About the project

Program: Erasmus+
Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Action: Strategic Partnerships
Field: Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training
Objective: Development of Innovation
Call: 2017

Project Title: EU Youth Power
Project Acronym: EU Youth Power
Project Start Date: 01.10.2017
Project Total Duration (Months): 34
Project End Date: 31.07.2020
Applicant Organisation Full Legal Name (Latin characters): Digital National Alliance
Project budget: 399012.00 euro

Project Summary:

The European Commission has identified technology and open educational resources (OER) as opportunities to reshape EU education. EU education is failing to keep pace with the digital society and economy and also risks lagging behind other regions of the world. The Bulgarian educational system falls within the continental European tradition. Bulgaria’s results in the 2013 OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) are close to the EU average (OECD 2014).

In line with Europe 2020 goals for smart growth in EU, the NDP BG2020 targets modernization of the educational system with view of providing accessible and high-quality education. The National Reform Strategy (2015 Update) targets for reducing early school leaving by improving the access to education and by enhancing its quality. The Ministry of Education and Science leads the reforms and secures regular rigorous evaluation of the activities funded by the Government and the European Structural and Investment Funds. The short-term activities for modernization of the educational system focus on improving the technical infrastructure and equipment at schools, as well as on training the teachers to utilize it.

Moreover, on 30 September 2015 the Bulgarian Parliament adopted conclusively an entirely new Pre-school and School Education Act. The law regulates the adoption of innovations in pre-school and school education, promulgates the continuous professional development of the pedagogical personnel, and involves wide range of stakeholders in the decision making concerning the educational process. The new legal framework creates beneficiary conditions for enhancing access to, and use and quality of, information and communication technologies in education and for training and lifelong learning of teachers.

The training in foreign languages at VET as a final stage of education, especially in the small municipalities, have been overlooked. Consequently, the significant part of East-European young adults is facing unsurmountable language barriers in Europe. Lack of communication between young people in EU risks to result an euro-sceptic attitude in VET students and misunderstanding of the concept of European citizenship.

The project is targeted on spreading the understanding of VET students on European citizenship by providing innovative digital tools for social inclusion through edutainment for acquiring new language competences. It targets VET students and young adults from all over Europe. Innovative digital technologies break the geographical boundaries. The educational game (edutainment tool) will include the VET students in the effort to tear down the language walls in front of the youth of Europe. The EU Youth Power comes from shared values and shared experiences.

The project builds on innovative methodologies combining innovative digital solutions, design thinking, neuro-science, semi-automated language processing, didactic approach to gamified learning and game theory to engage the VET students in an exciting adventure in Europe to find new places, to cooperate and communicate with young people from different countries in different languages.

The game will complement Erasmus+ Mobility concept. It will encourage "youth travel" in the virtual Europe, use of different languages to solve puzzles and answer quiz questions related to the current location of the player, and social inclusion by providing strong incentives for cooperation and communication between young people of Europe.

The project plans for a series of multiplier events in order to engage as early as possible as many VET teachers, trainers and students in the process of building support for the learning of foreign languages in VET institutions and in refinement and promotion of EU Youth Power game as a tool to facilitate the process.

The goal of the project team is to create a state-of-the-art edutainment tool that will be used by all project partners and external stakeholders as part of their mission to contribute to the social inclusion, promote European citizenship and to utilize the innovative digital tools in the process. In long term the project may impact VET and secondary school students at European scale.