The EmpowerSDGs project successfully organised two high-impact capacity building meetings. Hosted by Ilksenol and ARKA over four days (26-29.11.2024), these meetings aimed to test and refine innovative educational tools to promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The two meetings focused on:  

1. The Gamification Experience: This interactive platform immerses users in an engaging learning environment, fostering a deeper understanding of the SDGs through scenarios and challenges. Currently available in English, it will soon support Greek, Spanish, Serbian and Turkish.
2. The Training Curriculum: This comprehensive guide equips youth workers with structured content and methods to effectively teach the SDGs. It is already available in multiple languages – English, Greek, Spanish, Serbian and Turkish – underlining the project’s commitment to inclusivity. 

The capacity building meetings brought together experts from each partner organisation. Through these sessions, participants provided valuable feedback on the tools’ content, structure, and gameplay. They also received training on how to effectively deliver the curriculum and the gamification experience, ensuring a standardised approach to teaching the SDGs across all regions.

As the project progresses, the focus will shift to pilot testing the materials. Each partner organisation will select five youth workers and 20 vulnerable youth from their respective communities to participate. These pilots aim to assess the effectiveness of the gamified approach and training curriculum in equipping participants with sustainable development knowledge and skills.