Build Europe!

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Ayuntamiento de Albacete

Organisation:

Ayuntamiento de Albacete

Country:

Spain

About organisation:

The Albacete City Council is the local government of the Municipality of Albacete. Eurodesk Albacete is within the Youth department (with experience and 11 professionals).We have a strategy: the Municipal Youth Plan. The general principles of the European Charter have been taken into account.Member of Eurodesk since 2008 and Europe Direct since 2005. Twinned with Vienne (Fr) and Udine (It).Participation: more than 20 European projects since 1995 (youth exchanges, sports, participation, youth leaders,...), involving different municipal areas and stakeholders.The travel consultancy for youth mobility Eurodesk Albacete has a full-time official. Young people, youth groups, youth associations and all kinds are served; educational centers and vocational training centers for employment.Our office is an active member of Eurodesk Spain and participates with great enthusiasm in the European Youth Information Day, the European Youth Week and Time to Move.

Title of the project

Build Europe!

Start date:

1/1/2022

End date:

31/12/2022

Objectives:

Goals - Offer a resource for gamification, non-formal education, cooperation, interculturality and a European dimension for organisations that work with young people, especially those with fewer opportunities.- Inform and encourage participation regarding Eurodesk, institutions, European youth programs and other opportunities.- Promote the European identity and the personal development of an active citizenship- Support the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps objectives- Contribute to improving the environment with respectful materials.- Reduce the gap in knowledge, skills and competencies of youth, especially informational ones- Offer a resource free of rights, cheap and easy to replicate for the entire Eurodesk network and other entitiesActivities. BE! is a large open game, versatile, an educational and entertainment resource.The participating people, generally young, place countries, their names and their flags correctly on the board. BE! offers modalities (questions on European culture, Erasmus+Y and ESC, youth resources such as the EYC,...)BE! It consists of a large board (420x420cm), Eurodesk countries, country, flag and EU sheets, safety supports, score markers, countdown clocks, instructions, rules and question and answer annexes,...Results. The degree of satisfaction of the participants has been mostly "totally satisfied" and "very satisfied".Comments: very entertaining. you know Europe better. A great initiative. It is a fun and dynamic way to learn.

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

UNUSUAL. Have you seen a giant game? A 4 metre map of Europe? Countries with a large area or elongated shapes like Sweden or Turkey measure more than a metre in length! And Belgium fits in your hand.The participant can literally walk around the giant map of Europe, step on the countries and scroll on the map to find where each country is and place its territory. All the countries fit together to form the giant puzzle. It's surprising, young people get to know Europe while they build it by playing.They also have to place the tokens/flags and the ones with the names of the countries in their territory. Attention! The names of the countries are in English. We all learn.It has been used in many events (Europe Day, EYID, EYW, TTM, youth fairs,...), in educational centres, in streets and squares with all kinds of visiting public. In all of them the participants have left with the satisfaction of having learned something new about Europe.EMPOWERINGDuring the prototyping phase, youth groups participated. They played and suggested important changes to us. Now it is much more fun and educational than at the beginning.BE! it is more than a puzzle. It adapts to different youth groups (size, ages, level of knowledge). BE! It can be used in different activities (promotional, educational, youth exchanges, fairs,…..). They are the protagonists making team decisions. This year, we will consider the Youth Participation Guide in Youth Information Services co-published by Eurodesk.

How the project was inclusive:

BE! shows Europe. You have to put the territories to build the European puzzle. BE! contains all the Eurodesk countries and teaches you to distinguish those of the EU. BE! is Erasmus+, Exchanges, European Youth Card. There are annexes with questions to learn. The annex "Europe in solfa" explains how music unites Europeans.The dynamics of this game are connected to European values: diversity, democracy, active participation, teamwork, solidarity, integration, and more. BE! respects the principles and values ​​of the European institutions. The game revolves around Europe, its culture, and its capitals. You even have to place the tiles with the European flag in the EU countries. Although the game is made up of all Eurodesk countries. The participants will know by playing the EU countries and which ones are not. If you place a tile wrong, the director will explain why. Example: a non-EU country but in the accession phase. Visibility and promotion of Eurodesk. Only Eurodesk member countries are present in the game. The board represents a special and unique map of Europe: the one published by Eurodesk with all its corporate image. Links to the most important websites appear in the legend of the map and Eurodesk.eu appears in print.There are advertising supports with the word Eurodesk and advertising flags that mark the playing area.Be! has questions from European institutions, European youth programs and resources, and Eurodesk.

Green aspect:

Special attention has been paid to the design so that the game has the longest possible useful life. It will be lent to any youth or educational centre that wants to use it for its activities. We want the game to be used throughout the year and not just for campaigns related to Europe or Eurodesk. We want to prevent other organisations from making the game. Many organisations in our city can use our game. 1 for all. When the useful life of the game ends, we plan a second life for it. The pieces that represent the countries will be glued to the walls of the Youth Center with some very nice graphic innovations. In the piece of each country some of its own topics will appear (France, Eiffel Tower; Spain, Picasso…).

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

BE! shows Europe. You have to put the territories to build the European puzzle. BE! contains all the Eurodesk countries and teaches you to distinguish those of the EU. BE! is Erasmus+, Exchanges, European Youth Card. There are annexes with questions to learn. The annex "Europe in solfa" explains how music unites Europeans.The dynamics of this game are connected to European values: diversity, democracy, active participation, teamwork, solidarity, integration, and more. BE! respects the principles and values ​​of the European institutions. The game revolves around Europe, its culture, and its capitals. You even have to place the tiles with the European flag in the EU countries. Although the game is made up of all Eurodesk countries. The participants will know by playing the EU countries and which ones are not. If you place a tile wrong, the director will explain why. Example: a non-EU country but in the accession phase. Visibility and promotion of Eurodesk. Only Eurodesk member countries are present in the game. The board represents a special and unique map of Europe: the one published by Eurodesk with all its corporate image. Links to the most important websites appear in the legend of the map and Eurodesk.eu appears in print.There are advertising supports with the word Eurodesk and advertising flags that mark the playing area.Be! has questions from European institutions, European youth programs and resources, and Eurodesk.

Impact:

Results obtained. Scores on the form (mostly "totally satisfied" and "very satisfied"). Comments from participants, educators, teachers, Eurodesk and Youth Center staff: very educational, very entertaining. Young people improve their knowledge of Europe, Eurodesk, European programs and other resources. Very dynamic. An excellent resource to publicise the office and the services provided by Eurodesk and at the same time the Center. Quality materials, easy transportation, quick assembly and disassembly. Very versatile: easy or very difficult mode. It adapts to all kinds of groups. It allows adding other resources: Kahoot, information searches on the Internet. Contains annexes.Local impact.During the Time to Move campaign, BE! It was enhanced with various youth groups. A few days later it was his presentation before various youth groups. Just over a hundred young people have played. It has been a success.Now the educational centres ask us for their school exchange activities. BE! It will be on the European Youth Information Day, Europe Day, European Youth Week, youth exchange activity organised by the Albacete City Council in September and in October for our Time to Move. Estimate: 1000 people.And the rest of the year it is extended to youth groups (scouts, for example), where another 500 young people can use it.