UPGRADE – Unlocking Potential through Gaming, Research, Accessibility, Development, and informal Education
Topic: Inclusive gaming, accessibility, digital skills, employability and informal education for young people, with particular attention to young people with disabilities
Dates: September 2025 – February 2028
Type: Erasmus+ KA220-YOU – Cooperation Partnership in Youth
Methodology: Participatory and experiential learning, co-design, Living Labs, peer learning and digital training
Partners: Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs (Austria); AIAS Bologna Onlus (Italy); Thomas More Kempen – Mobilab & Care / Modem (Belgium); e-Nable Greece (Greece); Silesian University of Technology (Poland); University of Bergamo (Italy); Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe – AAATE (Austria).
Coordination: Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs
University of Bergamo team: Serenella Besio and Fabio Sacchi
Description
UPGRADE – Unlocking Potential through Gaming, Research, Accessibility, Development, and informal Education is a European Erasmus+ project that explores the potential of video gaming as a tool for inclusion, informal learning, personal development and employability. The project focuses particularly on young people with disabilities, who may experience barriers to participation in digital gaming environments, and on youth workers and professionals who support their educational and social participation.
The project starts from the idea that video games can represent more than a recreational activity. When embedded in structured and inclusive learning environments, gaming can contribute to the development of transferable competences such as problem-solving, teamwork, adaptability, strategic thinking and digital literacy. At the same time, accessibility barriers may prevent young people with disabilities from benefiting fully from these opportunities.
UPGRADE therefore aims to empower young people by using gaming as a context for developing skills, increasing accessibility awareness and strengthening social participation. A further objective is to provide youth workers and educators with practical methodologies for integrating gaming into inclusive informal and non-formal education, while also addressing issues connected with responsible gaming, online safety, social isolation and accessibility.
Main objectives
- to strengthen digital, transversal and employability-related competences through gaming-based learning;
- to increase the accessibility of gaming experiences for young people with disabilities;
- to provide youth workers and educators with methods and resources for inclusive gaming-based activities;
- to promote responsible and ethical approaches to gaming and digital participation;
- to create opportunities for young people with and without disabilities to co-design, test and evaluate inclusive gaming solutions.
Activities
A central output of the project will be the UPGRADE Digital Platform, an accessible and multilingual online learning environment and community hub. The platform will offer training resources, practical tools and interactive materials for young people, youth workers and other professionals interested in gaming, accessibility and skills development.
The platform will include learning resources concerning gaming accessibility, the recognition and development of transferable skills through gaming, ethical and responsible gaming practices, and possible educational and professional pathways related to the gaming sector. Interactive resources such as micro-learning materials, self-assessment tools, quizzes, discussion spaces and peer-learning activities will also be developed.
Another key element of UPGRADE is represented by the Living Labs. These will be experimental and participatory environments in which young people with and without disabilities, youth workers, educators and accessibility experts will work together to test gaming experiences, identify barriers, experiment with adaptive solutions and co-design new approaches to inclusive gaming.
Through peer-led testing and iterative co-design, participants will contribute directly to the development and validation of the project resources. The Living Labs will also provide opportunities to reflect on the competences developed through gaming and on how these competences can be transferred to educational, social and employment contexts.
Expected results
UPGRADE will produce an accessible digital community hub, training resources for young people and youth workers, methodologies for using video games in informal education, and practical guidelines for improving accessibility and participation in gaming environments.
The project is expected to contribute to greater recognition of gaming as a possible tool for inclusion and competence development, to strengthen the capacity of youth workers to design inclusive digital activities, and to increase opportunities for young people with disabilities to participate actively in gaming communities and digital learning experiences.
The role of the University of Bergamo
The University of Bergamo contributes to the project through its expertise in Special Education, inclusive education, disability studies, play and Assistive Technology. Its previous research in the field includes projects addressing play for children with disabilities, accessible technologies and the relationship between technological innovation and educational inclusion.
Within UPGRADE, the University contributes to the development of the scientific and educational framework of the project, to the analysis of accessibility and inclusion in gaming, to the development of training resources, and to the implementation and dissemination of activities connected with the Digital Platform and the Living Labs.
University of Bergamo team:
Serenella Besio
Fabio Sacchi
Project framework
Programme: Erasmus+
Action: KA220-YOU – Cooperation Partnerships in Youth
Project acronym: UPGRADE
Duration: 30 months
Project period: 1 September 2025 – 29 February 2028