We Choose to Game-If-I • Youth Exchange • September 30 – October 9 • Amarante, Portugal

“We Choose to Game-If-I” was an Erasmus + Youth Exchange project focusing on the topic of Gamification and Game-based Learning.

Dates: September 30 – October 9, 2022

Place: Amarante, Portugal

Participating countries: Georgia, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Cyprus, and Ukraine.

Project Description

This past week Amarante got to host a youth exchange program where youngsters from different countries, including Georgia, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Cyprus, and Ukraine participated and represented their countries. There were some activities related to gamification and game-based learning offered by the hosting organization No Gordio.

On the first day the instructor held some introductory activities, in which, the participants could get to know each other, with the help of various games proposed that familiarized the individuals with the identities of other participants.

The second day was based on the introduction of gamification and game-based learning, where the participants got to acknowledge the idea of the project and shared their understanding on the program and there were some activities designed to enlighten the partakers on recognizing other cultures and respecting their traditions. Afterwards, there was a treasure hunt through the streets of Amarante the objective was to get acquainted with locals and learn about their norms. The day was called quits after the participants from Georgia presented their culture and their cuisine.

The next day was dedicated to the outdoor activities, which started with a new experience for most of the participants – Golf club. The participants got to experience the cold breeze of autumn on the most beautiful beach of Porto next to a chapel (Capela do Senhor Da Pedra). They were very delighted to be a part of it. During the evening Italian partakers presented their country’s culture and held a workshop about how to make an Italian pasta.

The fourth day was the day when the attendants took part into some of the games where they played a simulation in which they could choose their roles. They had to convince the others to let them survive while a plane was crashing. There could only be one survivor and each participant was given a random participant’s name and the way they were supposed to kill them and then there was cultural of Ukraine and it was a blast of emotions. The fifth day again was outdoor activities canoeing and cycling around the river (Rio Tâmega ) were in the morning while in the afternoon some went swimming and playing football, the hosting participants presented their beautiful culture and some amazing drinks. This short description of the program is meant to be a demonstration of how the youth exchanges are held. The members of this program had the possibility to meet new people, interact with different cultures and learn about them, explore new places and overall have fun.