Living Labs and Game-Based Learning to Checkmate Climate Misinformation

About the project

Living Labs and Game-Based Learning to Checkmate Climate Misinformation, known as Checkmate, is an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership in the field of youth coordinated by Ecological Future Education (Latvia). Launched in April 2025, it brings together EMOTiC (Austria), Szatyor Közösség a Környezettudatos Életmód Támogatásáért Egyesület (Hungary), Asociatia Consultantilor in Dezvoltare Comunitara (ACDC, Romania) and Roes Cooperativa (Greece).

Climate misinformation undermines scientific understanding and delays climate action. Today's young people are digitally fluent, yet they are increasingly exposed to misleading narratives, AI-generated falsehoods and emotionally charged disinformation online. Checkmate aims to help them become truth-seeking changemakers who can identify, analyse and counter climate myths and fake news, and to give the youth workers who support them the tools to do the same.

The project has three objectives: to help young people critically evaluate digital content and recognise climate misinformation; to inspire them to become advocates and leaders against misinformation and for climate action in their communities; and to equip them with the skills and confidence to counter climate anxiety by taking an active part in solutions.

Its approach is participatory, gamified and experiential, and it is built around four results. The Climate Myth-Busting Challenge is an interactive quiz on the 30 most common climate myths. The Fact-Checking Toolkit gives youth workers guides, hands-on exercises and digital tools for verifying sources and building digital literacy. The Multi-Role Simulation Game lets participants take on different stakeholder roles and work through misinformation scenarios together. Living Labs for Game-Based Learning offer real-life spaces where young people and youth workers test, co-create and adapt these tools.

Checkmate is designed for youth workers active in non-formal education, particularly in youth development, digital literacy and environmental education, and for young people aged 15 to 25 who are digitally engaged and concerned about climate change but vulnerable to misinformation. The partnership aims to train and equip at least 100 youth workers and to empower at least 400 young people to engage critically with climate information.

By blending media literacy, critical thinking and sustainability education, the project expects to increase climate literacy among young people, strengthen their sense of civic responsibility and social inclusion, and open up youth-led initiatives with leadership roles and safe spaces for discussion. Participants will build green and digital competences that matter both for civic life and for future employment.

For youth workers, games and Living Labs turn a heavy topic into hands-on learning, where young people do not simply hear the facts but practise questioning sources, testing claims and speaking up for climate truth in their communities and online.