Creative Youth Information Award category

Minecraft Powers you to Europe

Title of the Project

Minecraft power you to Europe

Organisation

Municipality of Paredes

WEBSITE

https://www.facebook.com/municipioparedes

Project link

https://www.cm-paredes.pt/pages/2026

Project dates

2025-01-01

2025-01-01

What is it about?

‘Minecraft Powers you to Europe’ is a world created from scratch within the European Eurodesk network to bring information to young people about European opportunities and programmes through the Minecraft game. Young people log into Minecraft and play ‘Minecraft Powers you to Europe’ As they play, they discover different opportunities such as Erasmus+, Discovery EU, and European Solidarity Corps. The game has challenges that young people have to overcome to access the next levels of information, just like in any other Minecraft world. 

The Municipality of Paredes has provided a room with computers at the Paredes Youth Centre, in partnership with Associação Visionarium and Microsoft, where young people can access the game free of charge. At the Paredes Youth Centre, there are youth workers who train young people after this initial introduction to the game.

‘Minecraft Powers you to Europe’ is a world created from scratch within the European Eurodesk network to bring information to young people about European opportunities and programmes through the Minecraft game. Young people log into Minecraft and play Minecraft power you to Europe. As they play, they discover different opportunities such as Erasmus+, Discovery EU, and European Solidarity Corps. The game has challenges that young people have to overcome to access the next levels of information, just like in any other Minecraft world. 

The Municipality of Paredes has provided a room with computers at the Paredes Youth Centre where young people can access the game free of charge.

How is this project relevant to the specific category?

According to statistics, young Portuguese people spend more than three hours a day on average on the internet. Digital content is particularly appealing because it combines sound, images, and interaction, which attracts young people.

The digital game Minecraft was launched in 2009. In 2025, Minecraft had approximately 204 to 212 million active players per month. The predominant age group is between 15 and 21 years old, representing about 43% of the user base, which aligns with the Eurodesk network’s target audience. Minecraft is an open-world ‘sandbox’ electronic game, famous for its blocky graphics, where players explore, collect resources, and build structures, focusing on survival against monsters or unlimited creativity. The game is the best-selling of all time.

The Minecraft Powers You to Europe project aimed to use Minecraft scenarios that young people love to convey information about the opportunities available to them. Scenarios and challenges (a ‘world’, in Minecraft language) were created in which young people enter and, as they play, discover opportunities such as those provided by Erasmus+, DiscoverEU, and the European Solidarity Corps. In this way, the project meets young people’s interests by bringing them information and motivating them to discover more.

What was the impact of the project?

The Minecraft room set up at the Paredes Youth Centre had a huge impact on the community, with two national television channels reporting on the space. Given this success, the idea arose to create a project to attract young people through Minecraft to discover information and opportunities within the European Eurodesk Network, creating a “world” specifically for this purpose. The young people’s reaction to the “world” was excellent. They were very curious and the game Minecraft Powers you to Europe motivated them to want to know and discover more, following the same logic as any Minecraft world. The Minecraft room set up at the Paredes Youth Centre had a huge impact on the community, with two national television channels reporting on the space. Given this success, the idea arose to create a project to attract young people through Minecraft to discover information and opportunities within the European Eurodesk Network, creating a “world” specifically for this purpose. The young people’s reaction to the “world” was excellent. They were very curious and the game motivated them to want to know and discover more, following the same logic as any Minecraft world.

Did the project have any green focus?

The project Minecraft Powers you to Europe is digital and therefore falls into the eco-friendly category.

How did you ensure Eurodesk's visibility in your project?

The visibility of the Eurodesk network was ensured in two ways: with a roll-up banner placed in the room where the computers with Minecraft are installed; the Eurodesk logo was placed in the Minecraft scenarios.

Project highlights

https://www.cm-paredes.pt/pages/2026

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