R-XSCAPE Consortium Meets in Sofia to Advance the Development of the Project 🎮✨

The R-XSCAPE consortium recently gathered in Sofia, Bulgaria, for its latest Transnational Project Meeting (TPM), hosted by SBC. Bringing together partners from across Europe, the meeting provided an important opportunity to review the progress achieved so far, exchange perspectives on the project’s next stages, and further strengthen the development of the R-XSCAPE educational ecosystem.

Throughout the meeting, partners focused on two key areas of the project: the continued development of the R-XSCAPE game and the design of the teacher training programme and supporting resources. Discussions centred on ensuring that both components remain pedagogically sound, adaptable to different industry sectors, national VET qualification frameworks and capable of fostering meaningful learning experiences.

🎮 Advancing the R-XSCAPE Game

One of the main objectives of the meeting was to review the progress of the escape room scenarios developed by each partner organisation. These scenarios represent different educational contexts while sharing a common purpose: helping VET learners develop research competences through immersive, game-based learning experiences.

The consortium discussed how the different scenarios can offer both contextual relevance and transferability, ensuring that the final game can be used by a wide range of VET providers across Europe. Particular attention was given to maintaining a balance between vocational specificity and transversal learning outcomes, allowing the game to remain engaging while supporting learners from different backgrounds.

Although each scenario presents unique challenges and narratives, several common themes emerged from the discussions. Learners will be encouraged to investigate problems, search for and evaluate information, collaborate with peers, make informed decisions and reflect on the impact of their actions throughout the gameplay experience.

Across the different escape rooms, the consortium identified a set of core competences that will underpin the R-XSCAPE methodology, including:

• 🔍 Research planning and information management;
• 🤝 Teamwork and collaborative problem-solving;
• 🧠 Critical thinking and cognitive abilities;
• 📋 Self-management and decision-making;
• 💡 Applying research to create meaningful and socially relevant solutions.

These competences reflect the project’s ambition to promote not only technical knowledge, but also the transversal skills increasingly required in vocational education and the labour market.

💬 Learning Through Experience

A particularly valuable moment of the meeting was the collective gameplay and reflection session, during which partners experienced the current version of the R-XSCAPE game from the learners’ perspective.

Following the session, the consortium engaged in an open discussion to evaluate the educational value of the game, the progression of the challenges, the balance between learning and gameplay, and the overall user experience. Partners also reflected on how research tasks are integrated into the escape room mechanics and explored opportunities to further enhance learner engagement while maintaining the pedagogical objectives of the project.

The feedback gathered during this session will contribute to the continuous refinement of the game, ensuring that the final version offers an engaging, motivating and effective learning experience for both teachers and learners.

📚 Designing the Teacher Training Programme

The meeting also marked an important step in the development of VET’s teacher support resources that will accompany the R-XSCAPE game.

Partners discussed the structure of the training programme, agreeing on the importance of defining clear learning outcomes for each module and ensuring consistency across all educational materials. The programme will combine:

• Introduction to the project’s research competence framework
• Best practices for integrating research-based competencies in VET teaching
• Practical guidance on facilitating escape room activities and integrating game-based learning into VET classrooms.

The consortium also agreed that the training should primarily be delivered through synchronous learning sessions, creating opportunities for interaction, discussion and collaborative reflection among teachers. Overall, the programme is expected to provide approximately five to seven hours of training, offering sufficient time for educators to become familiar with the R-XSCAPE methodology, understand the pedagogical foundations of the project and gain confidence in implementing the game within their own teaching practice.

Alongside the training programme, partners will also develop complementary resources, including a Teacher’s User Manual and a series of video tutorials, designed to support educators before, during and after the implementation of the game.

🚀 Looking Ahead

This meeting represented another significant milestone in the R-XSCAPE journey. By bringing together expertise from different countries and educational contexts, the consortium further consolidated the project’s vision of using escape room methodologies to strengthen research competences through active, collaborative and learner-centred approaches.

The discussions and decisions reached during the meeting will guide the refinement of both the game and its supporting educational resources, paving the way for the next stages of the project and, ultimately, for the validation of the R-XSCAPE methodology in VET environments.

🎯 Stay tuned for more updates as R-XSCAPE continues transforming research learning into an engaging escape room experience for VET education!