Gothenburg – On 2 March 2017, REVES, together with other representatives of the project consortium, took part in the presentation of the Social PlaNet online role-play game to train people who face disadvantages in the labour market to become social entrepreneurs, developed in the framework of the Social Seducement project and co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme.

Luigi Martignetti (REVES Secretary General) opened the session by stressing the importance of learning how to make the creation of social economy enterprises more attractive (e.g. for young people), and how to manage them. Social PlaNet is a first step in this direction.

The Social seducement has been thought, as recalled by Renate Goergen (Le Mat General director and brand manager) to synthesize this aspect with the ambition of creating a new culture for disabled and disadvantaged people, in order to manage their life in a way that was not limited to professional inclusion. Renate pointed out the importance of storytelling in this sense, as an effective means to show and share successful social economy entrepreneurial aspects and experiences, since “people learn by being inspired by what they are enthusiastic about”.

But how to apply the game in reality? Le Mat has been presented as a case of social franchising organisation for social enterprises running hotels, hostels and B&B’s. The first idea emerged in Trieste, Italy, more than 15 years ago, to be then spread also in other European countries. Elisabet Abrahamsson (Le Mat Europe) shared the story of Le Mat Sweden, reminding also – who would have though? – that the REVES board, in March 2010, was its very first host!

The meeting went ahead with the presentation of the Social PlaNet game by Kerstin Junge (Tavistock Institute, project leader) and a simulation of how it is played in reality by Joachim Keim (Coompanion Gothenburg) with the support of some volunteers from the public.

The consortium, supported by a number of facilitators from different countries, is now running a piloting phase in order to experiment the game. A conference will be held in Bruxelles on 7^th June to sum up relevant feedbacks and present the game to a wider public.

The next challenge? The translation of the concept in different contexts! A social economy school linked to a REVES member has already announced the interest to work on an updated version of the game.

We encourage all REVES members to use the game, which will be distributed for free. If you would like to keep updated about the project and/ or become a facilitator to offer support, information and guidance to gamers, contact us! office@revesnetwork.eu