We are excited to announce that the Erasmus+ project Beyond The Game has been approved for funding!
Funded under the Erasmus+ Programme, KA210-YOU – Small-scale Partnerships in Youth, Beyond The Game aims to transform grassroots esports into a structured non-formal learning environment where young people can recognise, strengthen, and explain the skills they develop through gaming.
The project will run for 16 months, from 01/09/2026 to 31/12/2027, bringing together partners from Norway and Cyprus to explore how gaming can support youth employability, digital skills, inclusion, and responsible digital participation.
What Is Beyond The Game About?
Beyond The Game seeks to close the “skills translation gap” between gaming and real-life opportunities. Many young people develop important competences through gaming, such as teamwork, leadership, communication, strategic thinking, decision-making under pressure, resilience, and emotional regulation. However, these skills often remain invisible in education, employment, and youth work.
Through a new Gaming Skills Profile, a Competence Mapping Matrix, gamified Skill Development Tracks, and a lightweight Digital Toolkit, the project will help young people better understand what they learn through gaming — and how to express it in CVs, interviews, learning pathways, and everyday life.
At its heart, the project asks a simple question:
What if gaming was not only seen as entertainment, but also as a space where young people build real, transferable skills?
Who Is Involved?
The project is a collaboration between:
- Bredde-e-sport Alliansen, Norway – Lead partner and national grassroots esports umbrella organisation, bringing direct access to esports clubs, youth participants, coaches, and practical pilot environments.
- Breezageri Ltd, Cyprus – Project partner contributing expertise in digital education tools, competence frameworks, research design, evaluation, communication, and European dissemination.
The project is also supported by the University of Bergen as an associate partner, providing academic advisory input on competence validation, youth research, and impact assessment.
What Will Beyond The Game Deliver?
Throughout the project, the partnership will develop and test a practical methodology that can be used by youth workers, esports coaches, grassroots organisations, and young people across Europe.
1. A Gaming Skills Profile Framework
The project will create a structured framework that helps identify the competences young people develop through gaming. This will include:
- Self-assessment questions
- Scenario-based diagnostic questions
- Coach observation rubrics
- Clear guidance for youth workers and esports coaches
- A reassessment process to track learning and progress
The framework will focus on game categories such as Valorant, League of Legends, and Minecraft, connecting in-game behaviours to real-world skills.
2. A Competence Mapping Matrix
Beyond The Game will translate gaming behaviours into language that is useful in education and employment contexts.
This means helping young people explain how gaming can involve:
- Leadership
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Strategic thinking
- Conflict resolution
- Priority management
- Adaptability
- Resilience
- Emotional regulation
- Responsible digital behaviour
The goal is to make gaming-based skills more visible, understandable, and credible.
3. Gamified Skill Development Tracks
The project will develop modular learning pathways that combine:
- Short micro-learning content
- In-game drills
- Guided reflection
- Practical activities
- Knowledge checks
- Responsible gaming and digital wellbeing elements
These tracks will support young people not only to recognise their skills, but also to strengthen them through structured practice.
4. A Digital Toolkit
Led by Breezageri Ltd, the project will create a lightweight, mobile-responsive Digital Toolkit to support the learning process.
The toolkit will help coaches and youth workers:
- Administer the Gaming Skills Profile
- Assign relevant Skill Development Tracks
- Monitor progress
- Facilitate reflection
- Support reassessment
- Access practical implementation guidance
The toolkit will be designed as an Open Educational Resource, allowing other organisations to use and adapt it after the project ends.
5. Training and Pilot Implementation
The project will train at least 6 esports coaches and youth workers to use the methodology in real settings.
A transnational pilot will then involve at least 50 young people from Norway and Cyprus. Participants will complete baseline assessments, take part in learning tracks, engage in reflection activities, and complete reassessment to document changes in competence awareness, knowledge, and observable behaviours.
6. Evaluation, Dissemination and Sustainability
The final phase of the project will focus on evaluating the results, refining the methodology, and sharing the outputs widely.
The project will produce:
- A final Gaming Skills Profile framework
- A Competence Mapping Matrix
- A Digital Toolkit
- Coach implementation guidelines
- Case examples from Norway and Cyprus
- A pilot evaluation report
- An Open Educational Resource package
These results will be shared through partner websites, social media, Erasmus+ platforms, and an online multiplier event.
Our Vision
With Beyond The Game, we want to help young people see gaming differently — not only as play, but as a space where they build confidence, skills, teamwork, initiative, and digital responsibility. By connecting grassroots esports with youth work, employability, and non-formal learning, the project aims to create a practical model that can be reused and scaled across Europe.
We Have Started Working — Follow Our Journey!
Over the coming months, we will share updates, tools, stories, and opportunities to learn more about the project.
Stay tuned through our website and social media as we go beyond the game — and explore how digital play can become a pathway for youth development, skills recognition, and future opportunities.
Tags: Erasmus+ / KA210-YOU / Youth / Esports / Digital Skills / Employability / Non-formal Learning / Gaming Skills / Beyond The Game
