Briefly about the project

GenZ for Future Careers (Z-FUTURE) is a project aimed at strengthening the capacities of children and young people to understand and adopt the responsible and safe application of new modern information and communication technologies, developing skills in the field of technical culture, as well as guidance and support for successful entry into the video game industry and digital art, while promoting inclusion, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and above all, responsibility and safety in the digital world, which are extremely important for the health of children and young people when it comes to their online dimensions of life.

 

Project objectives

Through various methodologies (a series of educational, interactive and creative activities and competitions), the set goals are achieved:

• To empower young people for careers in the video game industry and digital arts by providing practical knowledge and skills.
• Promote inclusion and diversity through art and technology and the development of creativity and critical thinking.
• To raise the level of information and knowledge of young people about internet safety and encourage responsible online behavior.
• Connecting young people with experts from the video game industry and providing mentoring support for their career development.

Activities

• January 2025 - School lecture: "What is Global Game Jam - how to make a game in 48 hours"
• held in 5 high schools: Mijo Mirković School of Economics Rijeka, Andrija Ljudevit Adamić Private High School, First Sušačka Croatian Gymnasium in Rijeka, Civil Engineering Technical School in Rijeka, High School for Electrical Engineering and Computing
• 24 - 26/1/2025 - "Global Game Jam Rijeka 2025" competition (a two-day team competition in game or game concept development with expert mentoring)
• a record number of applicants, 60 of them, with 20 games produced, 3 of which were produced by high school students
• 11/2/2025 - Interactive lecture for students on safety in the online world and video games in English
• held in 3 high schools: Mijo Mirković School of Economics Rijeka, Andrija Ljudevit Adamić Private High School, First Sušačka Croatian Gymnasium in Rijeka
• April 2025 - Art competition "Character Design - Inclusive Video Game Superhero"
• The competition received as many as 38 applications from all over Croatia, among which 13 authors were awarded, of which the first 3 won the main prizes.
• 30 - 31/5/2025 - Exhibition of works from the art competition "Character Design - Inclusive Video Game Superhero" and award ceremony for the winners
• An exhibition of all submitted works was held at the Expo Gameri festival, and awards were given to the best 13 authors.

Project team

The project team consists of the 3rd Dragon Association as the project leader in partnership with secondary educational institutions in Rijeka (First Sušačka Croatian Gymnasium in Rijeka, Mijo Mirković Secondary School of Economics in Rijeka, Ljudevića Adamić Private Secondary School), the Association for Creative Media “RiCode”, the marketing agency Rivira doo and the Technical Culture Center Rijeka. This cooperation enables the integration of different expertise and resources, which increases the success of all activities. Through this network of partnerships, the 3rd Dragon Association ensures that all activities are carried out with maximum efficiency, quality and impact on the target group of young people.

Project duration

14.11.2024. - 31.8.2025.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth.