Project Number: 2020-1-PT01-KA201-078789
Funding: Erasmus+
Duration: September 2020 - August 2022
Partnership: Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal), Escola Péter András Gimnázium és Kollégium (Hungary), Agrupamento de Escolas Emídio Garcia (Portugal), Escola Sancta Maria College (Ireland), Escola IES Pedro Jiménez Montoya (Spain), Associação BioLiving (Portugal), Serious Games Society (Italy)
Communication channels/contacts
The Project
Gamers4Nature – Mission Earth was a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme and was BioLiving's third European project.
Coordinated by the University of Aveiro, its partners were Associação BioLiving and Agrupamento de Escolas Emídio Garcia, in Portugal; the Péter András Gimnázium és Kollégium school, in Hungary; Sancta Maria College, in Ireland; the IES Pedro Jiménez Montoya school, in Spain; and the Serious Games Society, in Italy.
Today, half the world's population lives in urban areas. This migration to cities, combined with the number of hours that young people in particular spend in sedentary activities involving electronic media, may be at the root of the severe decrease in their contact with nature and disconnection from the natural environment. The way we understand and experience nature influences the way we act towards it and our environmental awareness. The greater our connection to nature, the more we will want to protect it.
This is how Gamers4Nature - Mission Earth came about, out of the need to promote a greater connection between young people and nature by adopting new approaches, such as using digital games, since these games are already part of their daily lives. Using a language they know, this project aims to encourage young people not only to play educational games, but to create them from scratch. Thus, through environmental education activities in the natural environment and theoretical information, young people will acquire the knowledge about environmental issues that will allow them to create a game narrative, thinking about the characters, objectives, game levels, among other elements, and then programme that same game.
Gamers4Nature thus aimed to make young people aware of environmental issues, making them think about them critically so that they could create a game narrative and encouraging them to collaborate and exchange ideas with their colleagues, to work as a team, to be more confident and feel more fulfilled.
By combining physical interaction in natural environments with the interactive and immersive narrative of digital games, an innovative approach to promoting knowledge about environmental preservation and biodiversity conservation has emerged.
On the project's website you'll find various thematic charts that have been developed, which you can consult and download for free.
Green inspiration from all over Europe!
The NGEurope Observatory is an online platform integrated into the project's website that allows us to share success stories from the five partner countries. These NGOs range from more local associations to those working at a national level and which we consider to be examples of success due to their mode of action, management or impact on the communities in which they operate.
This platform contains basic information on the various NGOs: areas of activity, projects developed and underway, funding mechanisms, partnerships, etc.
We want this dissemination platform to be a bridge of contact between NGOs and potential volunteers or even potential partners. Explore and be inspired!
Available outputs
On the project's website you will find various products and resources that you can consult and download for free:
- Diagnostic report analysing public perception of the work and importance of NGOs and other civic groups in the environmental and social fields in the project's five partner countries.
- Introductory handbook to mentoring trainees in NGOs to help association leaders with little experience in hosting trainees and/or volunteers.
- Training Course on Green and Social Entrepreneurship and Associative Leadership.
- Handbook about founding and funding NGOs for those who want to know about the first steps to take before setting up an NGO, the founding process, management tips and examples of funding.
- Policy paper that summarises the main results of the project, highlighting and discussing why it is important to change and evolve the policy associated with the third sector at both national and European level.
Gamers4nature in numbers
Over the two years of the project, Gamers4Nature directly involved hundreds of people in a wide variety of activities and events:
Testimonials
STRATOS CHATZIGIANNAKIS
"O curso foi esclarecedor em todos os aspectos. A interacção com empreendedores sociais de toda a Europa, bem como as ferramentas e técnicas aprendidas, terão definitivamente impacto nas nossas acções futuras".
MONA FISCHER
‘NGEurope is an excellent way to learn about social entrepreneurship and to start thinking in innovative ways, as well as being more active. In addition, I have met many very inspiring people and gained a sense of connection and solidarity with other European citizens.’
GONÇALO ABREU
"O projecto NGeurope foi uma excelente oportunidade para o meu crescimento pessoal. Não esperava que este curso de formação me desafiasse a deixar a minha zona de conforto e me desse a conhecer tantas realidades diferentes sobre os temas da liderança e do ambiente. Graças a esta experiência aprendi sobre a importância do terceiro sector do desenvolvimento de soluções mais sustentáveis para problemas comunitários a nível local. Além disso, tive a oportunidade de conhecer muitas ONGs, não só no meu país mas também no estrangeiro. Através do programa de imersão do projecto, trabalhei num campo de voluntariado internacional e conheci ainda mais pessoas de diferentes partes do mundo. Esta experiência permitiu-me trabalhar as minhas competências linguísticas, mas sobretudo as minhas capacidades de liderança que aprendi no curso de formação. Obrigado NGeurope pela experiência incrível!"
