PLAYCRACY in action - Portimão meeting highlights
In December, the PLAYCRACY journey brought us to beautiful Portimão, Portugal, for the International Brainstorming Activity of our Erasmus+ project PLAYCRACY – Game-based approaches for strengthening youth participation in democracy.
Together with our partners Share Education from Romania and DYPALL Network from Portugal, Dracon Rules Design Studio joined several days of collaboration, creativity, and hands-on work dedicated to one big question: how can board games help young people better understand and participate in democracy?
The meeting created the perfect space for partners to exchange ideas, explore game-based learning methods, and reflect on how board games can be adapted into practical tools for civic education. Through collaborative sessions and creative discussions, we looked at how games can support youth workers in opening conversations about participation, decision-making, democratic values, critical thinking, and active citizenship.
A key part of the activity was the co-creation of the first ideas for the upcoming PLAYCRACY Toolkit for Youth Workers. This toolkit will be designed to support youth workers, educators, and facilitators in using board games and playful methods to make democracy education more engaging, accessible, and interactive for young people.
For Dracon Rules Design Studio, this meeting was especially meaningful, as it connected our experience in board game design and game-based learning with the wider goal of strengthening youth participation. We believe that games can do much more than entertain. They can create safe spaces for dialogue, teamwork, reflection, and decision-making - all essential skills for active democratic life.
The energy, openness, and teamwork during the Portimão meeting truly set the tone for the next steps of the project. Ideas were shared, methods were discussed, and the foundation was created for future activities that will bring PLAYCRACY closer to youth workers and young people in partner communities.
This meeting was an important milestone toward empowering youth workers and helping young people explore democracy through play, creativity, and participation.
More activities, results, and opportunities are coming soon… stay tuned!
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the National Agency for Community Programs in the Field of Education and Vocational Training (ANPCDEFP). Neither the European Union nor ANPCDEFP can be held responsible for them.
Project reference: 2025-1-RO01-KA210-YOU-000358042
