The 2018 EU Eurobarometer regarding youth participation shows that more than 50% of youth consider that the EU should take action in the areas of health and well-being and promote critical thinking and the ability to search for information in order to combat fake news and extremism. 3 out of 10 youth think that “educating young people in creative and immersive ways through virtual reality, real-life experiences and cultural and artistic events” should be a priority. ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2017, more than 50% of youth from developed countries think about their future with fear or uncertainty (a bigger percentage than respondents from countries in transition or developing). A research undertaken by consortium members in September 2020 among 70 youth workers underlines that all respondents agree or strongly agree that gamification is an important element for youth work, but only 28,6% think that they can easily find proper gamification tools that develop competencies. 93% of the respondents would like to participate in a gamification training. Also, the main competencies that youth workers believe to be relevant for the youth they work with are decision making, empathy, management of emotions, civic involvement, self-knowledge and creativity.6 partners from 3 European countries (Portugal, Romania, Spain) propose a complex multi-layered intervention, in the framework of a project having the following general objective: to develop the capacity of professionals working with youth in non-formal and formal education contexts to improve the quality of programs aiming at developing key competencies that lead to a successful life and in the same time instill in youth core values of fairness, social justice, non-discrimination, involvement in the community, by gaining essential competencies of gamification and game design which will support them in developing and delivering innovative curriculums. The complementary expertise of the consortium members will be of great use in ensuring a full package of using Gamification for Developing Essential Competencies in Youth Work.The specific objectives of the project are:Creating a series of 4 tools to support youth workers in delivering and creating quality educational programs for youth by using gamification in different educational sectorsFostering the development of key competencies and values for min. 420 youth involved in gamification processesRaising awareness and knowledge regarding how to use gamification in youth work through face-to-face and online dissemination of project outputs for min. 7,090 stakeholders.By the end of the project, a full package of using gamification and (board)game-based learning will be available and ready to be used with and/or for 14-24 y.o. the youth of different socio-economical backgrounds and other specificities, in a wide range of contexts:Gamified Learning Contents on Key Competencies (GLC) - with 10 relevant key competencies gamifiedHi-Quest 2.0 Board Game an educational journey of conquering cities impersonating essential competencies based on the Hero’s Journey and team workGuidelines on how to co-create gamified contents together with participants in nonformal and formal contexts - a tool encouraging youth workers to involve their beneficiaries when planning learning processes for them and teaching them how to use gamification in competencies’ development programs3 E-learning modules (tutorials) of Gamification of learning processes and Boardgame use in youth work at the community level: in NGOs and other community contexts / in schools and highschools / in universitiesSeveral groups of beneficiaries will be involved throughout the project in activities that are relevant for them:project teams from the 6 organizations, which will be better prepared to offer quality youth work and promote it within their teams of youth workers and education professionals;4 groups of 15, in total 60 youth from different contexts in the 3 countries will be involved in the piloting phase and developing essential skills, in the meantime being empowered to give feedback for improvement of materials;18 trainees from 3 countries will specialize in gamification during a 5-days training and will consistently implement GLC and board game with youth, in their local contexts;420 youth from 3 countries will benefit from developing essential skills through 2 different gamified processes;7,090 stakeholders relevant for youth work and the educational field will familiarise themselves with how to use gamification in developing key competencies and with project outputs as a result of dissemination activities.