Co-Create EcoTrade:
collaborative learning for sustainable VET education
Find out more about the project:
Program: Erasmus+
Key action: Partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices
Action Type: Small-scale partnerships in Vocational Education and Training
Project Reference: 2024-2-ES01-KA210-VET-000283809
Start Date - End Date: 01/03/2025 - 28/02/2026
Duration: 12 months
Our role: Partner
Topics
- New learning and teaching methods and approaches
- Green skills
- Inclusion, promoting equality and non-discrimination
The Co-Create project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, aims to innovate vocational education by introducing a game-based tool that focuses on international trade and sustainability. It seeks to engage students, empower VET educators with new teaching strategies, promote environmental responsibility, and foster the inclusion of disadvantaged and migrant students in the learning process.
The project will result in a fully developed board game, improved teaching methods through educator training, increased student motivation and participation, enhanced understanding of sustainable trade practices, and the successful inclusion of disadvantaged and migrant students in both the game creation and learning processes.
Background
EcoTrade is an Erasmus+ project that brings together educators and students from Spain, Italy, and Greece to design an educational board game focused on international trade and sustainability. The aim is to enhance engagement in vocational education and training (VET) by integrating game-based learning, green skills, and inclusive teaching practices.
Through co-creation workshops, pilot testing, and international collaboration, EcoTrade empowers VET trainers to adopt innovative methods while helping students understand the economic, social, and environmental impact of global trade and transportation.
Key outcomes include a print-and-play board game, a trainer’s guide, and inclusive teaching tools designed to be adaptable across classrooms and learning environments.
Objectives
1️⃣ Increase student engagement in VET
🎯 Design a board game that transforms how students learn about international trade and sustainability - interactive, practical, and fun!
2️⃣ Empower VET educators with new tools
🧑🏫 Train teachers to co-create and use game-based methods, giving them the skills to develop their own educational resources.
3️⃣ Promote green skills and sustainability
♻️ Integrate environmental, social, and economic sustainability into the game, helping students understand the real-world impact of global trade.
4️⃣ Foster inclusion and diversity
🤝 Actively involve students from disadvantaged or migrant backgrounds to ensure co-creation is inclusive, empowering, and representative.
The ECOTRADE board game
EcoTrade is an educational board game created within the Erasmus+ project Co-Create EcoTrade: Collaborative Learning for Sustainable VET Education. The game helps VET learners explore international trade, logistics, sustainable transport and environmental impact through interactive, game-based learning.
Players act as companies managing shipments across Europe. They choose transport routes, respond to unexpected events, invest in company upgrades and try to balance business growth with responsible environmental decisions.
The game is available in English, Spanish, Italian and Greek, as a free print-and-play resource and as a digital version on Tabletopia.
Game Board / Growth Tracker
The board represents a map of Europe and helps players visualise trade routes, transport choices and logistics decisions. It also includes the Growth Tracker, used to follow each company’s development during the game.
Shipment Cards
Shipment cards represent the goods that players need to transport across Europe. Each card includes information about routes, transport options and values connected to Time, Growth and Environmental Impact.
Event / Incident Cards
Event cards introduce unexpected situations such as delays, disruptions, customs issues or other logistics challenges. They make the game more realistic and encourage players to adapt their strategies.
Company Development / Upgrade Cards
Upgrade cards represent investments that companies can make to improve their operations and reduce environmental impact. They help players understand how businesses can become more sustainable.
Upgrades Version 2 Cards
These cards are used for the simplified game mode. In this version, all upgrade effects follow the same logic, making the game easier to introduce to beginners or younger learners.
Player Boards
Each player has a company board to organise shipments, upgrades, actions and progress. Player boards help learners follow their strategy and understand the connection between decisions, growth and impact.
Tokens
Tokens are used to track gameplay elements such as Time, Growth, Impact and company actions. They support visual and hands-on learning during the game.
The Rulebook
It explains everything needed to play EcoTrade independently. It includes the game objective, setup instructions, turn structure, card explanations, transport rules, scoring system and game modes. It is designed to help both teachers and learners understand the gameplay step by step, even if they are using the game for the first time.
Trainer’s Guide
The Trainer’s Guide supports educators in using EcoTrade as a learning activity in VET classrooms. It explains the educational objectives of the game, how to prepare and facilitate a session, how to connect gameplay with topics such as international trade, logistics and sustainability, and how to lead reflection or discussion after the game. It helps teachers turn the board game into a complete learning experience.
The video explains the setup, rules and gameplay flow in a visual way, helping teachers and learners prepare before playing.
Digital Play: Play ECOTRADE on Tabletopia
Partners
ITM Miranda, Spain
Dracon Rules Design Studio,
Greece
Training 2000, Italy
Latest news about the project
Co-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 Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of Education (SEPIE) . Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Project Reference: 2024-2-ES01-KA210-VET-000283809