From education to employment: How a board game makes inequalities visible

What resources do young people really need to enter the labour market? The NEXT-UP Employability Game makes this tangible: players collect cultural, social, symbolic, and economic capital – and experience how unevenly these resources are distributed.

At a workshop in Helsinki on 9 October 2026, participants tested the game. Many recognised their own challenges in the scenarios – and realised that barriers are often systemic, not just individual. The reflection cards sparked particularly lively discussions.

A great example of participatory research in the Horizon Europe project NEXT-UP: young people co-develop tools to better understand and improve transitions from education to work.

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