PLAY FOR THE PLANET

Funding programme

Erasmus+ KA220-SCH – Cooperation Partnerships in School Education

Project reference

2022-1-ES01-KA220-SCH-000085070

Period

2022–2024

Coordinating organisation

Asociación DESES 3, Medina del Campo, Spain

Participating countries

Spain, Greece, Türkiye; additional partner country to be verified

Official project website

Visit official website

Play for the Planet aims to promote environmental awareness and sustainable behaviour among primary school pupils through educational board games, digital games and experiential learning activities.

The project focuses particularly on plastic pollution, the environmental impact of single-use plastics, recycling and the development of responsible everyday habits.

Specific learning objectives

• Environmental awareness: Increase pupils’ understanding of plastic pollution and its consequences for ecosystems, natural resources and environmental sustainability.
• Responsible consumption: Encourage pupils to recognise the environmental implications of single-use plastics and explore more sustainable consumption habits.
• Recycling and waste management: Introduce concepts related to plastic collection, recycling, waste reduction and responsible waste management.
• Green competences: Promote knowledge, attitudes and practical skills that support more environmentally responsible decisions.
• Problem-solving and decision-making: Engage pupils in game-based situations that require them to consider environmental problems and make choices related to recycling and sustainability.
• Motivation and engagement: Make environmental education more accessible and enjoyable through interactive gameplay and hands-on learning experiences.
• Teacher competence: Equip teachers and educational professionals with resources and methodological guidance for integrating board games and digital games into sustainability education.
• Education for sustainable development: Contribute to the educational objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda by promoting environmental responsibility from an early age.

Intended learning outcomes

The project seeks to increase environmental knowledge, encourage reflection on everyday consumption and waste practices, and promote positive attitudes towards sustainability.

These objectives reflect the project’s educational intentions. The available public documentation does not establish the magnitude of measurable changes in pupils’ knowledge, attitudes or behaviour.

Play for the Planet developed an original educational board game entitled European Plastic’s Race, designed to introduce pupils to plastic recycling and environmental sustainability through interactive gameplay.

Game developed: European Plastic’s Race

The game uses a recycling race as its central theme, providing a playful context for exploring plastic waste management, environmental responsibility and the importance of recycling.

Documented characteristics

• Original educational design: The board game was specifically developed by the Erasmus+ partnership rather than selected from existing commercial games.
• Environmental theme: Gameplay focuses on plastic pollution, recycling and the importance of more sustainable practices.
• Race-based game concept: The project describes European Plastic’s Race as a competitive recycling race intended to engage participants with environmental challenges.
• Physical game: The project provides downloadable game elements and a separate set of playing rules.
• Educational purpose: The game is intended to help teachers introduce sustainability concepts and encourage pupils to reflect on environmental responsibility.

Complementary digital game

The consortium also developed a multimedia game under the European Plastic’s Race name.

In the digital game, players manage a recycling company competing to collect plastic waste in European cities while dealing with challenges such as urban traffic and collection efficiency.

This scenario provides a practical representation of recycling logistics and creates opportunities to discuss waste collection and environmental management.

The digital game is a complementary project output and should not be treated as an additional physical board game.

Game approach: Custom-Designed Educational Games.

Target audience: Primary school pupils, particularly those aged 6–12.

Availability: The consortium provides access to the board game’s rules and printable components through the project website. The digital game is also distributed through project resources and selected application platforms.

Documentation limitations: Although downloadable rules are advertised on the official website, a complete technical verification of the physical game’s components, player count, duration, scoring system and detailed mechanics was not possible from the accessible sources reviewed.

Games developed: One original educational board game, European Plastic’s Race, accompanied by a multimedia game.

Play for the Planet applies a purpose-designed Game-Based Learning approach to environmental education, combining an original physical board game, a complementary digital game and methodological resources for teachers.

The project seeks to transform plastic pollution and recycling into accessible educational experiences through gameplay, hands-on participation and the discussion of environmental challenges.

Documented methodological components

1. Environmental contextualisation: The educational activities address plastic pollution, the environmental effects of single-use products and the importance of more sustainable consumption and recycling practices.
2. Purpose-designed educational game: European Plastic’s Race provides a game-based environment centred on recycling, intended to make environmental concepts accessible and engaging for school pupils.
3. Hands-on learning: The physical game allows participants to interact with tangible game components, connecting environmental content with an active learning experience.
4. Complementary digital learning: The multimedia version provides an additional interactive environment for exploring plastic collection, recycling and environmental management.
5. Teacher preparation: A dedicated training and piloting guide supports teachers in understanding Game-Based Learning, gamification and the educational use of the developed games.
6. Educational piloting: The project included testing activities to collect feedback on the games and their potential application in educational contexts.
7. Dissemination and transfer: Multilingual resources and educational events were used to encourage adoption by schools and other educational organisations.

Facilitator’s role

Teachers are the primary educational facilitators. The project aims to equip them with the knowledge and resources required to introduce the games, explain their educational purpose and integrate them into sustainability-related teaching activities.

Facilitation may include explaining the environmental context, supporting gameplay, clarifying concepts and encouraging pupils to connect the game with real-life examples of plastic consumption and recycling.

Reflection and debriefing

The project addresses environmental awareness and behavioural change, making reflection on everyday plastic consumption educationally relevant.

However, the publicly accessible material reviewed does not establish a specific compulsory debriefing procedure, its duration or a standardised set of reflection questions. These elements should be examined in the full teacher-training guide before attributing them to the project’s formal methodology.

Relationship between games and learning objectives

The physical game uses a recycling race as an educational representation of plastic waste management, while the digital game introduces the management of plastic collection within an urban environment.

The educational connection between these game situations and environmental responsibility is explicit at the thematic level. A detailed mechanics-to-learning-objectives analysis would require examination of the complete physical game rules.

Play for the Planet was implemented through a two-year Erasmus+ cooperation partnership involving educational organisations and specialists in game development and environmental education.

Documented implementation activities

• Project preparation: The first transnational project meeting took place in Spain on 22–23 January 2023, establishing the development process for the physical and digital educational games.
• Game development: The partnership designed and produced European Plastic’s Race as an original board game, together with a multimedia game focused on plastic recycling and environmental sustainability.
• Internal piloting: During the transnational meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, on 26–27 November 2023, project partners tested the physical and digital games and discussed their further development.
• School-based testing: On 27 March 2024, the Greek partner school in Karditsa organised an activity in which students presented project outputs and participated in game-based environmental education activities with teachers.
• Teacher-training resources: The partnership developed methodological guidance addressing the use of gamification and Game-Based Learning in educational settings, together with recommendations for implementing the project games.
• International dissemination: The project organised dissemination activities and published multilingual resources intended to increase the accessibility of its educational results.
• Final educational outputs: By 2024, the consortium had produced the original board game, its multimedia counterpart and a guide supporting teacher preparation and educational piloting.

Evaluation approach

The project work plan included piloting and the collection of feedback from teachers and pupils to inform the development of its educational resources.

Available partner publications confirm testing activities involving the project games and the preparation of a guide addressing educational implementation.

Available evidence

The public documentation reviewed confirms the production and dissemination of the educational games and the implementation of selected testing and dissemination activities.

However, the reviewed sources do not provide sufficiently detailed quantitative outcome data, including sample sizes, validated learning measures, statistical results or comparison groups, to establish the effectiveness of the intervention.

Evidence classification: Documented educational resource development and practical piloting. Quantitative evidence of learning effectiveness was not established from the publicly accessible sources reviewed.

Evaluation limitations: The existence of piloting and feedback collection should not be interpreted as evidence of demonstrated improvements in environmental knowledge, attitudes or behaviour. Additional evaluation reports would be required to assess the magnitude and durability of learning outcomes.

Project status: Completed on 30 November 2024.

Play for the Planet developed educational resources intended to support the integration of environmental sustainability into school education through board games, digital games and teacher preparation.

Available resources

• European Plastic’s Race – Board Game: An original physical educational game introducing plastic recycling and environmental sustainability through a race-based gaming experience.
• Board Game Rules: Downloadable instructions explaining how to use the physical educational game.
• Printable Game Components: Downloadable materials intended to facilitate access to the physical game and support its use in educational activities.
• European Plastic’s Race – Multimedia Game: A complementary digital game in which players manage plastic collection in European cities, combining environmental themes with interactive challenges.
• Teacher Training and Piloting Guide: A methodological publication addressing gamification, Game-Based Learning, teaching applications and guidance for implementing the project’s educational games.
• Multilingual Project Resources: The official project website provides content in English, Spanish, Greek and Turkish.
• Dissemination Materials: Project brochures, newsletters, partner reports and educational announcements documenting the development and promotion of the games.

Accessibility and transferability

The availability of printable board game materials, multilingual information and teacher guidance supports potential implementation in other educational settings.

The physical game and its downloadable components offer an alternative to the digital version, allowing educators to select a format according to their available resources and learning environment.

The project’s official website displays a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) licence symbol. However, the precise licensing terms accompanying individual game files and software should be checked before modification or redistribution.

Documentation limitations

The complete teacher-training guide and detailed physical game rules were not fully accessible for independent review at the time of this assessment. Their availability is documented by the partners, but detailed methodological features and technical specifications require further verification.

Play for the Planet represents an example of purpose-designed Board Game-Based Learning focused on environmental sustainability and the prevention of plastic pollution.

Its principal contribution is the development of an original educational board game, supported by a complementary digital game and teacher-training resources, to address an environmental challenge relevant to primary school education.

Methodological strengths

1. Clear thematic and educational focus. The project concentrates on plastic pollution, recycling and responsible consumption, providing a specific and accessible environmental topic around which educational activities can be organised.
2. Original educational game development. Rather than relying exclusively on existing commercial games, the partnership developed a game intended to connect plastic recycling with an engaging gameplay experience.
3. Combination of physical and digital formats. The development of a physical board game and a complementary multimedia game offers different opportunities for educational implementation and may support varied teaching preferences and resources.
4. Practical representation of environmental challenges. The recycling-race concept and the digital representation of plastic collection provide concrete situations through which pupils can explore aspects of environmental management.
5. Support for teachers. The inclusion of a teacher-training and piloting guide recognises the importance of preparing educators to integrate the games into educational activities.
6. Multilingual accessibility. The availability of resources in several European languages supports dissemination and potential implementation beyond the original partnership.
7. Documented piloting. The project reports practical game-testing activities, providing opportunities for formative feedback during development.

Methodological limitations

The correspondence between the game’s detailed mechanics and its educational objectives cannot be fully assessed without examining the complete physical game rules.

A recycling-themed race may create engagement and introduce environmental concepts, but successful gameplay does not necessarily demonstrate understanding of plastic pollution, sustainable consumption or the environmental consequences of different behaviours.

Another important consideration is the distinction between recycling and prevention. Although recycling is relevant to plastic waste management, environmental education should also address reducing unnecessary plastic consumption, reusing materials and preventing waste generation.

The publicly reviewed material does not establish a standardised debriefing procedure that systematically connects in-game decisions with these wider environmental concepts.

Furthermore, the available implementation documentation does not provide sufficient quantitative evidence to establish learning gains or sustained changes in environmental behaviour attributable to the games.

Ludus Magnus assessment

Play for the Planet offers a useful example of educational board game development linked to a clearly defined environmental challenge. Its physical and digital resources provide opportunities for introducing plastic recycling and environmental responsibility through active learning experiences.

The project’s methodological potential would be strongest when gameplay is integrated into a broader teaching sequence including prior knowledge activation, facilitated play, critical discussion and practical activities connecting environmental concepts with everyday behaviour.

These recommendations should be understood as Ludus Magnus methodological considerations rather than as verified components of every activity implemented by the project.

Future evaluation would benefit from a detailed analysis of the game’s mechanics, documentation of facilitator practices, validated measures of environmental knowledge and attitudes, and controlled or longitudinal studies examining behavioural transfer.

Independence of assessment

Play for the Planet was developed by an external European consortium. This appraisal by Ludus Magnus is based on publicly accessible project documentation, partner publications and descriptions of the educational resources. It does not constitute direct observation of the complete intervention or an independent experimental assessment of the games’ effectiveness.