UoL Research Center gives children a voice in shaping safer online gaming –The FAIR GAME project

The UoL Research Center has successfully completed two national co-creation workshops with children in Cyprus as part of the European project FAIR GAME. As a central element of the project’s participatory approach, the workshops provided valuable first-hand insights into children’s experiences and perspectives, helping ensure that FAIR GAME’s activities and resources respond to their genuine needs and expectations.

Through interactive activities and open discussions, participants explored both the opportunities and challenges of online gaming, reflecting on topics including online safety, respectful interactions, inclusion, wellbeing and children’s rights in digital gaming spaces. The workshops enabled the project team to better understand the issues that matter most to children and the types of support and learning approaches they consider most meaningful and effective.

Participants highlighted both the positive aspects of online gaming and the areas where greater awareness, protection and support are needed. They also contributed practical ideas on how educational and awareness-raising materials can be engaging, relevant and accessible for children and young people.

The findings will contribute to the Cyprus National Report and, together with those from the co-creation workshops conducted by FAIR GAME partners across the participating countries, will directly inform the project’s educational toolkit, awareness-raising resources and engagement activities. Drawing on children’s perspectives from across Europe, FAIR GAME will develop practical, child-centred resources that promote children’s rights, online safety and wellbeing.

The successful completion of the workshops marks an important milestone for the project in Cyprus and reinforces one of FAIR GAME’s core principles: effective safeguarding is achieved by working with children, not simply for them. By placing children’s voices at the heart of the project, FAIR GAME aims to deliver meaningful resources and approaches that foster safer, more inclusive and rights-respecting online gaming environments across Europe.