Where game and youth work enthusiasts come together to design a gamified method to
support youth participation. Participants will form an experienced community around the Gamie method bank and compete to win a 1000€ prize!
- Europe-wide and fully online on Zoom and Discord
- Comprises of three sessions over three weeks, each Tuesday 10. – 24.3.2026. 16.00-18.00 EET
- Deadline for registration 25.2.2026
- Organized by GameIN Erasmus+ project, co-funded by EU.
Wait, what is Youth Participation Design Hackathon?
Teams competing in the Youth Participation Design Hackathon will design ideal methods to boost youth participation. These methods will be gamified, meaning they will utilize game elements to increase engagement among partakers. The goal
is the active involvement of youth in decision making in their communities or on a wider scale. See: Youth participation – Wikipedia. We encourage teams to build methods that support already existing participatory practices or to create a framework around the use of your method. This will increase the real-life application possibilities of your creation.
Your team’s method can be virtually anything; an online platform, an activity program, a roleplaying theatre exercise for a letter writing campaign… Think outside the box! This is a great chance to work on skills from many different domains.
The hackathon Discord server and a youth participation method toolkit (to be launched later) will work as platforms for likeminded youth to communicate and collaborate on, and we hope participants can connect there even after the Hackathon is over.
Join us as a group with up to 6 members or by yourself. We will create groups from participants signing up alone.
Who’s it for?
All youth aged 15 to 30 from European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an interest in e.g. video games, board games, youth work and social participation are welcome! A wide variety of skills can be used in method creation, coding is absolutely not required. Be prepared to communicate on Discord and fully in English.
What will the teams produce?
- Short presentation or video (around 5 minutes, time will be determined later based on the number of teams competing).
- Method introduction and instructions, max 6 pages.
- A visualization of the method. This can be a picture, a video, or a drawing.
Schedule
- 10.3.2026 Kick off
- Topic expert Jerkko Viisteensaari talks about his research concerning the dream gamification method
- Method brainstorming
- 17.3.2026 Creative work session
- Warmup exercise
- Time for working on designs and discussion between teams
- Network formation, creating connections
- 24.3.2026 Presentations
- Teams will present their designs
- 8.5.2026 Award ceremony in GameIN final seminar
- Winning team is revealed, and they can present their work (optional)
Groups decide themselves how much time they invest in developing their method between sessions.
Judging
The winning team will be decided by a jury of gamification and youth work experts.
- Sonja Hämäläinen, Nuorten Akatemia (Youth Academy), Finland
- Liisa Männistö, Ministry of Justice, Finland
- Brigitta Uibo, The Estonian National Youth Council (ENL), Estonia
- Francesca Gambino, Libera Palermo Association, Italy
Judging is focused on the criteria below, not on skills like technical ability.
- Alignment with the project. We are looking for methods that are relevant to youth work, feasible in the real world and use gamification in a smart way.
- Design quality. The dream method should be accessible, enjoyable, and engaging.
- Innovation and creativity. Dream up a novel solution!
Start here
- Sign up for the hackathon through this form by 25.2.2026
- Join hackathon Discord channel for discussions, questions, and memes (You will receive an invitation link after signing up)
- Set a reminder for kick off meeting 10.3.2026. at 16.00. EET
More information:
Mikko Sääskilahti, Project Manager
mikko.saaskilahti@nuortenakatemia.fi
+358 40 029 7820
