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EPIC-WE

EPIC-WE was a Horizon Europe-funded project that aimed to get young people to reflect on European values & culture and think about their own future by making games. These games - from board game to video game - were created by young people in so-called cultural game jams, in which the participants created a game inspired by cultural heritage in a short period of time.

Project

Themes

EPIC-WE was a Horizon Europe-funded project that aimed to get young people to reflect on European values & culture and think about their own future by making games. These games - from board game to video game - were created by young people in so-called cultural game jams, in which the participants created a game inspired by cultural heritage in a short period of time.

EPIC-WE cultural game jams at sound & Vision

EPIC-WE: Empowered Participation through Ideating Cultural Worlds and Environments

EPIC-WE offered young people the chance to shape their future by creating games during a game jam inspired by culture. In addition, the games helped them reflect on important European values, such as freedom and democracy. But what exactly is a game jam?

A game jam is a kind of competition - or rather a challenge - in which a game is created within a short period of time around a theme. During the EPIC-WE cultural game jams, participants received a master class in Game Design, visited the Media Museum and the depots of Sound & Vision for inspiration, developed a game concept through various brainstorming activities and then crafted a paper prototype of their game. 

These EPIC-WE cultural game jams were organized in hubs across Europe - from Aarhus (Denmark) to Óbidos (Portugal) and Hilversum (the Netherlands). The game jams braught together youth, education, and creative cultural institutions, with European cultural heritage always at the center. 

Want to know more about the project? Check out the project’s website!

Role Sound & Vision: from collection to game

The Hilversum Hub, a dynamic collaboration in the Netherlands, united three key partners: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences as a higher education research entity, Dropstuff Media representing the creative industries, and Sound & Vision as a cultural-historical partner. With Sound & Vision taking the lead, the hub actively contributed to the EPIC-WE project by formulating research protocols and participating in data collection. At the core of the Hilversum Hub’s strategic focus was the development of a total of four cultural game jams in the Netherlands, emphasizing thematic issues linked to current societal problems.

Events

In addition to organizing cultural game jams, we develop training courses to ensure that others can also get started with organizing game jams for youth empowerment. The EPIC-WE team attends various industry events to share knowledge:

Cultural Game Jams

Useful resources

To make the research and results of EPIC-WE accessible, we have collected a number of resources. For example, take a look at the EPIC-WE Resource Website for all the games created during the project. 

Publications
Resource Website
Blogs

    Partners

    Aarhus University, Lusófona University, CICANT, Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld & Geluid, Filmby Aarhus, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Dropstuff Media, Obidos Municipal Council, Battlesheep, MEET Digital Communication, Creative Business Network, AROS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, KEA European Affairs.

    The project was funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 101095058.

    More info? Take a look at the EPIC-WE website!