citizens. Political decisions have an impact on many different areas of life, they often affect future generations or neighboring 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.

The Approach: Game-based learning

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. The project builds on and expands previous experiences with analogue game development for democracy education in the field of formal education (both at the university and the school level) conducted by Dr. Saskia Ruth-Lovell, Dr. Rebecca Welge, and Robert Lovell (Let’s Play Demokratiebarometer).

DEMOGAMES introduces 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 Outcome: Democracy Game Box

The main outcome of DEMOGAMES will be a comprehensive “democracy game box” (D-BOX), which will include a set of analogue and digital democracy games that practitioners (youth workers, trainers, and teachers) can use to teach democracy from different perspectives and to engage young people in a participatory way. Moreover, the box will be accompanied by easy and understandable training materials for practitioners with examples and exercises to use our democracy games.


Coordinator

For DARE: Ramon Martinez, Amanda Warner


Partners


DEMOGAMES is a Strategic Partnership supported by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union under the title: Democracy and Games: Analog and Digital Game-Based Learning Tools for Youth Work (2019-2-DE04-KA205-018330)