The project PLAY4CHANGE aims to create an innovative tool based on a strategy game that has as its backdrop the action lines of the European Strategy for Youth: Education; Employment; Creativity and Entrepreneurship; Health and Sports; Participation; Social Inclusion; Volunteering; and Youth in the World. The tool will be created with the contribution of the participants in a participatory and collaborative dynamic between the project partners. Thus, the tool becomes enriched by the strategic partners. The tool created will allow to work with young people with fewer opportunities, including institutionalized and / or in vulnerable situations . In this process, participating organizations, respective staff and volunteers will be also empowered.The project will be developed in five phases: (1) PREPARATION: transnational coordination meeting; design of project image ; identification of staff and volunteers to be involved; (2) TRAINING: Training Course with volunteers and youth workers for capacity building and creation of the Game; production of the final version of the Game; production of game materials in 4 languages - Portuguese, Italian, German and English; (3) INTERVENTION: tool implementation with young people with fewer opportunities as the target group, by volunteers and youth workers; (4) MONITORING: individual follow-up sessions with young people, establishing conclusions and future commitments; and (5) EVALUATION: Final conference for the dissemination of results and the tool created.Apart from formal partners, the project will include two informal partners with national influence: the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth and the General Directorate of Rehabilitation and Prison Services. These two partnerships greatly strengthen the project has to ensure on one hand a network of dissemination of results and high standards of quality and on the other ensure access to young people with fewer opportunities, including those in institutions in Education Centers. Similar dynamics occur in the countries of the formal partner organizations. 420 young people will be covered with fewer opportunities, 24 youth workers or volunteers, 8 technicians for Education of DGRSP centers. The tool can be used with other public / groups and will last far beyond the formal end of the project.The game will be available in 4 languages: Portuguese, English, Italian and German and can be requested by any organization in the youth field which allows to reach a wide audience.

<< Background >>- Importance of creating innovative digital intervention tools to ensure sustainability of youth work, increase impact in the target audience and ensure the possibility of intervening at a distance.- The need to increase knowledge about the guiding lines for young people in Europe, with civil society, in particular youth organizations, and also with young Europeans themselves;- The need to train youth workers and young volunteers in innovation in youth work, digital gamification and effective intervention with vulnerable young people;- Promotion of European values, focusing on interculturality and active citizenship among organizations, youth workers, volunteers and young people at local, national and European level.<< Objectives >>(1) Capacitation of the organizations involved, through the training of its youth workers and young volunteers;(2) Creation and implementation of an innovative non-formal education tool, taking the form of a digital game, raising awareness of the general objectives of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-27 (in particular, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and health mental);(3) Raising awareness among young people on the importance of European values, particularly on interculturality and active citizenship, through at least 40 European awareness actions.Within the scope of the first priority, the intention is to involve and train youth workers and young volunteers who are then able to carry out and guide the game process, as well as to develop the necessary skills to use it as an intervention resource for children and vulnerable young people. This will be acquired either through specific training, or through experience in the implementation phase. It is expected at the end of the project: promotion of the digital tool, among the participants, as a determining strategy in the intervention with certain target groups, namely young people with fewer opportunities, and / or in situations of social and/or personal vulnerability; promote their active participation in society; promote their personal and professional skills.The second priority aim is to create an innovative, attractive and digital tool that will allow working with young people who are more vulnerable and/or at risk of exclusion. The aim here is to create a concrete digital tool: a digital game, integrating non-formal education methodologies, and against the background of the European Union Strategy for Youth 2019-27. It is intended that the game is designed by the participants who are part of the Training Course.Regarding the third priority, after the creation of the digital game, the implementation will take place, constituting the intervention phase as the pilot test of the game and evaluation of its impact on young people. In particular, the intention is to foster the desire of these young people to take an active part in society, raising awareness of European priorities for youth, as well as to achieve some of the objectives of the European Youth Strategy, namely to create favorable conditions for young people to develop their civic skills; realize their potential; develop their personal and social skills; participate more actively in society; and take part in the construction of the European project. Likewise, the game aims to instill in young people fundamental values ​​to life in society and respect for oneself (mental health), for others (social inclusion) and for the environment (environmental sustainability).Thus, the main objective of this project is the creation and implementation of an innovative work tool, based on the concept of digital playful-pedagogical application, where young people with fewer opportunities are actively involved, and develop their skills through active participation in the game. To facilitate this process, the contribution of elements from the community is used, namely young volunteers, who will be trained and qualified for this specific intervention and whose perspective will be valued and heard for the idealization of the tool to be created.<< Implementation >>The project will be developed in 5 phases with specific associated activities:(1) Preparation - transnational coordination meeting; outlining the project; identification of staff and volunteers to be involved and training course;(2) Production and distribution - production of the test version of the virtual tool by the University of Minho, specialized in ensuring quality standards; tool distribution by the participating organizations in at-least 2 main languages ​​(Portuguese and English); preparation for the implementation of the test version of the game; (3) Intervention - implementation of the digital tool with young people with fewer opportunities, by the youth workers and young volunteers of the organizations involved and that participated in the preparation phase;(4) Monitoring - conducting the effectiveness assessment study, considering the data collected (pre, post and follow-up) organized by the national partner organization, namely the University of Minho; individual meetings with the Game facilitators to collect general conclusions; form to assess the impact of the Game with a representative sample of the population involved, establishing final conclusions and possible adjustments to the test version of the tool;(5) Evaluation - Preparation of the final report of the project, with presentation of the results; multiplier events: final conference to disseminate the results of the project and the tool created and implementation of online workshops with decision makers / politicians and other youth organizations with the aim of disseminating the game and its pilot results.<< Results >>Through the implementation of the project it's intended to have a positive impact on the 3 target groups of this project: (1) the organizations involved; (2) youth workers/young volunteers involved in implementing the project; and (3) the young beneficiaries of the created tool.As for the organizations involved, collaboration throughout the project, is expected to strengthen inter-organization relationships, as well as to increase the likelihood of future collaborations. International partnerships derive from previous projects and partnerships that have been strengthened and also culminate in the present partnership. As part of the project, there will be clear training for organizations, fortifying them with skills to create this type of intervention resources, within the scope of the European priorities for Youth. We also want to enable innovative approaches to work with the vulnerable youth population, namely the use of virtual games as a strategy, and of non-formal education methodologies. In addition, after participating in this project, the organizations involved will be able to integrate this specific intellectual output, the virtual game, the methodologies and good practices acquired in their daily activities.With regard to volunteers, the experience gained through participation in the Training Course and through field intervention will promote their empowerment. Their participation foresees a process of continuous development in young volunteers, making them more gifted and able to intervene with other young people in situations of social vulnerability. It's anticipated that through their participation in this project, volunteers will be able to acquire and strengthen certain key competences, especially communication in other languages ​​(English); civic and social skills; and awareness of cultural and social differences and the development of digital skills. At the same time, they will also increase their knowledge of innovation in youth work, as well as in the European Youth Strategy and its 11 strategic objectives.Finally, with regard to the young beneficiaries, it is expected to increase their knowledge about the European Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and its priorities, as well as to increase their awareness of the current importance of issues such as social inclusion, environmental sustainability and mental health, strengthening their capacities for active participation in society and civic awareness, influencing other peers and local communities for action and at the same time foster their own social integration.

<< Objectives >>- To have a better knowledge of adults in vulnerable situations in order to strengthen their citizenship; - To develop and strengthen the skills of associative staff in order to create new methods of support that encourage the commitment of vulnerable groups; - To encourage synergies between staff from structures that are not used to working together: international solidarity, popular education, social work and academics.<< Implementation >>- Intercognition, knowledge building and methodology of activities- Group workshops between volunteers/employees and adults in precarious situations- Sharing of workshops- Creation and validation of tools- Dissemination event: presentation, appropriation and discussion of the tools<< Results >>- The non-profit sector gives a real place to vulnerable people as actors and not just beneficiaries. They develop social and citizenship skills; - The workers in the sector develop appropriate opportunities for involvement by using new methodological tools; - Synergy between staff from different sectors is strengthened and the logic of working in silos is overcome; new joint projects emerge.

"The use of alcohol and tobacco is widespread in most countries and this has been the case for centuries. The age, at which young people begin to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol varies across the countries, but young adolescence and adulthood is a period in life when this is likely to occur. In this period in life young people are also at the greatest risk of trying other psychoactive substances as well. The spread of illicit drugs in the western world resulted in an increasing number of young people experimenting with drugs. In many industrialized societies, drug use has become one of the most serious problems. The ""Towards no drug abuse"" project started from this premise and lasted 2 years and involved 6 European countries involved in the topic of drug addiction and non-formal education with young people.The project had a dual objective, namely:1) Adapt and transfer the identified best practices relating to prevention methodologies based on non-formal education to the 6 partner countries;2) Spread these best practices at local, regional, national and European level by involving a multi-actor partnership that starts from youth organizations, to schools.The project led to the creation of a Tangible Output, That is:The creation of an Intervention Guidelines for educators and Youth workers in the field of drug prevention (Peer Exchange Guidance) within which the Good Practices cataloged and tested are explained.Main Activities:1.6 TPM2.1 Training Activity in Braga;3.Catalogation of Best Practices;4.Analysis and evaluation;5.Testing of the Cataloged Best Practices;6. Booklet creation;7.Dissemination activities.Impact:- encourage the spread of prevention methods through non-formal education in schools and youth sectors;- help to provide adequate information to different target groups of the population, in particular teachers, youth workers, parents, students and adolescents;- provide youth workers with teaching tools to be used in their association activities to promote prevention activities."