Sustainability, gaming, inclusion, youth, empowerment are the key words of GYGA project. GYGA - Green Young Gaming Ambassadors is an innovative project by Generativa! APS that approaches the challenge of environmental sustainability engaging a young people community under 25 and mixing education and gaming. The outputs were two environment themed video games.
Local
Italy
Piedmont - Turin - San Donato district
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Generativa! APS Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Paolo Last name of representative: Zammitti Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: President and legal representative Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Corso Cirié 26 Town: Torino Postal code: 10152 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 349 792 4630 E-mail:info@generativaaps.it
Sustainability, gaming, inclusion, youth, empowerment are the key words of GYGA project. GYGA - Green Young Gaming Ambassadors is an innovative project by Generativa! APS that approaches the challenge of environmental sustainability engaging a young people community under 25 and mixing education and gaming. The outputs were two environment themed video games.
Combining the Design Thinking and Inclusive Design methods with the Audience Engagement and Development approach, GYGA has involved 17 young people from different backgrounds (students, second generation citizens, inner city and suburban residents) in a free workshop programme lead by experts on digital and environmental issues.
The workshop programme (6 months) was aimed to co-design two environment themed video games on Roblox (an open source platform for the creation of metaverses), based on the young participants' ideas and interests.
The two video games have been presented to the public during a live streaming on Twitch involving 200 young people and during a live presentation event co-organised with the participants.
GYGA was realized in Turin, in the critical district of San Donato. The main goal was to build a small community of young people under 25 interested in environmental sustainability through the innovative language of gaming, in order to develop a multiplying effect towards their peers.
“[...] This systemic change needs its own aesthetics, combining design and sustainability. For this we will launch a new European Bauhaus movement”. Starting from the words of Ursula von der Leyen, GYGA has involved different professions (UI and UX designer, game developer, game designer, environmental specialist, storyteller) to build a multidisciplinary team working for a common goal: make the narrative of environmental sustainability beautiful and inclusive.
Sustainability
Gaming
Inclusion
Youth
Empowerment
The project key objectives were:
- building a young people community interested in environmental sustainability issues
- developing two environment themed video games
Through four workshops organised by Legambiente - Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, regional offices of the most prominent and widespread environmental association in Italy, the young community had the opportunity to confront major environmental concerns like waste recycling, greenwashing and ecological footprint. Furthermore, they visited Museo A come Ambiente, the first museum in Europe entirely dedicated to environmental sustainability issues.
Locations also played a key role in the transfer of environmental sustainability knowledge, in particular in relation to the topic of urban regeneration:
- Più Spazio 4: built in 1900, it housed the public baths of San Donato. Today it is a community hub
- Museo A come Ambiente: built in 1947, it was part of the Michelin factory. Today it is a museum
- Sporting Dora Torino: ex Michelin's after-work area, today it is a sporting centre
All activities were organised using recycled and sustainable raw materials.
These elements led the young community to address complex issues with awareness and depth through the creation of two video games:
- Escape From Trash Island: set on a deserted island that is designed to explode due to waste accumulation; it deals with the theme of recycling. The objective is to escape from the island by collecting rubbish and building a raft
- Green(war)washing: set inside a business company that is considered green and environmentally sustainable but actually operates illegal experiments on animals; it deals with the theme of greenwashing. The objective is to unmask the company through journalistic debunking.
All consumer goods purchased met the standards defined by Regulation (EU) 2020/852, especially the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle.
The project key objectives were:
- building an inclusive young people community
- teaching digital skills and environmental knowledge
The call to engage the young community was designed according to the principles of UI and UX Design, using tools and elements that generated sympathy and empathy.
The co-design process was designed according to the principles of Design Thinking, creating a context of great freedom and creativity, in which each participant felt free to express their opinion without feeling judged. This resulted in the creation of an open-minded, respectful of diversity and multicultural community of young people, who had the common goal of creating something aesthetically beautiful and meaningful primarily for themselves. Then making it available to their peers. The young people community not only made the video games available for free but also acquired knowledge and transferable skills that could be used in other contexts.
The sense of cooperation that was established within the youth community was also transferred into the video games they developed. Both can only be won if all players in a team cooperate.
The locations also fostered the creation of the community. The Museo A come Ambiente and Più Spazio Quattro are places open and available to citizens resulting from the collaboration between public and private entities that decided to redevelop both the sites by making them aesthetically beautiful and functional.
Finally, the restitution event connected public and private institutional actors with the community of young people, fostering an intergenerational and horizontal exchange of different ideas and opinions.
In summary, GYGA created connections between "different places and people" by nurturing "a sense of belonging through meaningful collective experiences [...] to integrate new lasting cultural and social values through creation" (New European Bauhaus Compass).
The project key objectives were:
- building a multicultural young people community
- involving young people disinterested in environmental sustainability issues
GYGA was realized in San Donato in Turin, a district adjacent to the city centre but characterised by some typical elements of the suburbs: micro-criminality, multiculturalism and urban decay.
The co-design process was designed according to the principles of Inclusive Design. Its application allowed the construction of a path that promoted differences as a resource rather than an obstacle, generating individual and collective confidence in everyone's potential. In concrete terms, GYGA ensured affordability by guaranteeing that the course was free of charge and by making devices accessible to participants who requested them. In addition, it facilitated cultural and social inclusiveness by not requiring participants to have a minimum of basic knowledge or skills but stimulating their motivation as a tool for personal growth.
The result was the creation of an open-minded, respectful of diversity and multicultural community, capable of developing inclusive and accessible video games for a large segment of the youth population. The video games, in fact, were developed through Roblox, an open-source platform that can be used from a PC, tablet or mobile and is very popular among both tutors of educational courses, the young and the very young.
Finally, the use of a universal gaming language guaranteed accessibility and inclusiveness to all participants. In fact, although counterintuitive for members of the Millennial, X and Boomer generations, young people belonging to Generation Z, without significant differences between social classes, routinely socialise through video games.
In 2023, the project aim will be to forge strategic partnerships to ensure increased participation of young people under 25 with a migration background.
By applying the framework outlined in the New European Bauhaus Compass to the GYGA development, it is possible to identify 3 stages of citizen involvement:
- To consult
In this phase, the formal and informal realities operating on environmental sustainability in the San Donato area were mapped, with the aim of opening a constructive dialogue with them. An open call was then launched to collect expressions of interest from young citizens, particularly from San Donato, to participate in the co-design process. In addition to the use of social media channels, further city events and festivals were also organised on the territory: Cinemambiente, Conexus Schools (Europe Horizon project), and Food Fest (Food Wave project).
- To co-develop
In this phase, the co-design process was developed with the youth community to include team building and game development sessions in a learning-by-doing and peer-to-peer perspective. In addition to the video games design process, young people were engaged in communication activities, such as contributing through suggestions to shape the promotional strategy of the final event. Once developed, the video games were tested by a gamer (Rosario Parrino) through live streaming on Twitch: about 200 young people from all over Italy played the two video games developed by the GYGA community, offering their feedback. Finally, during the final event, the young people took the floor, talking with the city institutions involved and offering their points of view on the path taken throughout the project.
- To self-govern
In this phase (follow-up), the project team met with the youth community, partners and stakeholders to gather feedback and re-planning. From the meetings emerged the community's willingness to give continuity to the GYGA pathway by taking on the role of junior tutors in the next edition, self-organising and working independently on the video games already developed, implementing and improving them.
- Compagnia di San Paolo (CdSP): philanthropic foundation operating on a national and international level. Project funder
- Circolo del Design: city association specialized in design. Project evaluator within the Wonder call promoted by CdSP
- Torino Social Impact: city association focussed on social impact projects. Project evaluator within the Wonder call promoted by CdSP
- Bomberos Design: UX and UI design studio. Promoter and coordinator of the co-designing workshop. Previous experience in co-designing in the CdSP Wonder call
- XRSI: global non profit that promotes privacy, safety, security and ethics in immersive environments. Project consultant
- City of Turin: project’s patron
- Department for Youth Policies of the City of Turin: Councillor Carlotta Salerno was a speaker at the restitution event
- Department for Ecological Transition of the City of Turin: Councillor Chiara Foglietta was a speaker at the restitution event
- MAcA - Museo A Come Ambiente: city’s environmental museum in the San Donato district. Local partner
- Più Spazio 4: community hub in the San Donato district. Local partner
- Legambiente - Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta: regional office of the national environmental association. Scientific partner
- Urban Lab: independent association set up to tell the transformation of Torino. Scientific partner
- Mekit: city-based social cooperative specialised in communication and web. Tutor in the video games co-design pathway
- Dramatic Iceberg: video game start-up. Tutor in the video games co-design pathway
- Gorilla Gang: citizen's video-making agency. Content creator on Instagram and Tik Tok
- Cinemambiente: city association specialised in environmental movies; director Gaetano Capizzi was a speaker at the restitution event
- Roberto Mastroianni: UNESCO Chair Direction Committee Member in Sustainable Development and Territory Management (University of Turin). Speaker in the public restitution event
In the design phase, Generativa! APS (project leader), an organisation specialised in young audience engagement and development, was advised by Bomberos Design, a UX and UI design studio. The social innovation elements designed by Generativa! APS were integrated into Bomberos Design’s digital knowledge, skills and Design Thinking method. This synergy was then transferred into the co-design work with the youth community. Furthermore, given the connection with the theme of environmental sustainability, a Planet-Centred approach was chosen in both the design and realisation phases, to maintain the focus on the needs of the planet rather than those of men (Human-Centred). Finally, the application of the Inclusive Design perspective enabled the design and implementation of an accessible and inclusive youth community development pathway.
In the area of environmental sustainability, during the co-design process, participants were introduced to different knowledge fields, such as sustainable management, energy management, ecological transition, ecological footprint, sustainable development and land management, cinema and sustainability, urban regeneration and sustainability policies.
In the digital sector, following the principles of the 'Declaration on European Digital Rights and Principles', the digital skills and competencies introduced in the co-design pathway were: coding, game development, game design, 3D modelling, storytelling, social media management, graphic design, digital security and privacy.
Generative! APS coordinated the entire project by applying the principles of Project cycle management and the Agile working methodology.
The interactions between the different team members were always mediated by a facilitator, who also played the role of community manager. In particular, the principles of non-formal education, learning by doing and peer-to-peer education were applied in the co-design process with the community.
The GYGA project was developed along two main assets.
1 - Digital innovation: GYGA attempted to find an unconventional solution to a traditional problem: to raise awareness of environmental sustainability among young citizens through a language they relate to, that is gaming. Gaming, as pointed out in the Deloitte's Social Media Trends (2021) report, has now become the preferred language of Generation Z. For this reason, it has been used as a real educational tool, to enhance its features rather than demonising them. Gaming is increasingly used in the for-profit world to bring young audiences closer to brands. GYGA wanted to demonstrate the potential of using this language also in the non-profit sector, addressing deep and complex issues. In addition to gaming, a digital-oriented approach was favoured. Both in the call phase and the co-design and return phase, innovative tools such as Tik Tok, Twitch and Roblox were used. In Italy, GYGA is the first project that has used Roblox as part of an environmental education course.
2 - Social innovation: GYGA was inspired by the approach offered by Pierluigi Sacco, Special Advisor to the EU Commissioner on Education and Culture: “In Italy today much of the most interesting social innovation is mediated by forms of cultural production. [...] Culture works very well because it has to do with the production of meaning, which ties in an almost natural way with the idea of social innovation. And it is particularly effective when it does not point to traditional forms - those that require a producer on one side and an audience on the other - but to situations where the roles are mixed and where the production of meaning takes place collectively”. Starting from this concept, GYGA used the culture of gaming as a tool for the involvement and active participation of young people in the construction of a path whose outputs were defined and realised by the young people themselves, with a view to self-empowerment and autonomy.
The core component of GYGA is the know-how transfer between the tutors and the community of young people. The hardware part, consisting of tangible devices, is an important but marginal aspect, as the innovation is the process itself: involving young people in co-design a product (in this case video games) that, in turn, can involve other young people. For this reason, GYGA is potentially replicable everywhere. The goal for 2023 and the next few years, in fact, is to forge strategic partnerships with public and private entities in the area that want to intercept a youth audience and address environmental sustainability issues through innovative approaches.
Furthermore, to make GYGA more accessible and inclusive, another objective to be developed is to collaborate with organisations working with vulnerable groups in order to involve them (e.g. NEET, young people with migration backgrounds, etc.).
The perspective is to collaborate with several entities at the same time, especially those located in the city's suburbs, developing parallel co-design paths, and then converging them into a large return event.
The video games developed by GYGA, despite being developed by young people under 25 with no experience, are to all intents and purposes playable by means of a simple device (PC, tablet or mobile phone) and an Internet connection. This guarantees independent dissemination from the will of the tutors and the community. Beyond this, the goal for 2023, is to include GYGA video games through Game stations in further city's festivals, as will happen in the context of the Biennale Democrazia and Cinemambiente festivals.
Finally, GYGA - like more and more projects at the national and European levels - has shown how the language of gaming can also be used to convey educational messages. This awareness makes it possible to imagine digital game-based language as an important tool for schools.
GYGA's methodological approach is rooted in audience engagement and development, with particular reference to Ansoff's matrix theory.
GYGA promoted an approach according to which "working on diversity means looking for unexplored ways to break down the various physical, psychological, social, economic and cultural barriers that keep people away from participation" (Ford, 2002). Engagement involved not only "activities and strategies of a communicative and promotional nature" but also "the design of initiatives, events and experimentation with unusual approaches" (Bollo, 2014).
In concrete terms, the engagement approach was developed through two phases.
- Reach: this phase involved the coordination of online and offline actions aimed at engaging the target audience, and above all exploiting the use of social media platforms, for example, the channels of influencers linked to the world of video games on Instagram and Tik Tok
- Engage: this phase envisaged the creation of "a meaningful context of fruition, interaction, participation and experience that allows, as appropriate, to obtain results in terms of knowledge, satisfaction, self-realisation, involvement, adherence and concrete support" (Bollo, 2014)
This approach derives from the experience of Generativa! APS - the project leader - in the development of creative communities through audience engagement and development approaches.
On the design side, GYGA used different methodologies and approaches, such as
- UX and UI design: to design the project landing page and the workshop registration form
- Design Thinking: to design the project and implement the workshop route
- Inclusive Design: to design and realize the workshop route
This approach derives from the experience of Bomberos Design - a project partner - in the development of products and digital interfaces, but also from the experience of the workshop tutors, all of whom are teachers or professional educators.
GYGA wanted to respond to the global challenge of climate change through an innovative project aimed at raising awareness and education on environmental and digital issues in a small community of young people by offering them the tools to increase awareness among their peers, generating a multiplier effect with great potential impact.
Referring to the Sustainable Development Goals, therefore, GYGA contributed to achieving the following:
4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of young people and adults with the necessary skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurial skills.
4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development through, inter alia, education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and the appreciation of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development.
12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
13.3: Improve education, awareness and human and institutional capacity for climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
17.17: Encourage and promote effective partnerships in the public sector, between the public and private sectors and in civil society, building on the experience of partnerships and their ability to find resources.
GYGA is currently in its follow-up phase. According to its objectives and actions, it has already achieved the following results:
- 57 responses to the call from young people under 25 from San Donato and Turin
- 17 young adults under 25 from San Donato and Turin participated in the video games co-design process
- 6 young people under 25 from San Donato and Turin with a migration background participated in the video games co-design process
- 200 young people online during Rosario Parrino's live stream on Twitch
- 100 people in attendance during the return event at MAcA - Museo A come Ambiente
- 2 video games on the theme of environmental sustainability created
- 1 community of young people under 25 activated
- 1 Instagram page with 172 followers activated
The feedback meeting with the participants revealed a general satisfaction with the course undertaken, with particular reference to the increase in knowledge on environmental sustainability compared to the initial knowledge. Likewise, the participants highly appreciated the technologies selected to undertake the pathway, evaluating them as accessible and inclusive. Most of all, however, the group work method was appreciated, leading to the creation of a real active community both online and offline, which lives a life of its own beyond the project.
The short-term objective is to forge new strategic partnerships in the area, in order to broaden the project's target audience. Furthermore, GYGA already has the possibility to be part of festivals and city events in the form of a gamestation, making the games it has developed available.
The long-term objective is to repeat the experience in at least three different contexts at the same time, making them converge into a single large event where the communities can get to know each other and compare notes, exponentially multiplying the impact on the territory.
GYGA has developed numerous hard skills, including
- coding
- game development
- game design
- 3D modelling
- storytelling
- social media management
- graphic design
- digital security and privacy
In addition to hard skills, GYGA has also developed some soft skills, including
- autonomy
- listening
- teamwork
- critical thinking
- problem solving
In particular, in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability, it has developed competences in
- sustainable management
- energy management
- ecological transition
- ecological footprint
