This year's Europa-Kiezfest on May 25, 2024, at Leon-Jessel-Platz in Berlin-Wilmersdorf takes place two weeks before the European elections under the motto "Strengthen Europe – Vote Europe". In this spirit, students from the Nelson Mandela School have engaged on-site with a "Game Lab Europe" focused on democracy and extremism prevention. Using three computer games, they engaged festival visitors in discussions about politics, democratic values, right-wing extremism, and fake news.
In a preparatory workshop, students from class 10c and the WPU art course 11abc of the Nelson Mandela School worked with three free "serious games" which they presented at the Europa-Kiezfest:
- "Wie entscheidest du?": This game is a playful alternative to the Wahl-O-Mat, helping players make political decisions.
- "KonterBUNT": In this game, players learn how to counter common prejudices and discriminatory remarks.
- "Harmony Square": This game raises awareness about various manipulation techniques used in social media.
Festival visitors tried out the games under the guidance of the students, either on their own devices or on school laptops in the school's tiny house. The project was led by Detlef Wingerath, Nati Schneider, and Sainza Fernandez, along with Jakob Saß (historian and game expert). The project is funded by the Democracy Office Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, in collaboration with "Miteinander im Kiez" and the friends of Nelson Mandela School.