“Rights Unlocked” – Erasmus+ Training Course 10/10/2026 – 18/10/2026
Kolín, Czech Republic
What if learning about human rights didn’t start with a presentation or a long discussion, but with a locked box, a series of puzzles, and a challenge that requires teamwork to solve?
From 10th to 18th October 2026, Kolín, Czechia, became the home of the Erasmus+ training course Rights Unlocked – Educational Escape Boxes. The 7-day training brought together youth workers and NGO activists to explore how escape games can become creative and engaging educational tools for addressing important social issues.
Learning Through Play
Escape rooms and escape boxes are usually associated with entertainment, mystery, and solving puzzles against the clock. But what if we could use the same concept to explore topics such as human rights, racism, discrimination, and radicalisation?
That was exactly the idea behind Rights Unlocked. The training introduced participants to the concept of edutainment, combining education and entertainment to make learning more interactive, memorable, and accessible to young people.
Instead of simply talking about complex social issues, participants explored how to turn them into experiences where players need to think critically, cooperate, exchange ideas, and find solutions together. The aim was to show that even challenging topics can be approached in an engaging way without losing their importance or depth.
Unlocking Human Rights
Of course, behind all the puzzles and creative challenges was a much deeper purpose. Throughout the training, participants explored human rights principles, their importance in everyday life, and the challenges that still exist in protecting them.
Topics such as racism, discrimination, and radicalisation were approached through interactive learning and group work. Participants had the opportunity to reflect on how these issues affect individuals and communities and how youth work can contribute to raising awareness and encouraging critical thinking.
The training also focused on how educational escape games can create opportunities for discussion. Solving a puzzle is one thing, but understanding the message behind it and connecting it to real-life situations is where the actual learning happens.
From Ideas to Escape Boxes
A big part of the programme was dedicated to putting creativity into practice. Participants didn’t just learn about existing escape games; they had the opportunity to design, develop, and test their own educational escape boxes and escape rooms.
Working together, they explored how to create meaningful scenarios, develop puzzles, connect individual tasks to educational objectives, and make sure that the experience works for different groups of young people.
The result was the creation and testing of three educational escape boxes and escape rooms focused on human rights. Alongside these, participants worked on practical toolkits containing scenarios, puzzles, and guidelines that can be used and adapted in their own organisations and local communities.
It was a great opportunity to combine creativity with educational purpose and discover how a simple box full of clues can open the door to much bigger conversations.
Taking the Experience Home
One of the main goals of Rights Unlocked was to make sure that the learning would not end when participants left Kolín. The methods and materials developed during the training were designed to be practical and adaptable, allowing participants to bring the escape games into their own youth work activities.
Whether used during a workshop, a youth event, or an educational session, these tools can help young people explore important topics in a way that encourages active involvement rather than passive listening.
Every Puzzle Has a Bigger Picture
Rights Unlocked demonstrated that education doesn’t always have to follow traditional formats. Sometimes, a challenge, a little curiosity, and the chance to work together can create a much stronger learning experience.
Participants left with new practical skills, creative educational resources, and fresh ideas for bringing human rights education closer to young people.
After all, the goal was never just to unlock a box. It was to unlock conversations, challenge assumptions, encourage critical thinking, and remind young people that understanding and protecting human rights is everyone’s responsibility.
🌎 Erasmus+ Training Course “Rights Unlocked” is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme.
