LeADS

Funding programme

Horizon 2020 – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Innovative Training Networks (MSCA-ITN)

Project reference

956562

Period

2021–2024

Coordinating organisation

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Italy)

Participating countries

Italy, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Greece, Poland

Official project website

Visit official website

LeADS (Legality Attentive Data Scientists) aimed to bridge the gap between data science and law by developing interdisciplinary knowledge and professional competences that support legally compliant, ethical and responsible technological innovation.

The project established an international research and training network to prepare a new professional profile: the Legality Attentive Data Scientist, capable of integrating technological expertise with legal, ethical and societal considerations.

As part of its educational and public engagement activities, LeADS developed four original discussion board and card games designed to make complex questions about artificial intelligence, data protection and digital rights more accessible.

Specific learning objectives

• Digital literacy: Develop a better understanding of data-driven technologies and their implications for individuals and society.
• Artificial intelligence awareness: Introduce fundamental questions concerning the use, governance and regulation of AI systems.
• Data protection: Increase awareness of the principles and practical implications of protecting personal information.
• Privacy: Encourage reflection on the collection, processing, sharing and use of personal data.
• Digital rights: Explore the relationship between digital technologies, fundamental rights and individual autonomy.
• Intellectual property: Introduce questions concerning the ownership, protection and reuse of digital and intellectual assets.
• Data governance: Understand how different actors participate in decisions concerning access to and control over data.
• Ethical reasoning: Encourage participants to recognise and discuss ethical dilemmas associated with digital technologies.
• Legal awareness: Familiarise participants with the relevance of legal and regulatory principles to everyday digital situations.
• Critical thinking: Develop the ability to examine competing perspectives and question assumptions about technological innovation.
• Problem-solving: Practise identifying appropriate responses to scenarios involving legal, technical and ethical challenges.
• Argumentation: Encourage participants to explain, justify and defend their positions during structured discussions.
• Perspective-taking: Explore how individuals, companies, researchers and public institutions may interpret digital problems differently.
• Interdisciplinary communication: Promote dialogue between participants with different levels of expertise in law, technology and data science.
• Collaborative reasoning: Encourage participants to exchange knowledge and work towards informed responses to complex situations.
• Digital citizenship: Increase awareness of how technological decisions may affect rights, responsibilities and social participation.
• Public engagement: Make specialist research findings accessible to non-expert audiences through interactive educational activities.
• Professional development: Support interdisciplinary learning among researchers and professionals working at the intersection of law and data science.

Thematic organisation

LeADS organised its research and collaborative activities into four thematic Crossroads:

1. Privacy vs. Intellectual Property: Examining tensions between personal data protection, intellectual property and technological innovation.
2. Trust in Data Processing and Algorithm Design: Exploring trust, accountability, transparency and fairness in data-driven systems.
3. Data Ownership: Investigating the rights, responsibilities and competing interests associated with data access, control and exploitation.
4. Empowering Individuals in the Digital Economy: Examining how legal and technological mechanisms can support individual autonomy and digital rights.

Each Crossroad developed a discussion game related to its research concerns.

The games are intended to facilitate knowledge exchange, ethical reasoning and discussion. Their specific educational effectiveness has not been demonstrated through independently validated learning assessments.

LeADS developed four original educational board and card games addressing legal, ethical and technological questions associated with data science and the digital economy.

The games were created by interdisciplinary teams of early-stage researchers organised into the project’s four thematic Crossroads.

Their purpose was to translate specialist research findings into accessible learning and discussion activities for both professional and general audiences.

1. Know-IT-all! – Crossroad 1

Know-IT-all! is an educational trivia game designed to introduce questions related to artificial intelligence, technology companies, personal data and intellectual property.

The game uses six thematic decks of printable question cards.

Documented themes:

• Artificial Intelligence.
• Big Tech.
• Curiosity.
• Data as Commodity.
• Intellectual Property.
• Privacy.

Game characteristics:

• Format: Educational trivia board/card game.
• Main learning approach: Knowledge questions organised into thematic categories.
• Educational focus: Digital literacy, privacy, intellectual property and ethical questions concerning technology.
• Physical components: Six printable question-card decks are publicly available.
• Documentation: The Zenodo repository contains the six card sets but does not establish a complete consolidated game kit with independently verified rules and components.

Know-IT-all! – Printable Question Cards (Zenodo)

2. Jury Trials (Green v Blue) – Crossroad 2

Jury Trials (Green v Blue) is an educational discussion game developed by researchers from the project’s second Crossroad, which addressed trust in data processing and algorithm design.

The game uses legal and technological scenarios to structure discussion, argumentation and examination of competing positions.

Game characteristics:

• Format: Educational discussion and argumentation game using printable cards.
• Principal approach: Contrasting positions and structured consideration of legal and technological issues.
• Educational focus: Trust, legal reasoning, data processing and responsible technological decisions.
• Physical components: Printable game cards.
• Documentation: The public Zenodo repository provides a game instruction document and a separate collection of cards.

The title identifies two opposing sides, Green and Blue. However, the exact scoring procedure, player numbers, timing and turn structure have not been independently extracted from the complete instructions.

Jury Trials (Green v Blue) – Instructions and Cards (Zenodo)

3. SynergyLegal – Crossroad 3

SynergyLegal is a card-based challenge game designed for participants with basic knowledge of internet-related issues.

Players encounter everyday situations and must identify appropriate responses using information provided through complementary skill cards.

The game encourages discussion about possible solutions and the legal or technological knowledge required to address particular challenges.

Game characteristics:

• Format: Printable educational board and card game.
• Principal approach: Challenge-solving through the application of knowledge and skill cards.
• Educational focus: Digital problems, responsible decision-making, legal awareness and interdisciplinary reasoning.
• Game materials: Mission cards, complementary skill cards, game board, score chart and correct-answer sheet.
• Documentation: The Zenodo repository also includes game instructions and printing instructions.

Documented educational mechanisms:

• Presentation of everyday digital challenges.
• Selection and use of relevant skill cards.
• Application of information to practical situations.
• Discussion of alternative solutions.
• Feedback through an answer sheet and scoring materials.

SynergyLegal provides one of the clearest examples in the collection of a game activity intended to connect specific information with practical problem-solving.

SynergyLegal – Complete Printable Game Resources (Zenodo)

4. Privacylandia – Crossroad 4

Privacylandia is an original educational board game developed within the fourth LeADS Crossroad, which focused on empowering individuals in the digital economy.

The game addresses privacy and the relationship between digital technologies, personal data and individual rights.

Game characteristics:

• Format: Original educational board game.
• Educational focus: Privacy, data protection and individual empowerment.
• Development: LeADS researchers associated with the fourth Crossroad.
• Documentation: The game is identified by the project consortium and appears among the research outputs indexed through CORDIS and OpenAIRE.

The complete rules and physical components of Privacylandia have not been independently examined in this review. Consequently, detailed mechanics, player counts, game duration and scoring procedures are not reported.

LeADS – Project Results and Game Records

Game development and publication

The games were developed during the LeADS research programme and presented as part of the project’s final dissemination activities in Brussels.

CORDIS identifies four discussion board games among the completed project outputs.

The Zenodo repositories provide permanent records for the games, including materials deposited during the project and versions published or updated subsequently.

Game approach

The appropriate classification is Custom-Designed Educational Games.

LeADS developed original educational tabletop activities rather than adapting existing commercial board games.

The collection includes different educational formats, from knowledge-based trivia to challenge-solving and structured discussion. These differences should be preserved when analysing the project from a Board Game-Based Learning perspective.

LeADS integrated educational discussion games into an interdisciplinary research and training programme connecting law, data science and the ethical governance of digital technologies.

The games were developed as tools for communicating research findings, stimulating discussion and making complex legal and technological issues more accessible to different audiences.

The methodology is based on the translation of specialist research into interactive learning experiences, rather than exclusively on conventional lectures or written information.

Pedagogical foundations

• Game-Based Learning: Research topics are presented through educational tabletop activities involving questions, challenges and discussion.
• Interdisciplinary learning: Legal concepts and technical knowledge are considered together within the same educational situations.
• Scenario-based learning: Everyday digital problems provide contexts for applying legal and technological reasoning.
• Active learning: Participants respond to questions, consider situations and formulate possible solutions.
• Critical reflection: Discussion activities encourage consideration of legal and ethical implications beyond purely technical functionality.
• Knowledge application: Some games require participants to select information and apply it to specific challenges.
• Social learning: Game interactions create opportunities for exchanging knowledge and examining different perspectives.
• Science communication: Research findings are translated into accessible educational formats intended for non-specialist audiences.

Development process

LeADS organised its interdisciplinary research into four thematic Crossroads, each involving researchers working on related legal and technical challenges.

The research conducted by these teams informed the development of four educational discussion games.

Documented methodological stages:

1. Research: Researchers investigated legal, ethical and technological issues within their respective Crossroads.
2. Content selection: Relevant themes and problems were identified for communication to wider audiences.
3. Educational translation: Specialist information was organised into questions, situations, missions or card-based activities.
4. Game development: The teams created original tabletop resources connected to their research topics.
5. Material production: Printable cards, boards, instructions and supporting materials were prepared.
6. Public presentation: The games were introduced during the project’s final conference activities in Brussels.
7. Open dissemination: Game resources were published through online repositories and linked to the European project.

Different learning mechanisms

The games do not all use the same educational approach.

• Know-IT-all!: Organises knowledge into thematic trivia challenges, supporting familiarisation with digital and legal concepts.
• Jury Trials: Uses contrasting positions and discussion to address questions involving law, trust and technology.
• SynergyLegal: Requires participants to apply skill cards and available information to everyday challenges.
• Privacylandia: Addresses privacy and digital empowerment through an original educational board-game format whose complete mechanics require further verification.

Role of facilitators

The games were intended to make specialist information accessible to participants with different levels of expertise.

Facilitation may therefore be valuable for introducing unfamiliar legal concepts, explaining digital scenarios, supporting discussion and clarifying misunderstandings.

However, the available project-level documentation does not establish a common facilitator training programme or a uniform implementation procedure for all four games.

The individual game instructions should be consulted before defining the precise facilitator role for each title.

Reflection and debriefing

Discussion is an important part of the LeADS game collection, particularly in the games involving legal dilemmas, opposing positions and practical challenges.

Nevertheless, discussion during gameplay should not automatically be equated with a formally structured post-game debriefing process.

No common post-game reflection protocol covering all four games has been independently identified.

For educational implementation, structured reflection could help participants connect the scenarios encountered during gameplay with legal rights, ethical responsibilities and technological practices.

Methodological transferability

The availability of printable resources makes the games potentially useful in higher education, professional training, digital citizenship education and non-formal adult learning.

However, differences in the completeness of publicly available instructions and supporting materials may influence the extent to which each game can be replicated independently.

Educators should also ensure that the legal information used in the games remains accurate and appropriate to the jurisdiction and date of implementation.

LeADS was implemented between January 2021 and December 2024 as a Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network coordinated by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy.

The project combined interdisciplinary doctoral training, collaborative research, professional secondments, practical innovation laboratories and public engagement activities.

Its principal objective was to prepare researchers capable of integrating legal and ethical considerations into data science and technological innovation.

Participating organisations

• Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy): Project coordinator and interdisciplinary research and training.
• University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg): Research and training concerning data processing, technology and legal frameworks.
• Université de Toulouse (France): Technological and legal research activities.
• Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium): Research on data protection, digital regulation and interdisciplinary challenges.
• University of Piraeus Research Center (Greece): Research involving digital technologies, data governance and individual empowerment.
• Jagiellonian University (Poland): Legal research and interdisciplinary training.
• Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy): Research contributions involving data science, technology and legal questions.

Project implementation

LeADS recruited and trained 15 Early Stage Researchers through an interdisciplinary programme combining academic research and practical professional experience.

The training programme included five intensive General Training Modules addressing research methodology, law and digital technology, data analytics, innovation, entrepreneurship, and regulatory and ethical frameworks.

The project also organised Technology Innovation in Law Laboratories (TILLs), professional secondments, public seminars, collaborative research and dissemination activities.

Development of educational games

The four thematic Crossroads developed original discussion games intended to communicate their research findings to wider audiences.

The games were:

• Know-IT-all! – Crossroad 1.
• Jury Trials (Green v Blue) – Crossroad 2.
• SynergyLegal – Crossroad 3.
• Privacylandia – Crossroad 4.

Documented development and dissemination

1. 2021–2022: The consortium established its interdisciplinary research and training framework and organised collaborative activities around the four Crossroads.
2. 2023: Development and preparation of the educational discussion games. The repositories identify original game records dating from December 2023.
3. 2024: The project continued its research, training and dissemination activities and prepared its final educational outputs.
4. Final conference in Brussels: The four Crossroads presented their discussion games as tools for communicating research findings to the public.
5. 2024–2025: Game records and downloadable resources were published or updated through Zenodo, ensuring continued access after the project ended.

Implementation evidence

The European Commission’s final CORDIS reporting explicitly identifies four educational discussion board games as completed public engagement outputs.

The project’s final communication also confirms that the games were presented at its concluding conference in Brussels.

Public Zenodo repositories provide additional evidence that the games progressed beyond conceptual descriptions into printable educational resources.

However, the available sources do not establish the number of participants who played each game, the number of completed gameplay sessions or the educational settings in which all four games were independently implemented.

Evaluation approach

LeADS evaluated and reported its broader research, training and dissemination activities through the Horizon 2020 project reporting framework.

Nevertheless, a specific educational effectiveness study covering the four discussion games has not been identified.

Evidence limitations

• Gameplay participation: No consolidated figures for participants in individual games have been established.
• Implementation conditions: The frequency, duration and educational settings of gameplay are insufficiently documented at project level.
• Learning assessment: No validated pretest-posttest evaluation of knowledge acquisition has been identified.
• Critical thinking and argumentation: No quantitative evaluation of changes in these competences has been identified.
• Comparative effectiveness: No controlled comparison with lectures, case studies or alternative learning methods has been established.
• Long-term learning: Evidence of sustained changes in knowledge, attitudes or digital behaviour has not been identified.
• Game-level evaluation: No systematic comparison of the educational contributions of the four games has been identified.

Interpretation of the findings

The available documentation provides strong evidence of game development, completion and public dissemination.

It also demonstrates that the educational games were connected to substantial interdisciplinary research conducted by the consortium.

However, the documented achievements of the wider doctoral training programme cannot be attributed specifically to participation in the board games.

Similarly, the existence of downloadable resources and their presentation at public events do not establish measurable improvements in participants’ knowledge or competences.

Overall evaluation status

LeADS provides documented evidence of the development and dissemination of four original educational tabletop games.

Its game-specific implementation and evaluation evidence remains limited. The effectiveness of these games as educational interventions has not been independently established.

LeADS produced a collection of publicly accessible research and educational resources addressing the relationship between law, data science and the ethical use of digital technologies.

Its main Board Game-Based Learning outputs are four original discussion games developed by researchers working within the project’s thematic Crossroads.

1. Know-IT-all! – Educational Trivia Game

The game repository contains six printable sets of question cards covering Artificial Intelligence, Big Tech, Curiosity, Data as Commodity, Intellectual Property and Privacy.

The resources were developed by researchers associated with Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

The Zenodo record provides the six card decks as individual PDF files.

Know-IT-all! – Printable Trivia Card Collection (Zenodo)

2. Jury Trials (Green v Blue) – Educational Discussion Game

The public repository contains two principal PDF resources:

• Game instructions.
• Printable game cards.

The game was developed by researchers associated with the University of Luxembourg and the second LeADS Crossroad.

Jury Trials (Green v Blue) – Rules and Cards (Zenodo)

3. SynergyLegal – Educational Challenge Game

SynergyLegal provides one of the most complete publicly documented game packages in the collection.

Available resources:

• Mission and complementary skill cards.
• Printable game board.
• Score chart.
• Correct-answer sheet.
• Game instructions.
• Printing instructions.

The game was developed by Barbara da Rosa Lazarotto, Cristian Lepore and Aizhan Abdrassulova.

SynergyLegal – Printable Game Materials and Instructions (Zenodo)

4. Privacylandia – Educational Privacy Game

Privacylandia was developed by researchers from the fourth LeADS Crossroad, including Maciej Zuziak, Fatma Sümeyra Doğan, Christos Magkos and Armend Duzha.

The game is identified in the project’s final communication and indexed research outputs.

However, the complete downloadable package has not been independently examined during this review.

LeADS – CORDIS Results and Linked Research Outputs

5. Final Discussion Board Game Deliverable

CORDIS lists a final deliverable specifically dedicated to the project’s discussion board games.

This record provides official confirmation that the games formed part of the completed project outputs.

LeADS – Final Kit Discussion Board Game

6. Encyclopedia of Law and Data Science

The project developed interdisciplinary conceptual resources intended to establish a common language between legal scholars and data scientists.

These resources provide background knowledge for understanding the issues addressed in the educational games.

LeADS – Interdisciplinary Research and Educational Results

7. LeADS Research Publications

The consortium published scientific articles, working papers, doctoral research reports and accessible explanations of its main research findings.

The publications address questions concerning privacy, intellectual property, data governance, algorithmic fairness, artificial intelligence and individual rights.

LeADS – Publications and Research Outputs

8. Final Project Book and Public Engagement Resources

The project also produced a final publication and public communication materials explaining its research findings.

These include articles, videos and other dissemination resources intended to make the relationship between law and data science more accessible.

LeADS – Final Project Reporting

Resource accessibility

The original project website is currently displaying a maintenance notice. However, the project remains documented through CORDIS and its publicly accessible Zenodo repositories.

At least three of the four games have directly identifiable public repositories containing printable educational materials.

SynergyLegal and Jury Trials include explicit game instructions. Know-IT-all! provides its thematic card sets, while the complete rules and materials for Privacylandia require further examination.

The repositories make the resources publicly accessible, but the exact reuse licences and conditions for modifying or redistributing individual game files should be checked separately.

Replicability

The availability of printable materials supports educational reuse, particularly for games with complete instructions.

However, independent replication may require clarification of game-specific rules, facilitation procedures, player requirements and educational evaluation methods.

LeADS is a relevant case for the European Board Game-Based Learning Observatory because it developed four original educational tabletop games to communicate complex interdisciplinary research concerning law, data science and digital rights.

Its main methodological contribution lies in translating specialist academic knowledge into different interactive learning formats, including trivia, structured discussion and scenario-based problem-solving.

The project illustrates how educational games can support dialogue between technical experts, legal professionals and non-specialist audiences.

Methodological strengths

1. Multiple original games: Four distinct educational games were developed within the same European research programme.
2. Research-based educational content: The games draw on substantive interdisciplinary research conducted by the project’s thematic Crossroads.
3. Different game approaches: The collection combines knowledge questions, discussion activities and challenge-solving rather than relying on a single instructional format.
4. Interdisciplinary integration: Legal and technological concepts are presented together, reflecting the real-world connections between data science and regulatory frameworks.
5. Practical problem-solving: SynergyLegal explicitly requires participants to use information and skill cards to address everyday situations.
6. Argumentation and dialogue: Jury Trials provides a game format organised around contrasting perspectives and the examination of complex issues.
7. Accessible knowledge presentation: Know-IT-all! organises specialist topics into themed question decks that can introduce concepts to wider audiences.
8. Digital citizenship relevance: The games address subjects with direct implications for privacy, personal rights, technological responsibility and informed digital participation.
9. Research communication: The game collection offers an alternative to traditional academic dissemination by incorporating participant interaction.
10. Open educational materials: Public repositories preserve printable components and, for some games, instructions and supporting documentation.
11. Transferability: The formats may provide useful models for communicating research findings in other specialised domains.

Methodological limitations and considerations

1. Uneven integration of mechanics and learning: The four games use different approaches, and their educational mechanisms cannot be assumed to be equivalent.
2. Knowledge recall versus applied learning: Trivia games can support familiarisation with concepts but do not necessarily develop practical decision-making or critical thinking competences.
3. Limited game-specific evaluation: The reviewed sources do not provide validated evidence demonstrating improvements in knowledge, attitudes or skills.
4. Insufficient implementation data: The number of participants, completed gameplay sessions and educational conditions are not systematically documented.
5. Inconsistent documentation depth: Some games provide more complete resources than others, limiting comparative methodological analysis.
6. Facilitation requirements: Legal and technological questions may require support from knowledgeable facilitators to prevent misunderstandings or oversimplified interpretations.
7. Regulatory changes: Educational content concerning AI, data protection and digital legislation may require periodic updating as legal frameworks evolve.
8. Limited debriefing evidence: The project does not establish a shared post-game reflection protocol applicable to all four games.
9. Specialist terminology: Some educational content may remain challenging for participants without prior knowledge of law or data science.
10. Unverified learning transfer: Successful participation in discussions or card challenges does not automatically demonstrate improved real-world digital decision-making.

Connection with modern Board Game-Based Learning

LeADS represents the development of custom-designed educational games rather than the pedagogical adaptation of existing commercial board games.

However, the four games demonstrate different degrees of integration between educational content and game mechanics.

Know-IT-all! primarily presents knowledge through thematic questions. This approach can support recall and familiarisation, but the learning content is more easily separable from the underlying game structure.

SynergyLegal establishes a closer relationship between the educational objective and the activity required to play, because participants must apply information and skills to resolve specific situations.

Jury Trials introduces argumentation and contrasting perspectives, which may correspond more directly to the critical reasoning and communication competences associated with legal and ethical discussion.

Privacylandia offers a fourth educational format, although its full mechanics require examination before a detailed comparison can be made.

This diversity makes LeADS useful for distinguishing games that primarily transmit information from games that require participants to apply knowledge, justify decisions or engage in meaningful social interaction.

Relationship between research and gameplay

A distinctive aspect of LeADS is that its games were developed by researchers working on the scientific topics represented in the educational materials.

This strengthens the connection between research content and educational design.

However, disciplinary expertise does not automatically guarantee effective game design or educational impact.

Games developed by research teams should therefore be assessed both for the accuracy of their content and for the quality of their mechanics, usability, participant engagement and learning outcomes.

Implications for future BGBL initiatives

LeADS illustrates several considerations relevant to educational game development:

• Use original research findings as a starting point for educational game content.
• Select game mechanics according to the nature of the intended learning objectives.
• Distinguish activities based on factual recall from those involving applied reasoning and decision-making.
• Develop games that encourage participants to discuss competing ethical and legal perspectives.
• Provide complete game rules, printable materials and clear facilitator guidance.
• Use structured post-game reflection to connect the activity with the wider educational objectives.
• Adapt specialised terminology to the prior knowledge of different audiences.
• Establish procedures for updating game content when laws or technologies change.
• Document the number and characteristics of participants and the conditions of implementation.
• Evaluate knowledge, critical reasoning and decision-making through appropriate learning measures.
• Compare different game formats to investigate which approaches are most suitable for particular educational outcomes.

Overall assessment

LeADS provides a substantial example of educational tabletop game development within a European interdisciplinary research programme.

Its strongest contributions are the creation of four identifiable games, their connection with specialist research and the availability of printable resources through public repositories.

The project also demonstrates how different game formats can be used to communicate complex legal and technological questions to broader audiences.

Its main methodological limitations concern the absence of systematic game-specific implementation data, independently validated educational outcomes and consistent documentation of facilitation and debriefing.

For the European BGBL Observatory, LeADS is particularly relevant as a case study of research-based educational game design, interdisciplinary science communication and the differences between knowledge transmission, applied problem-solving and structured discussion through tabletop activities.