ECOTRADE

Funding programme

Erasmus+ KA210-VET – Small-scale Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training

Project reference

2024-2-ES01-KA210-VET-000283809

Period

2025–2026

Coordinating organisation

Fundación Instituto Técnico Industrial (ITM Miranda), Spain

Participating countries

Spain, Greece, Italy

Official project website

Visit official website

ECOTRADE aimed to strengthen vocational education and training (VET) by introducing an original educational board game that connects international trade, logistics and business management with environmental sustainability.

The project sought to help learners understand how commercial decisions influence transport efficiency, economic growth, environmental impact and responsible business practices.

Specific learning objectives

• Sustainable international trade: Understand how goods move between European regions and how international commercial activities interact with economic, environmental and social considerations.
• Logistics and supply chain management: Develop an understanding of shipment planning, transport routes, delivery requirements and the coordination of international logistics activities.
• Sustainable transport: Explore the advantages and disadvantages of different means of transport, including road, rail, maritime and air transport, in relation to time, business growth and environmental impact.
• Environmental awareness: Recognise how transportation and commercial operations contribute to environmental pressures and how more sustainable alternatives can reduce negative impacts.
• Business decision-making: Practise selecting shipments, allocating resources, managing company development and balancing short-term economic opportunities with longer-term sustainability considerations.
• Risk management: Understand how unexpected events, including weather conditions, supply chain disruptions, customs problems and transport shortages, can affect international shipments.
• Green business practices: Explore investments in renewable energy, cleaner transport, waste management, route optimisation, responsible packaging and other environmentally sustainable business practices.
• Systems thinking: Develop an understanding of the relationships between transport decisions, operational efficiency, economic growth, resource constraints and environmental consequences.
• Strategic problem-solving: Encourage participants to evaluate alternative decisions, anticipate consequences, adapt to unexpected events and optimise company performance under competing constraints.
• Social responsibility: Introduce the social dimension of sustainable business development, including corporate social responsibility, equality, citizenship and responsible organisational practices.
• Green skills for employability: Strengthen competencies relevant to professional sectors involving logistics, commerce, transport, entrepreneurship and sustainable business management.
• Inclusive learning: Promote participation among VET students from different educational, social and cultural backgrounds, including learners with fewer opportunities and migrant backgrounds.
• Educator competences: Equip VET teachers and trainers with an adaptable game-based learning resource that supports experiential learning, discussion and reflection on sustainability-related challenges.

ECOTRADE integrates these objectives into a game system in which participants experience the consequences of different commercial and environmental choices rather than learning exclusively through theoretical explanations.

ECOTRADE developed an original educational board game entitled EcoTrade, designed to simulate international trade and logistics while incorporating environmental sustainability into business decision-making.

The game was collaboratively developed by the project consortium, combining expertise in vocational education, international trade and professional board game design.

Game developed

1. EcoTrade Board Game

EcoTrade is a competitive economic and logistics game in which players manage companies responsible for transporting goods between European regions.

Each player attempts to develop a successful business by completing shipments, selecting transport methods, responding to unexpected events and investing in improvements that can increase operational efficiency or reduce environmental impact.

Success requires balancing economic growth with environmental responsibility. Although completing shipments produces Growth Points, business activities can also generate negative environmental Impact that reduces the final score.

Main game characteristics

• Number of players: 2–4, according to the official rulebook.
• Playing time: Approximately 40–80 minutes, according to the official rulebook.
• Recommended age: 16 years and above, according to the Tabletopia listing.
• Game type: Competitive economic management and logistics simulation.
• Player role: Manager of a company conducting shipments across European regions.
• European trade map: The central board represents seven European regions and provides a geographical framework for organising shipments and transport decisions.
• Shipment Cards: Cards describing goods, origins, destinations, available transport methods and values associated with Time, Growth and environmental Impact.
• Transport selection: Players choose between available means of transport, including road, rail, maritime and air transport. Different options modify the time, economic benefits and environmental consequences of shipments.
• Combined shipments: Players may combine compatible shipments when geographical and transport-related conditions are satisfied. This introduces decisions concerning logistical efficiency and consolidation of goods.
• Incident Cards: Unexpected events affect transport operations, introducing risks such as customs delays, infrastructure disruption, adverse weather, strikes and other logistical difficulties.
• Company Development Cards: Players invest in improvements covering environmental, social and economic dimensions, including cleaner transport, renewable energy, resource efficiency and responsible business practices.
• Company Boards: Individual boards organise active shipments, selected transport methods, purchased upgrades and resource tokens.
• Time Tokens: Markers indicating the time required to complete shipments.
• Growth Points: Represent economic performance and are used to track company development and purchase improvements.
• Impact Points: Represent harmful environmental consequences associated with company activities. Accumulated Impact can result in penalties during final scoring.
• Simplified rules: An alternative set of Company Development Cards, known as Upgrades Version 2, provides a less complex introduction to the game.

Gameplay structure

Players take turns managing their businesses through two principal phases:

1. Upkeep Phase: The active player receives Growth Points and advances shipments towards completion by removing Time Tokens. Completed shipments generate the corresponding economic benefits and environmental Impact.
2. Action Phase: The player may obtain a new Shipment Card, initiate one or more shipments, or pass when the relevant conditions are met. Players may also purchase a Company Development Card during their turn.

Starting a shipment involves allocating a company token, deciding whether to combine compatible shipments, selecting an available means of transport and revealing an Incident Card.

Transport decisions modify the balance between delivery time, company growth and environmental Impact. Incident Cards introduce additional uncertainty, requiring players to consider risks and adapt their strategies.

End-game conditions

The game ends when a player reaches the established Growth Points threshold, the available shipment market is exhausted or all players pass consecutively, according to the rules.

Final scoring takes into account accumulated Growth Points, incomplete shipments, Company Development investments and environmental Impact penalties.

The winner is the player achieving the highest final score after these adjustments.

Educational integration

EcoTrade incorporates educational concepts into the decisions players must make. Selecting a faster transport method may offer operational advantages while increasing environmental Impact, whereas investing in sustainability improvements can reduce penalties but requires economic resources.

This relationship creates an experiential representation of the trade-offs involved in sustainable business management.

Game approach: Custom-designed educational board game.

Availability: The game is available as a free print-and-play resource in English, Spanish, Italian and Greek. A digital tabletop version is also available through Tabletopia.

Official resources:

• EcoTrade – Official game resources
• EcoTrade – English rulebook
• EcoTrade – Tabletopia version

ECOTRADE adopts an experiential Board Game-Based Learning methodology in which learners explore sustainable international trade through simulated business decisions, resource management and the consequences of different logistics strategies.

The methodology combines collaborative educational game development, classroom gameplay, facilitator guidance and structured reflection on environmental and economic trade-offs.

Methodological approach

1. Needs-oriented game development: The consortium brought together VET educators, students and professional game designers to identify educational requirements and translate international trade and sustainability concepts into playable mechanics.
2. Introduction to sustainable trade: Facilitators introduce the relationship between commercial activities, transport operations, economic performance and environmental responsibility.
3. Game preparation: Players receive company boards, Shipment Cards and the necessary tokens. The central board, available shipments, Incident Cards and Company Development Cards are prepared according to the rulebook.
4. Company management: Participants assume responsibility for their companies and decide which shipments to undertake, how to allocate resources and which investments to prioritise.
5. Transport and logistics decisions: Players select available means of transport and may combine shipments to improve logistical efficiency. These decisions influence delivery time, Growth Points and environmental Impact.
6. Risk management: Incident Cards introduce unexpected events that may affect shipments, requiring players to adapt their plans and respond to uncertainty.
7. Environmental and business strategy: Participants decide whether to invest in Company Development Cards representing sustainable improvements and other responsible business practices.
8. Monitoring consequences: Players use physical tokens to follow the development of their companies, the progress of shipments and the environmental consequences of their decisions.
9. Final evaluation: Game results are calculated using economic performance, company developments and accumulated environmental Impact.
10. Facilitated reflection: Educators guide discussion about the decisions made during gameplay and their relationship with real-world logistics, sustainable transport, corporate responsibility and business management.

Session structure

The official rulebook describes a game duration of approximately 40–80 minutes. During the project’s Beta Testing phase, facilitated educational sessions lasted approximately 60–90 minutes.

The documented pilot-testing sequence included three components:

1. Pre-Test: Participants completed a short questionnaire intended to assess their initial understanding of sustainability and international trade.
2. Game Session: Small groups played EcoTrade with facilitator support, making business and environmental decisions through the game’s mechanics.
3. Post-Test and Feedback: Participants completed a follow-up form and provided feedback on perceived learning, gameplay clarity, engagement and the educational experience.

This sequence is documented for the Beta Testing phase and should not be interpreted as a mandatory structure for every subsequent classroom implementation.

Facilitator’s role

The Trainer’s Guide provides pedagogical support for educators preparing and implementing EcoTrade sessions.

Facilitators introduce the game’s objectives, explain its rules, organise participants, clarify transport and resource management decisions, and support discussion of their consequences.

They can also adapt the level of difficulty, simplify rules and select examples relevant to specific vocational sectors.

The simplified Upgrades Version 2 mode provides an additional option for groups requiring a more accessible introduction to the game.

Reflection and debriefing

Unlike educational game projects that leave reflection entirely to the discretion of the teacher, ECOTRADE explicitly incorporates debriefing guidance into its supporting materials.

The Trainer’s Guide provides discussion prompts intended to connect gameplay decisions with authentic sustainability and logistics challenges.

Relevant areas for reflection include:

• The relationship between transport method, delivery time, economic performance and environmental impact.
• The advantages and disadvantages of combining shipments.
• The consequences of unexpected events for international supply chains.
• The costs and benefits of investing in greener business practices.
• The relationship between short-term economic growth and long-term sustainability.
• Opportunities to transfer lessons from the game to real professional situations.

The Beta Testing documentation indicates that reflection questions and post-game discussions were strengthened following participant feedback.

Inclusive and adaptable implementation

The project’s educational approach explicitly considers learners from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds. The Trainer’s Guide includes accessibility and inclusion recommendations, together with adaptations for different levels of previous knowledge.

These provisions support inclusive implementation, although their effectiveness for particular disadvantaged groups has not been independently established.

Distinctive methodological feature

EcoTrade combines mechanical integration of sustainability-related decisions with explicit facilitator guidance. Learning is supported both through the direct consequences of player choices and through structured discussion connecting those choices with professional practice.

ECOTRADE was implemented through a European partnership involving three organisations from Spain, Greece and Italy, combining expertise in vocational education, professional board game design, sustainable business practices and international cooperation.

The project followed a collaborative development process involving international workshops, prototype testing, classroom piloting, educator training and dissemination activities.

Implementation

• European consortium: The project was coordinated by Fundación Instituto Técnico Industrial (ITM Miranda, Spain), with Dracon Rules Design Studio (Greece) and Training 2000 (Italy) as partners.
• First international training activity: A four-day Learning, Teaching and Training Activity was held in Karditsa, Greece, in May 2025. Participants from the three partner countries collaborated on the game’s concept, educational objectives, mechanics, cards, board design and player roles.
• Collaborative game development: Educators, trainers and game designers contributed to the design of a simulation addressing international trade, sustainable logistics and responsible business management.
• Alpha Testing: The project partners conducted internal playtesting sessions to assess the prototype’s mechanics, educational coherence, rules, component usability and balance between economic and environmental objectives.
• Prototype refinement: Internal feedback identified the need to simplify certain rules, adjust shipment cards and scoring mechanisms, improve token usability and strengthen educational guidance.
• Beta Testing: Between 22 and 30 September 2025, the partner organisations conducted external testing sessions with VET students, teachers and trainers in Spain, Greece and Italy.
• Structured pilot sessions: The Beta Testing process involved an initial questionnaire, a facilitated board game session lasting approximately 60–90 minutes and a post-session questionnaire collecting learning-related responses and feedback.
• Game improvements: Feedback from the Beta Testing phase informed revisions to the rules, card design, transport values, scoring balance and educational reflection activities.
• Second international training activity: In November 2025, the consortium met at ITM Miranda in Miranda de Ebro, Spain, for LTTA 2 – Pilot Testing and Evaluation. The activity involved practical gameplay, review of educational materials and discussion of adaptations for vocational training contexts.
• Final educational resources: The partnership completed the physical board game, multilingual print-and-play materials, rulebook, Trainer’s Guide, instructional video and digital Tabletopia version.
• Multiplier event in Spain: On 19 February 2026, ITM Miranda organised the official presentation of the completed game. Participants included VET students, educators, representatives of local logistics companies and members of Miranda de Ebro City Council.
• Multiplier event in Greece: On 24 February 2026, Dracon Rules Design Studio presented EcoTrade at a vocational training school (SAEK). Participants discussed applications in logistics, healthcare transport and other professional sectors.
• Dissemination in Italy: Training 2000 introduced EcoTrade during a community roundtable involving more than 50 local stakeholders, VET educators and professionals.
• European dissemination: The project published its materials through its official website, the participating organisations and EPALE, supporting access by educators and other interested organisations beyond the original partnership.

Evaluation approach

ECOTRADE combined formative evaluation during game development with questionnaire-based assessment during external pilot testing.

The internal Alpha Testing phase focused primarily on mechanics, usability, educational coherence and the identification of design problems.

The external Beta Testing phase introduced a more structured assessment process involving pre-test questionnaires, facilitated game sessions and post-test questionnaires.

The project documentation describes the collection of quantitative and qualitative feedback concerning sustainability knowledge, trade-related understanding, clarity of gameplay, engagement and participant perceptions.

However, the reviewed public reports do not provide sufficiently detailed pre-test and post-test scores, participant sample sizes, statistical comparisons or measurement instruments to determine the magnitude and reliability of learning gains.

Documented findings

• Gameplay usability: Participant and facilitator feedback informed the simplification of rules and improvements to card design, symbols and the clarity of game procedures.
• Educational relevance: Trainers reported that the game could be adapted to different vocational subjects, including logistics, economics and environmental education.
• Participant engagement: Project reports describe positive responses to the combination of competition, strategic decisions and sustainability-related challenges.
• Reflection: The consortium strengthened post-game discussion prompts following the pilot-testing phase.
• Adaptability: Testing contributed to the development of simplified upgrade cards and additional guidance for educators working with different learner groups.

Evidence classification

Game development: Original board game, complete rulebook, printable components, Trainer’s Guide and digital adaptation publicly documented.

Implementation: International workshops, internal playtesting, external VET classroom testing, educator training and multiplier events documented.

Evaluation: Pre-test and post-test questionnaires reportedly used during external piloting, together with qualitative feedback and iterative game refinement.

Learning outcomes: The available public documentation does not provide sufficient quantitative results to establish the magnitude or statistical reliability of improvements in knowledge or professional competencies.

Limitations

The published implementation reports are primarily descriptive and originate from organisations directly involved in the project.

Although the project used pre-test and post-test instruments, detailed participant-level or aggregate results were not identified in the reviewed sources.

No controlled comparative study involving a group receiving equivalent instruction without gameplay was identified.

The project website also presents indicators concerning student engagement, educator training, knowledge improvement and inclusion. However, these figures are not accompanied by sufficiently detailed methodological documentation to verify whether they represent achieved outcomes, project targets or a combination of both.

Consequently, the available evidence supports conclusions about educational implementation, feasibility and iterative design, but does not permit strong causal claims regarding the effectiveness of EcoTrade in improving sustainable trade knowledge or professional decision-making skills.

ECOTRADE provides an extensive collection of educational resources designed to support the use of its board game in vocational education and training.

The resources combine a complete physical game, methodological guidance, multilingual materials and a digital tabletop adaptation.

Available resources

• EcoTrade Board Game: An original educational game simulating international trade, logistics operations and sustainable business decisions.
• Game Board and Growth Tracker: A European map representing trade regions, together with spaces for tracking company growth and investments in different categories of development.
• Shipment Cards: Cards describing goods, routes, transport options and the associated Time, Growth and environmental Impact values.
• Incident Cards: Cards introducing unexpected transport-related events, including delays, customs problems, adverse weather, infrastructure disruption and other logistical challenges.
• Company Development Cards: Upgrade cards representing investments in environmental, social and economic sustainability, including cleaner transportation, renewable energy, route optimisation and responsible business practices.
• Simplified Upgrade Cards: An alternative version of the Company Development system designed to reduce complexity for beginners and groups requiring a more accessible introduction.
• Player Boards: Individual company boards used to organise active shipments, resources, selected transport methods and company developments.
• Printable Tokens: Markers for tracking Time, Growth, Impact, transport choices and company actions.
• Complete Rulebook: A 20-page English-language rulebook explaining the objectives, setup, components, game phases, available actions, shipment procedures, transport decisions, incidents, upgrades and scoring.
• Trainer’s Guide: Pedagogical documentation describing the educational objectives, classroom preparation, facilitation procedures, discussion prompts, adaptations, inclusion recommendations and opportunities to connect gameplay with professional learning.
• How-to-Play Video: An instructional video explaining game preparation, rules, shipment management, transport choices, incidents, company upgrades and scoring.
• Multilingual Print-and-Play Materials: Downloadable game resources published in English, Spanish, Italian and Greek.
• Tabletopia Version: A digital tabletop implementation allowing users to access and play EcoTrade online, including solo and multiplayer options listed on the platform.
• Project Development Documentation: Articles describing collaborative game development, Alpha Testing, Beta Testing, educator training and pilot implementation.
• Implementation Examples: Reports documenting applications and dissemination in vocational training settings in Spain, Greece and Italy.

Open licensing

The official rulebook identifies the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-SA 4.0).

This licence permits reuse and adaptation under its specified conditions, including appropriate attribution and the application of compatible ShareAlike licensing to adapted material.

Users should check the licensing information accompanying individual downloadable resources before reproducing or modifying them.

Transferability

The availability of printable components and a complete rulebook allows educators to reproduce the physical game without obtaining a commercial copy.

The Trainer’s Guide provides additional support for incorporating the game into structured educational sessions and linking gameplay with vocational learning objectives.

The project also provides simplified gameplay options and suggestions for adapting scenarios to different professional sectors.

For example, the logistics mechanics can be connected to discussions about time-sensitive healthcare transportation, manufacturing, distribution and other contexts involving the movement of goods and resources.

The multilingual resources support wider use in different European educational environments.

Replicability assessment

ECOTRADE provides a comparatively high level of game-level replicability because its rules, physical components, instructional resources and digital version remain publicly linked.

The documentation of Alpha Testing, Beta Testing and classroom activities also offers useful information about the development and educational implementation process.

However, replication of the project’s educational evaluation would require access to the complete assessment questionnaires, participant data and detailed analytical procedures, which were not identified in the reviewed public materials.

Replicability status: High for game reproduction and classroom adaptation; partial for independent replication of the educational evaluation.

Official resources: EcoTrade – Project Results.

ECOTRADE represents a particularly interesting example of Board Game-Based Learning in which sustainable international trade and logistics concepts are integrated directly into the economic and strategic decisions required during gameplay.

Its principal methodological contribution lies in translating the relationships between commercial growth, transport efficiency, operational risk and environmental sustainability into an interconnected system of game mechanics.

Methodological strengths

1. Intrinsic integration of learning content and gameplay. The game’s educational objectives are not presented through external questions added to unrelated mechanics. Instead, concepts such as transport efficiency, resource allocation, business growth and environmental impact are incorporated into the decisions players must make to succeed.
2. Meaningful economic and environmental trade-offs. Players must balance potentially competing objectives. Transport methods and company developments influence time, Growth Points and environmental Impact, creating opportunities to explore the consequences of prioritising different business strategies.
3. Environmental consequences integrated into scoring. Accumulated environmental Impact can generate penalties that reduce final performance. This mechanism makes sustainability relevant to the game’s outcome rather than presenting it merely as a desirable topic for discussion.
4. Representation of logistics and supply chain decisions. Shipment Cards, geographical regions, transport selection and combined shipments provide a simplified model of international logistics. The ability to consolidate compatible shipments is particularly relevant because it connects operational efficiency with strategic planning.
5. Risk and uncertainty. Incident Cards introduce unpredictable events that may affect shipments. This represents an important feature of real international trade, where decisions must accommodate external disruptions and changing circumstances.
6. Longer-term business development. Company Development Cards encourage players to consider investment decisions whose benefits may extend beyond an individual shipment. This introduces a distinction between immediate operational choices and strategic company improvements.
7. Integration of different sustainability dimensions. The game distinguishes environmental, social and economic development categories, reflecting the multidimensional nature of responsible business management.
8. Collaborative game development. The project involved educators, students and professional game designers in an iterative development process. Internal testing and external piloting informed changes to mechanics, cards and educational guidance.
9. Structured facilitation and reflection. The Trainer’s Guide provides preparation advice, inclusion recommendations and prompts for discussing the relationships between gameplay and real-world professional situations.
10. Adaptable complexity. The simplified Company Development system provides a practical way to introduce learners to the game’s central concepts without requiring them to manage every available rule or effect immediately.
11. Accessible and reproducible materials. The availability of print-and-play resources, multilingual documentation, a how-to-play video and a digital version facilitates use beyond the original partnership.
12. Connection with vocational practice. The project’s explicit focus on logistics and sustainable business decisions makes it relevant to VET programmes where learners may later encounter comparable situations in professional environments.

Methodological limitations

1. Simplification of complex trade systems. EcoTrade represents international trade through simplified geographical regions, transport choices and numerical attributes. Although this is appropriate for educational gameplay, actual logistics decisions involve additional economic, regulatory, technical and environmental factors that are not fully represented.

2. Abstract environmental measurement. Environmental consequences are expressed through Impact Points. This provides a clear game mechanism but does not automatically ensure that learners understand the real magnitude or scientific basis of emissions associated with different transport modes.

Facilitated reflection is therefore important for connecting the game’s abstract values with real-world environmental indicators.

3. Potential tension between sustainability and competitive scoring. The game rewards business growth while penalising environmental Impact. This creates a useful educational dilemma, but the relative importance of each dimension depends on the game’s numerical balance.

Different scoring parameters may encourage different strategies. Consequently, the educational implications of the scoring model deserve careful examination.

4. Limited representation of social consequences. Although Company Development Cards include social and economic responsibility, the most visible gameplay interactions concern shipments, transport and environmental Impact. Some social dimensions of sustainable trade may therefore receive less direct mechanical representation.

5. Rule complexity and cognitive demands. Internal and external testing identified the need to simplify instructions and adjust gameplay. The existence of a simplified upgrade system indicates that the complete rules may be demanding for some learners, particularly those without previous experience of modern board games.

6. Limited evidence of educational effectiveness. The project documents structured pilot testing involving pre-test and post-test questionnaires, but the publicly reviewed sources do not provide sufficiently detailed quantitative results to establish the magnitude of learning gains.

7. Absence of a documented control group. No comparative evaluation was identified involving participants receiving equivalent sustainability instruction without gameplay. Therefore, the specific educational contribution attributable to the board game remains uncertain.

8. Dependence on facilitation. Although the game represents meaningful trade-offs, transferring those experiences to professional understanding requires educators to explain the relationships between abstract game values and real business practices.

9. Unverified long-term transfer. The available documentation does not establish whether participants subsequently improved their professional decision-making, retained sustainability knowledge or adopted more environmentally responsible behaviours.

10. Recreational appeal outside educational settings. EcoTrade is publicly available as a complete game, but no independent evidence was identified regarding sustained voluntary play beyond organised educational or dissemination activities.

Ludus Magnus assessment

ECOTRADE provides a valuable example of how sustainability can be taught through a game system that requires players to experience the consequences of economic and environmental decisions.

Its strongest feature is the direct connection between learning objectives and meaningful gameplay. To maximise success, players must consider not only the economic benefits of shipments but also their associated environmental costs and the advantages of investing in company improvements.

This is methodologically more integrated than educational games that address sustainability exclusively through multiple-choice questions while leaving the underlying mechanics unrelated to environmental decision-making.

The game’s transport selection and combined shipment mechanisms are particularly interesting because they represent decisions that are recognisable within professional logistics practice.

The inclusion of uncertainty through Incident Cards also strengthens the model by preventing players from treating logistics decisions as completely predictable.

Another important contribution is the integration of facilitator support. The Trainer’s Guide recognises that the educational experience should extend beyond the activity of playing and that learners may need structured opportunities to interpret the consequences of their decisions.

The availability of complete resources is an additional strength. The preservation of multilingual printable materials, a rulebook, a tutorial video and an online version increases the likelihood that the project results can remain useful after the end of Erasmus+ funding.

Nevertheless, the project’s educational effectiveness should not be inferred solely from its conceptual alignment, positive participant feedback or the successful completion of pilot activities.

The documented use of pre-test and post-test questionnaires is a positive methodological feature, but publishing the assessment instruments, sample characteristics, descriptive statistics and results of appropriate analyses would substantially strengthen the available evidence.

Future research could compare EcoTrade with conventional instruction or other educational approaches, evaluate learning retention and examine whether gameplay improves the ability to make sustainable logistics decisions in scenarios outside the game.

Transferable methodological lesson: Board Game-Based Learning can provide meaningful opportunities for experiential learning when economic, social and environmental variables are represented through interconnected game mechanics. To establish educational effectiveness, however, well-integrated gameplay should be complemented by structured reflection, validated assessments and transparent reporting of learning outcomes.