Eco Aliens Trip: Global Citizenship Education Game

Aims of the tool

The aims of the initiatives described in the sources relate to the funding project (ACCESS), the educational philosophy (Global Citizenship Education), and the specific learning goals of the *Eco AliensTrip* game.

### 1. Aim of the ACCESS Project

The project, Active Citizenship to Cooperate for Equality, Sustainability and Solidarity, or ACCESS, is funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme. It was developed by a consortium of non-governmental organizations from three European countries, led by the French NGO Le Partenariat.

The main objective of the ACCESS project is to support the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities across Europe. This inclusion is supported through Global Citizenship Education (GCE), which is described as an alternative educational approach that fosters social cohesion and mutual understanding. The project is running from 2022 to 2025.

Specifically, the project aims to provide youth workers with ready-to-use educational activities (games), along with a toolbox on Global Citizenship Education and a toolkit for organizing inclusive mobility programmes.

### 2. Aim of Global Citizenship Education (GCE)

Global Citizenship and International Solidarity Education aims to change individuals’ mindsets and behaviours. The overarching goal is for participants to contribute both individually and collectively to the building of a just, supportive, and sustainable world.

The learning framework for GCE is divided into three parts:

* INFORM and RAISE AWARENESS – This involves helping individuals understand the connections between their lives and the lives of people in different parts of the world. Individuals should become aware of certain realities concerning climate change and its impacts.
* UNDERSTAND – This means developing the skills, behaviours, and values needed to take action in response to climate change, specifically by promoting cooperation, solidarity, and a sense of responsibility. Through activities like gameplay, participants become aware of environmental issues, develop critical thinking, and reflect on the impact of their choices.
* ACT – This involves learning to be a citizen at a local level (in one’s school, neighborhood, or city) and at an international level, recognizing that all people are responsible for the future of the planet.

### 3. Pedagogical Objectives of *Eco AliensTrip*

The game is designed for secondary school pupils, high school students, and people with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities. At the end of the activity, the participants should be able to achieve the following pedagogical objectives:

* Discover the world, including geography (continents, poles) and cultures.
* Understand the causes and consequences of climate change.
* Imagine solutions to combat climate change.

The game’s narrative emphasizes the need for humans to stop harming the planet, which is their only home, and calls for global cooperation, social justice, and immediate action against burning fuels.

Description of the tool

The description of this initiative focuses on the *Eco AliensTrip* board game, which is the tangible result of the Active Citizenship to Cooperate for Equality, Sustainability and Solidarity (ACCESS) project, built upon the framework of Global Citizenship Education (GCE).

### The *Eco AliensTrip* Board Game

*Eco AliensTrip* is an educational board game designed for secondary school pupils, high school students, and people with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities. The game is a ready-to-use educational activity provided for youth workers through the Erasmus+-funded ACCESS project.

**Narrative and Setting:**
The game centers on four Martian siblings: Da, De, Do, and Du. They travel to Earth, intending to visit a gorge near Valencia, Spain, which their grandparents described as a "paradise" during visits in the 1920s and 1930s. Upon landing, their excitement turns to horror as they find the location to be dry, polluted, and desert-like, with the clear water and rich vegetation gone. They decide they must understand how this "paradise was lost" and embark on a global journey to uncover the causes and consequences of climate change.

**Gameplay Mechanics:**
The participants are divided into four teams, each representing one of the alien siblings. They move around a large planisphere-shaped game board using a dice with 1, 2, and 3 faces.

* Teams move by rolling the dice, and movement is contingent on answering questions.
* If a team stops on an **orange square**, they must answer a question card corresponding to the continent or pole they are on. There are 124 question cards divided by continent and pole. A correct answer allows the team to move forward two additional squares.
* **Blue squares** are safe places where nothing happens.
* **Pink squares** are teleportation slots, requiring the team to answer a question related to the North or South Pole.
* When a team crosses a border into a new continent, a common time is provided for all teams to read the content presentation or "history map" of that new continent, which is materialized by booklets placed on each table.
* The ultimate goal is to complete the journey, and the first team to do so wins, or alternatively, the team with the most points is announced as the winner.

**Educational Outcomes:**
The pedagogical objectives of the activity are that participants will be able to discover the world (geography and cultures), understand the causes and consequences of climate change, and imagine solutions to combat climate change. The activity includes a preparation session to ensure participants have some prior knowledge of the location of continents and climate change.

The activity concludes with a group reflection on climate change and its global impacts, followed by the reading of a final letter from the Martians. The letter urges humans to stop harming the planet, calls for global cooperation, social justice (feeding the whole world instead of overproducing for the rich), stopping the burning of fuels, and spreading education and taking action.

### Context of the ACCESS Project

The game was published in 2025 as part of the ACCESS project, led by the French NGO Le Partenariat. ACCESS, which runs from 2022 to 2025, stands for Active Citizenship to Cooperate for Equality, Sustainability and Solidarity.

The objective of the ACCESS project is to support the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities across Europe. This goal is pursued using Global Citizenship Education (GCE)—an alternative educational approach designed to foster social cohesion and mutual understanding. The project aims to equip youth workers with ready-to-use educational activities (like the game), a GCE toolbox, and a toolkit for organizing inclusive mobility programmes.

### Global Citizenship Education (GCE) Approach

The overall philosophy driving the game is GCE, which seeks to change individuals’ mindsets and behaviours, thereby contributing to the creation of a just, supportive, and sustainable world. GCE operates through three core steps:

1. **INFORM and RAISE AWARENESS:** Helping individuals understand connections between their own lives and the lives of others globally, and becoming aware of realities concerning climate change and its impacts.
2. UNDERSTAND: Developing the skills, behaviours, and values needed for action, promoting cooperation, solidarity, and a sense of responsibility, while encouraging critical thinking about the impact of personal choices.
3. ACT:Learning to be a citizen at local and international levels, acknowledging shared responsibility for the planet’s future.