New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Reconnecting with nature

Email user
info@ireneguerrieri.it

Basic information
Initiative title
Nature Creativity - educational game

Full initiative Title
An inclusive, sustainable educational game bringing everyone closer on finding creativity in nature

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
A proposal of educational game focused on the creativity of Nature. A game that
encourages to draw, think, connect concepts and ideas, enhance creativity, work
together, in connection with nature and its elements.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
National

Where was your intiative implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Italy

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
{Empty}

Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As an individual in partnership with other persons
Please provide the contact details for the intiative promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the intiative).
- First name: Irene
  Last name: Guerrieri
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Italy
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Mons. Bonassi 19A
  Town: Sarnico
  Postal code: 24067
  Country: Italy
  Direct Tel: +39 331 447 2057
  E-mail: info@ireneguerrieri.it
  Website: https://www.ireneguerrieri.it/
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irene-guerrieri-37921a46/
- URL: https://www.instagram.com/ireneguerrieri/
In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
NEB Newsletter

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
Our wish is to be able to put in production with an European partner this educational game to distribute in primary schools and every educational place, focused on the observation of the elements of the nature that stimulate creativity in children, but also in adults who still keep a childish spirit. The aim of the game is to think about nature, associating shapes and colors from nature to concepts from different categories, inventing and fantasizing.
The free spirit of the game stimulates a creative attitude towards solving problems, starting from the bottom up, from simple actions, like those of a simple but very fun game. The box game contais the first 5 decks of thematic cards that describe some elements of nature, such as trees, leaves, flowers, fruits, stones, colors, but interesting expansions for the game can be foreseen.
The game must be made of recycled cardboard and with printing, cutting and packaging technologies that are environmentally friendly,
A small book must accompany the game explaining the educational and sustainability goals. The invitation to observe nature is powerful and strongly subtle
in the game proposal.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
game

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
education

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
children

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
nature

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
creativity

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
We need to start from EDUCATION in schools to raise GREATIVE people who are attentive to NATURE. So it was important for us to invent a GAME for CHILDREN, which could educate them in the observation of natural elements, classified by category, but each one different, and with characteristics peculiarities that stimulate fantasy and imagination. Through observation we enrich ourselves with data that fuels our creativity. An attentive observation makes us perceive the difference of each thing and reflect on its functioning, which often refers to other concepts, very distant from each other. Sometimes fun connections spark new ideas.The GAME is the basis of every growth process.
The goal is achieved through the production of the game, the creation of an accompanying book that explains the initiative and the values it contains, and the distribution in schools and in all educational places.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
We have taken care of a good design of the proposal with illustrations attentive to the real details of nature. The aspect of play is very captivating and fun, because we believe that the positive gaming experience helps children to cooperate and feel good together, without social distinctions, focused on an important theme which is NATURE, getting closer to it and each other. A good gaming experience produces positive emotions, that is why we believe in the value of our project.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
Through a greater dissemination of educational games in schools and educational places, we believe in a new model of society and education, more open and creative, which stimulates individual initiative, but also the cooperation and more imagination in people, that means also inclusivity and opening of minds.
The game at the base of everything, to solve problems.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
We would like to involve groups of teachers to promote play in schools, train them and prepare them for a new concept of school, freer, more imaginative, and also more in contact with nature.
The mainly interested will be primary schools which will be invited to consider play as a tool for teaching and educating to make happy, creative and well-integrated
people growing up. Nature creativity is the first of a long series of games that we would like to make for school education, but also for families. So the goal is to reach
schools, teachers, families, and all educators in general.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
For the moment we have completed the project and we would soon like to find the right European supplier for the realization. Then our goal is to invite schools and teachers to evaluate the proposal. This is just the first game of a long series of games that we would like to make, encouraging the younger generation to find inspiration in naturet hrough the game, so as to learn to observe and respect it.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
We are two professionals: an architect (Irene Guerrieri) specializing in educational games for children and an illustrator (Valentina Gottardi) specializing in naturalistic illustration. We wanted to combine our skills to design this new idea of game. The process required the design, the creation of a prototype and several tests already carried out with children of different ages. The results obtained are surprising positive.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
The innovative value of our proposal lies in the desire to provide a new type of school education, more playful, free and above all closer to nature. As I have already written, this is intended to be the first game proposal of a long series.

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
The groups of beneficiaries and contexts can be different. We thought mainly of schools, but hospitals, prisons, communities of all kinds could also be involved, where for long periods people cannot go outside.
Playing thinking about nature must bring a message of hope and regeneration.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
As a game designer it is my professional bias to think about problem solving through play. The approach and method is what I describe in my book "The Toy and its design" published in Italy by FrancoAngeli in 2021 and which I would also like to translate into other languages. A method that involves the combination of concepts belonging to different categories to give life to the creative idea. So I started from this, but to do so it was necessary to ask for the skills of a naturalistic illustrator, such as Valentina Gottardi, to describe the natural elements in their peculiar characteristics.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
The most important global challenge is to spread an educational approach in schools closer to play and nature. An approach that could develop generations of happier people.

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
The process is long and involves many different steps. What we have achieved so far have been: the project, the realization of the prototype and the tests with children. All things that have already brought very satisfactory results. Now comes the most demanding part relating to the search for a European manufacturer, sustainable both in the choice of materials and in the manufacturing processes. At the same time we must reach out to our recipients and explain the proposal, accept consents and requests, so as to be able to start production and put our educational product into circulation.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
Both
PDF
- pdf-1-13586.pdf
Web link
- https://youtu.be/R-7Y42K69yY
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
{Empty}
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
{Empty}

By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the initiative and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes