Local activities
In Estonia, a series of activities were promoted and held within the scope of the GamifyEU project. The activities were promoted by Sauga ANK between December 2019 and March 2021 and were generally directed at young people, between the ages of 14 and 28 in the local communities. In December 2019 Sauga ANK held a Seminar about the EU involving about 13 young people aged between 14 and 18 years old from Sauga and other neighboring villages.
During the seminar, the facilitator talked about Europe and the EU, about the history and why the EU was formed. In groups, the participants discussed what, in their opinion, is good about the EU. They shared their ideas and discussed together. Later, they got different EU- related topics for each group and had to discuss and write down key points to present their topic to the other groups. This approach was also taken in the Workshop about Europe and the EU held that same month, with about twenty participants aged between 14 and 17 years old from Tootsi in Parnumaa. In both activities the GamifyEU platform was introduced to the participants. In May 2020, during the week of Europe Day (May 9 th ), Sauga ANK held some Online challenges about the EU for Europe Day, where prizes were given away for people participating in at least three of the five challenges. From Monday to Friday (4.-8.05.2020) there was one challenge posted on the Tori municipality young people´s Facebook page for young people to take part in. This initiative gathered about 25 participants with ages between 14 and 26 years old. Between June and July 2020, a total of four Workshops about the EU took place in Estonia, involving a total of 38 participants, mainly aged between 14 to 19 years old, coming from Sauga, Tori, Sindi, Are or other nearby villages and municipalities in Estonia. The facilitators talked about the EU – what it is and why it is important. Then participants discussed in a group why the EU is important to them and wrote down key words about it. Later, there was an explanation about what possibilities people in the EU have and how they can be active making the most of those opportunities, followed by an introduction of some of those opportunities, such as Erasmus+. Furthermore, there was a discussion encompassing what the participants thought about the EU, in addition to a test of their knowledge of the geographical locations of the different EU countries. Soon After, in a workshop about the EU and Erasmus+, in July 2020, the facilitators talked, once more, about the EU and its importance, also introducing the Erasmus+ programmes and youth exchanges. In teams, participants had to place EU countries on a contour map and discuss it in teams. In this initiative, there were a total of 49 participants aged between 14 and 18 years old from different places in Parnumaa in Estonia. In September and October 2020, a new series of workshops about the EU was held, where there were a total of 35 participants with ages between 13 and 16 years old from Sauga and Parnu town. During these workshops, the facilitator inquired young people about their knowledge of the EU, followed by a discussion of the ideas shared. Moreover, the facilitator introduced the EU in a simple way so the young people could relate with it and understand.
Lastly, the facilitator discussed with the young people why the EU is needed and important, and what would be difficult to do without the EU. In November 2020, there was a series of workshops about the EU held in Paikuse, where there were 35 participants aged between 13 and 16 years old from Paikuse and other surrounding areas in Estonia. During this workshop, the facilitator led discussion about the European Union, starting with going over the values, what everyone knows of the EU beforehand and introducing the opportunities that young people have as EU citizens. The workshop was interactive, and the youngsters were encouraged to participate by sharing their thoughts and asking questions. At the end of the workshop, the opportunities arising from the EU were emphasized and young people were called to act on their ideas and to use the tools provided to them by the EU. Lastly, during this session there was also a Kahoot game on the topic of European Union for young people. The game consisted of 10 questions about EU countries, spoken official languages and currency. After every question there was a small discussion on the question’s topic. In November 2020 there was an Eurodesk Information Event where young people and youth workers talked about their experience with Erasmus+ projects and also introduced different opportunities about Erasmus+. They talked about why people should participate in Erasmus+ and why they should also write projects and how to do them well. There were a total of 12 participants aged between 18 and 28 years old from Parnu in Estonia. That same month (November 2020), the Paikuse Youth Centre carried out a training course on the European Union topic. This training course counted with the participation of ten young people between the ages of 14 and 16 years old, from Paikuse. Firstly, a list of European Union countries was distributed among the four groups of young people, lacking ten countries. The first task of the training was to write down the ten missing countries. The second task was to write all the countries that are in the EU on the map, which was checked first by the other groups and, secondly, by the youth worker in charge of the activity. This promoted the discussion about EU countries they have been to, what have they heard about them, what are their opinions, what is different compared to Estonia, etc. Further, a group of nine young people, between the ages of 13 and 16, were tasked with creating a quiz about the EU, composed of fifteen questions. There were two groups of young people, leading to the creation of two quizzes. By tasking the group with the creation of the quizzes, it was possible for them to research and learn about the EU. The quizzes were made into a Kahoot game and used in the following training courses.
Another workshop series was held in November 2020 with seven participants aged between 14 and 19 years old, from the Tori municipality in Estonia. These workshops were done in preparation of the international youth exchange. There were discussions and presentations about EU history, institutions, values, and principals. Further, there was a facilitated discussion about what the EU means to the participants in terms of their lives and future. During the workshops, the participants were tasked with making two different videos on the topic of “EU and Me”, with the support of the facilitator and a media person. In December 2020 there was a board game night in Parnu, with participants with ages between 15 and 25 years old from Parnu. During the activity the game “Ticket to Ride: Europe” was played, allowing the players to discuss the locations of different countries’ cities, their location before the EU and why they have changed. Furthermore, there was an Information Event about the EU in December 2020, where there were discussions about EU history, and its goals at the moment. The participants were able to examine what the EU has done and changed in Estonia. During the event, there was a Kahoot about the topics that had been discussed previously. There were a total of 5 participants, aged between 20 and 26 years old, at the information event. The Erasmus+ opportunities and intercultural learning was held in December 2020 and counted with the participation of 9 young people with ages between 24 and 30 years old, from Viljandi and the surrounding villages. During the event, the facilitator introduced Erasmus+ and its different opportunities, and there was a discussion about intercultural learning and role-play on the topic. In January 2021 there was a workshop about Intercultural Learning where there were a total of 12 participants aged between 14 and 17 years old from Sindi in Parnumaa in Estonia. During the workshop, the conversation revolved around stereotypes and prejudices. The participants discussed among themselves which stereotypes and prejudices they knew, and they had, for example, about people from other cultures. There was also a role-play exercise to understand the topic better. Finally, in February 2021, there was another series of workshops on Erasmus+ opportunities and intercultural learning. There were in total three workshops about the same topic, during which the facilitator introduced Erasmus+ and its different opportunities, and the participants were able to talk about intercultural learning and role-play about the topic. Further, participants discussed stereotypes and prejudices.
Dissemination activities
In November 2019 there was an introductory meeting at the Sauga Youth Center in Estonia were 8 young people aged between 14 and 18 years also were introduced to the GamifyEU Project and the platform. Later that month, during Tori county Youth Day which is meant for students from Tory county several workshops and a concert from a local young singer were held. During one of the workshops they spoke about involvement on a local and international level mentioning GamifyEU as a good practice. The around 135 students aged between 13 and 18 years old who participated in the workshops were also encouraged to have a look and play the games provided on the platform
In December 2019, another activity providing information about the GamifyEU project took place in Pärnu for the Sauga active youth group consisting of 8 people from 14 to 24 years old. The youngsters played the games of the GamifyEU platform and the facilitator of the activity presented what the upcoming will concern.
A GamifyEU stand was set up in February 2020, during a public event including a DJ battle, where young people from surrounding areas of Pärnu competed. At the stand, young people were being invited to test the platform from iPads and offered gadgets such as earphones, keychains, sunglasses, pens etc as prizes. This way, the volunteers had the chance to also present the project to the players.
In June 2020, during a public event including a ValevXLL live concert and skateboarding lessons there was a volunteer with a GamifyEU T-shirt walking around and introducing the project and platform, encouraging people to try the platform and if they did they were being offered gadgets. Around 25 young people got engaged through this initiative.
At a family day public event including a youth cafe and a night cinema, in August 2020, a GamifyEU stand was set up for the whole day where people could approach and ask information about the EU, try out the gamifyEU platform and discuss EU topics. Volunteers also introduced the project to people and what has been done with the project. On the GamifyEU stand there were Ipads people could use to try out the platform and around 80 people aged from 7 to 45 years old got engaged.
In October 2020, at the Sauga youth center there was a meeting held where around 12 young people aged between 14 and 16 years old were introduced to the project and platform and played games on the GamifyEU platform.
As a part of the dissemination activities taking place in Estonia, there was an article published in the local newspaper concerning the online International Youth Exchange where the young people from Tori municipality took part. The article presenting information about the GamifyEU project as well, had an outreach of around 2200 people from the Tori municipality.
Throughout the months of February and March 2021, the newly added games to the GamifyEU platform were introduced to around 80 young people aged between 14 and 30 years coming from Tori municipality.
On Estonian Independence Day in February 2021, there was a hike for all the members of the Tori community organised. 25 people from all ages participated and heard during the hike, amongst others, about the GamifyEU project. More specifically, before starting, the facilitator talked a bit about Estonia and its history with the EU and throughout the hike there were different checkpoints where people had to answer different questions about Estonia and the EU.