"ConstituTodos" Game Launched to Reinforce Citizenship Education and Promote Civic Participation

Columbia Global Centers | Santiago, Momento Constituyente, Pop Juegos Launch Board Game to Reinforce Citizenship Education and Promote Civic Participation

The Santiago Center teamed up with NGOs Momento Constituyente and Pop Juegos in the design, production and distribution of “ConstituTodos” (a combination in Spanish of “Constitution” and “Everybody”) – an innovative board game that looks to provide information, drive citizenship education and promote civic dialogue about Chile’s ongoing constitutional reform process.

“The objective is to have a didactic tool for both children and adults to hone their knowledge regarding citizens’ rights and duties, Chile’s political history, the functioning of the democratic system and the powers of the state, with an important focus on the constitutional reform currently underway in Chile,” explained Karen Poniachik, Director of the Santiago Center.

The partners are printing the board games to be distributed free of charge to different schools throughout the country. It can also be downloaded from this link so that all citizens can actively participate in the historical moment that Chile is living.

“We believe that a more robust and legitimate democracy is only possible when each and every one of us is more attentive, informed and active, and with this board game we are looking to contribute towards this and ensure that we can all exercise our fundamental political rights,” noted Rodrigo Mayorga, Director of Momento Constituyente and alumnus of Columbia’s Teachers College.

“ConstituTodos looks to encourage not just experts and lawyers to get excited about this constitutional process. It is an intergenerational game for everyone to learn more dynamically and share at school, with family, friends, colleagues and neighbors,” added Francisca Castro from Pop Juegos.

The game requires a minimum of four players and can accommodate a maximum of ten. It has 131 cards that cover different issues, such as democracy and the state, the constitution and constituent power, Chile’s constitutional history, citizenship participation, fundamental human rights, and the current constitutional process. The types of questions posed can include trivia, defining a word, drawing or acting out a concept, and defending your point of view.

Some of the questions in ConstituTodos include:

• True or false? The first time that women voted in Presidential elections in Chile was in 1910.
• Multiple choice: According to the classic theory of separation of powers, how many branches of the state should be recognized in a constitution?
• Multiple choice: From Chile’s independence until 2021, how many constitutions has the country had?
• Description: Describe the “CENTRAL BANK” without using the words: Autonomous, Economy, Money, Inflation, Rates, Financing.
• Choose to draw or act out: FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
• Defend your point of view: Of all the rights in the Constitution, which do you think is the most important and why?

The game was officially launched on Tuesday, August 10, at the Instituto Cumbre de Condores Oriente school in the Santiago borough of Renca. During the event, Renca Mayor Claudio Castro and the radio and television sports commentator, Felipe Bianchi, each led a team of four third-year high school students from Instituto Cumbre de Condores Oriente and Instituto Cumbre de Condores Ponienete to compete in a friendly game of ConstituTodos.

“In Renca we want the community to be a fundamental part of the constituent process that the country is going through, a process of participatory and active dialogue. That is why we value the contribution that Columbia University, Momento Constituyente and Pop Juegos have made with the ConstituTodos game to promote civic education in a didactic way and where everyone can participate,” said Mayor Castro. “The community wants to be part of this historic moment and the municipalities must be a facilitating bridge for this to take place,” he added.

Use this link to see the photo album of the launch event at Instituto Cumbre de Condores Oriente.