.
UPGRADE Project
Unlocking Potential through Gaming, Research, Accessibility, Development, and informal Education
Video games as a tool for promoting social inclusion, raising awareness of accessibility, and supporting the personal development of young people.
Program: Erasmus+
Action type: Cooperation partnerships in youth (KA220-YOU)
Project number: 2025-1-AT01-KA220-YOU-000362687
Project duration: 01.09.2025 – 29-02-2028
EU Grant: 400.000 €
National Agency awarding the grant: Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD – GmbH)
Coordinator: Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen Österreichs (Austra)
Partners: Silesian University of Technology (Poland), Università degli Studi di Bergamo (Italy), Thomas More Kempen (Belgium), Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (Austria), Aias Bologna Onlus (Italy), e-NABLE Greece (Greece)
Objectives. The objective of the project is to empower young people by using video games as tools for social inclusion, raising awareness of accessibility, and personal development. The project also aims to equip youth workers with practical knowledge and methods to support young people in shaping games as an inclusive and empowering space. An important goal is to develop digital skills and increase employment opportunities through gaming-related activities, particularly among young people at risk of exclusion. The project also promotes responsible gaming, drawing attention to risks such as social isolation, addiction, and lack of accessibility.
Activities. The UPGRADE project involves the development and implementation of an online community center dedicated to inclusive gaming and skills development. The project will create training modules on challenges related to accessibility in games, acquiring gaming skills to increase employability, and digital ethics. Practical Living Labs are also planned, where young people and youth workers will jointly create solutions, test adaptive configurations for games, and co-create content for the social platform. The activities will be complemented by peer-to-peer workshops involving youth workers and accessibility experts.
Impact. The project will deliver tangible results in the form of a digital, interactive platform (UPGRADE Community Hub) and a structured and applicable strategy for using video games in skills development and social inclusion activities. Co-created training materials and guidelines to support youth workers will also be developed. The project will contribute to the recognition of video games as a tool for social inclusion and informal education, and to strengthening the competences of youth workers in increasing the employability of young people with disabilities.
