USE THE FORCE!

"<< Background >>UTF! was a project dedicated to young people, done with young people. The aim was to intercept the main emerging needs, which exploded in the pandemic and post-pandemic period: relational marginalisation, exacerbated by the phenomenon of social isolation and the ubiquitous daily digital mediation (to study, to meet, to lecture, etc.); increased relative poverty of young people, due to the loss, or decrease in workload, caused by the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic. ); an increase in the relative poverty of young people, due to the loss, or reduction in the workload, caused by the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, which has also exacerbated the need for better orientation and relocation in the labour market; an increase in the risk of radicalism, a phenomenon which, according to the most recent sociological theories (cf. the studies of ROY OLIVIER), is nothing other than an attempt to find strong meanings, during a condition of anomie and numbness, in which one is more fragile emotionally and cognitively. To this, we must add the fundamental need to give European YWs a tool, UTF! output, to help them support young people who have the needs just described, helping them to think in a more holistic, systemic way<< Objectives >>UTF! had 2 main objectives: 1) to create, on a small scale, an international development team-community of young people, educators and experts, which, starting from the needs that emerged, would trigger participatory processes of co-design and validation of a Serious Play, conceived as an educational tool to be offered to Youth Workers, in order to improve their ability to accompany young people in difficulty in their daily activities; 2) to create the BETA version of a Serious Play, called BE THE FORCE! based on Star Wars concepts and elements, through 3 preparatory phases. The Serious Play, the tool to be bequeathed to the European Youth Workers, co-created directly with a group of young people and already validated during the project, aims at educating young people to a more systemic thinking and acting, i.e. coherent with the complexity of reality, supporting them to make more balanced and forward-looking choices, to flourish during and after difficult situations.<< Implementation >>UTF! was divided into 3 phases: 1) BE THE FORCE! the aims of which were: creation of the game development team (12YW and 6 young people in total); start-up of internal and external communication tools; participatory activities to homogenise knowledge and skills on Star Wars (collective viewing of the films, with analysis of the main concepts; creation of summaries to be shared, participatory reflections, etc.); creation of the first game elements (pre-ALPHA version), conceived as the basis of the second activity; first meeting (ITA); 2) LET'S PLAY THE FORCE! whose aims were: optimisation of the pre-ALPHA version, validated locally with small game groups; experimentation of new mechanics and game elements, to enrich the pre-ALPHA; enlargement of the development community, with 3 external experts, who could validate the contents and creation processes; second meeting (DEN); 3) BE YOUR FORCE IN THE WORLD! whose aims were: definition of an ALPHA version, including all the feedback generated in the previous phases; elaboration of the Manifesto ""the rules of the Force"", a decalogue for young people and YWs; piloting of the game, to collect further data and define the final BETA (project output); third meeting (CYP).<< Results >>The Serious Play development team (12 YWs and 6 young people), with the 3 external experts (recruited ad hoc) and the participants of the piloting phase (30 young people and YWs who were made to test the ALPHA version of Serious Play, to make a playable BETA) produced more than budgeted. Instead of an essential version of the game, the main OUTPUT, it produced: 1) a technical manual of the game, with purpose, creative process, rationale; 2) an original 4-chapter story, written from scratch with creative and participatory methodologies, including playable character archetypes, items, special powers, game mechanics (original); 3) a technical-operational manual, to help the Jedi Masters, i.e. the educators who, during the game, act as narrators of the events, to help them interpret the rules and aims of the game, to manage teams of players (young people in difficulty), stimulating their proactivity, to know how to communicate well, with storytelling techniques; 4) a Project Manifesto, connected to Star Wars, with suggestions on how to think in a systemic way; 5) a website, updated, on which all the material, in digital version, is offered free of charge; 6) original artworks, also created in participatory mode; 6) a video recap."