SUITS joins European project to strengthen democratic skills through digital role play

The project, DemoRoles: Democratic Competence Through Digital Immersive Role Play, brings together five organisations from Sweden, Slovakia, Turkey and Germany. Running from 2026 to 2028, it aims to strengthen democratic competences among university students through interactive learning.

Learning democracy through difficult decisions

At the heart of DemoRoles is The Representative, a free, open-source browser game in which students take on the role of a political representative confronting democratic crises and dilemmas. Rather than simply studying democratic institutions and principles, students will be challenged to make decisions, weigh competing interests and consider the consequences of their choices. The project is based on the idea that actively engaging with democratic dilemmas can deepen students' understanding of political representation and democratic processes.

Developing and evaluating new teaching methods
Alongside the game, the project partners will develop a learning framework and teaching materials to help educators integrate digital role play into university courses. The project includes a cross-national evaluation involving more than 300 students in Slovakia, Sweden and Turkey. The findings will contribute to a policy brief offering insights and recommendations for European decision-makers.

European collaboration on democratic education

• DemoRoles is coordinated by the Institute for Democracy at Matej Bel University in Slovakia. Alongside SUITS, the project brings together:
• Department of Political Science and International Relations, Abdullah Gül University, Turkey
  Amadeu Antonio Stiftung, Germany
• Centrum komunitného organizovania, Slovakia

Through this collaboration, the partners aim to explore how immersive digital learning can support democratic education across different national and educational contexts.

DemoRoles (2026–2028) is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme.
Project reference: 2026-1-SK01-KA220-HED-000466241.