EU Glossary Videos

Throughout the GamifyEU Project a series of infographic videos were created in order to innovate in educational methodologies for young people. These videos were a graphic representation with explanations of different terms used in the European Union at a political, social, economic and bureaucratic level and they were developed in all partners’ languages.

The initial part of the process was to think about what kind of content would mostly engage young people in learning more about the European Union. After numerous meetings of brainstorming, it was noted that short videos on social media and the internet are a format particularly appealing for younger generations. For this reason it was decided to follow that line of thought and create a series of short infographic videos explaining the different terms used in the European Union.

In order to select the given terms that had to be better explained to young people, a series of questionnaires with a list of either abbreviations or names that are commonly used at a European level was shared among the partner organisations of the project asking for which ones they needed further information. Observing also a lack of basic knowledge regarding the functions and roles of various major european institutions, a final list of topics was created and short written explanations, appropriate for a 60-90 second short video for each of the topics, were drafted.

The explanations were then turned by an expert team of graphic designers into creative videos with graphics making it more engaging and visually appealing. After various tries and several tests of certain images or background music, a short, concise, educational and visually attractive format was chosen and the following infographics were published.

The videos and themes were the following:

  • Playlist for EUctionary infographics – What does the European Council do? – What does the council of the European Union do?: – What does the council of Europe do? – What does the European Parliament do? – What is the Eurozone? – What is the Schengen Area?
  • Does the Erasmus+ programme just consist in studying abroad? – What is the European Green Deal?

The videos were shared through the YEU YouTube account and GamifyEU instagram account. This allowed a higher outreach through two of the most-used social media and video sharing platforms. They were posted periodically every 2 weeks, leaving enough time for each video to be shared and still remain fresh in the viewers memories and social media accounts before the next ones come out. In total, the videos reached a number of 535 views. That number is the sum of engagement cross-platforms, from the YEU facebook and instagram accounts and the GamifyEU facebook page and instagram account. The geographical reach of the videos is throughout all of continental Europe.

Young people took part in the process from beginning to end. Firstly through deciding which topics they wanted to know more about; secondly through the creation of the content; thirdly through the development of the graphics; fourthly through the dissemination of the videos. They decided what to do and how to do it. With their crucial input and unique understanding of what additional educational methodologies they need, the infographic videos allowed to give light to a new way of educating through social media and the new digital era.