On November 15–18, the partners of ESCAPE-ED (ESCAPE to learn: Enhancing social and emotional skills through game-based digital learning) held the project’s Kick-Off Meeting in Iași, Romania, hosted by Școala Primară Lorelay (Lorelay School).
Over four productive days, we met in person to introduce our teams, align on the project scope, and agree on the first steps of a two-year work plan focused on social-emotional learning (SEL) in primary education—through the design and implementation of educational escape rooms, both physical and digital.
What is ESCAPE-ED?
ESCAPE-ED is an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership in School Education (KA220-SCH) running from November 2025 to October 2027. Its core objective is clear:
To develop and evaluate an innovative methodology based on educational escape rooms that strengthens the social-emotional competences of primary school students.
The project will combine research, teacher training, classroom piloting, and impact assessment, ensuring that the final methodology is practical, engaging, and scalable across different school contexts.
What we worked on in Iași
During the Kick-Off Meeting, the consortium made strong progress on the foundations of the project:
- Defined the first tasks and internal structure of the project, including coordination routines and workflow.
- Started the literature review on social-emotional learning (SEL) and game-based learning approaches.
- Designed initial ideas and themes for future educational escape rooms (physical and digital), aligned with key SEL competences.
- Agreed on next steps and deadlines for the first phase of deliverables.
EIMBG’s role in the project
At EIMBG – European Institute for Modern Board Games, we contribute our expertise in gamification, board game-based learning, and educational escape room design to ensure the methodology is both pedagogically robust and highly motivating for children.
In particular, EIMBG will play a key role in:
- Supporting the development of a structured escape room methodology for primary education.
- Leading the creation of thematic escape room models focused on SEL competences.
- Contributing to quality assurance and validation, ensuring the approach is evidence-based and classroom-ready.
What comes next?
Following the kick-off, the consortium will continue with the first development phase, focusing on:
- Deepening the research base behind the methodology.
- Structuring the first versions of the teacher guide and implementation framework.
- Moving from initial concepts to the first prototypes of escape room experiences to be tested and refined.
We will soon share more updates about ESCAPE-ED, including examples of the activities that will be implemented in classrooms.
Project Partners
🇷🇴 Școala Primară Lorelay – Lorelay School
🇨🇿 ZŠ a MŠ Dr. Edvarda Beneše
🇮🇹 F. Marro di Villar Perosa
🇪🇸 Colegio Sagrada Familia Jesuitinas
🇪🇸 EIMBG – European Institute for Modern Board Games