I work at Skuggteatern, a touring theatre where I for more than 20 years have toured mainly in classrooms performing for kids aged 2-15. My theatre, founded by roleplayers, have stolen loads of tricks from larp and roleplaying and created a bunch of formats to bring immersive experiences to schools all around Sweden.

We perform more than 100 classrooms show every year, some of the interactive headphone pieces, some a mix of theatre and play, soem of them are even closer to larps, For example “Rit” were we have a seance and summon the dead with high school kids. It turned out so intense that we had to add a short preworkshop and. I would Love to bring together other professionals in similar fields and talk about how we can bring more larp experiences out into classrooms using the already existing touring networks for classroom theatre.

At least in Sweden we are many larpers who work in the world of theatre doing this form of performances and also “Lajvverkstaden” and other larpers doing it from a larping perspective. Sharing tips, tricks and experiences from the field, good and bad effects of mixing with the theatre framework and advice for those who would like to try out this road.

In previous research, role-play simulations have proven to have a positive effect on the participants’ development of self-efficacy (which Bandura defines as our belief in our abilities to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task - our sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how we approach goals, tasks, and challenges). An important factor in this development is the social dimension of the simulation. The social dimension is present in every larp (unless you’re one of those closet larpers).

This can take form, for example, in working together, group cohesion, conflict resolution, exploring emotional connections and social dynamics, both on the surface and in depth. By empathizing with our character and immersion in the setting and story of the larp, we also make an emotional connection with our character. Because of this emotional connection, we react differently in social situations - as our character instead of ourselves. By acting out a character that is not our own in situations that may or may not be familiar to us, we learn different cognitive and behavioural patterns.

Also, simply observing others acting out new social dynamics helps us learn about them. We can anticipate this new way of looking at social situations through self-reflection and workshops before the larp, and look back after the larp through the same methods. At the end of the larp, we feel more confident and familiar in one or more social situations that were unknown to us before then, because of all these aspects that we were able to try out in a safe setting. Increased confidence and new knowledge lead to higher self-efficacy. If a similar situation were to present itself in another larp or in real life, we will feel more confident overcoming this challenge. Thus, through every larp, we learn.

This presentation offers an update to fellow edu-larp creators on my experience using a cloud-based platform to author, operate, and distribute games tailored for educational audiences. I will detail the custom authoring engine (ExpSim), explaining its functionality and why its development was essential for my projects.

The core objective is to promote the global use of edu-larps by significantly lowering the barriers to authoring and facilitating the quick, repeated running of games, sometimes multiple times a day. The session will include demonstrations and images of my various projects, the technology powering them, and how they are designed to meet the specific educational objectives of the commissioning museums and institutions.

Specific projects to be highlighted include:
- The Situation Room Experience: A National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) project operating at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
- The Situation Room Experience: Washington’s Cabinet - A NARA project operating at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
- The Fall of Athens: A Reacting Consortium "micro-game" designed as a single-session introduction for new players and instructors to the Reacting pedagogy.

Finally, I will discuss how digital distribution methods will allow authors to reach a much wider audience worldwide, including through online platforms.

This presentation showcases the LARP Factory training program, designed and implemented by Bait-Byout in Palestine as an innovative response to local capacity-building needs. It examines the program’s structure and content, the methodologies used in its delivery, and the context-sensitive approach that informed its implementation.

The presentation also highlights key challenges encountered throughout the process and the strategies used to overcome them. Ultimately, it reflects on the program’s outcomes and impact, offering lessons learned that can inform similar initiatives in complex and resource-constrained environments.

This 45-minute workshop gets participants out of their heads and into their bodies to explore how embodied presence transforms learning environments - whether running larps, leading classrooms, or facilitating any kind of learning. Expect a dynamic session that moves between group connection, individual reflection, and practical skill-building.

We'll start by getting everyone present, then move through interactive exercises where participants actually feel and notice shifts in their bodies. We'll dive into reading the room, noticing our own nervous systems, and creating space for people to stay in the game even when learning gets hard. Small group discussions will have them sharing potent learning moments and what made those experiences stick.

The session weaves personal stories (including my own teaching fails) with concrete nervous system regulation tools, like how to use breath to calm down, and why your energy makes an impact when leading. We'll talk about the up-down arc of learning energy, and why that post-adrenaline break matters. Participants will leave with practical tools for leading with intention and meeting learners and larpers alike where their bodies actually are, skills that will enrich any event they lead.

Four speakers connected through their shared LARP experiences tell stories of impact achieved through LARP. Larp Alchemy was an ambitious project that aimed at training youth workers and game designers on how to use LARPs as tools of non-formal education, personal development and social change. Not only it succeeded in educating hundreds of changemakers from all over Europe and beyond, it also gave birth to other projects that multiply and expand that impact.

One of them is the award-winning project Climate for All, through which original games were designed to develop skills relevant to sustainability, accompanied by a workshop that turns those skills into local climate action! Then there is the InTension project, that tackles conflict resolution through LARP. There is also Portal, a LARP convention that has been gathering LARP enthusiasts for 13 years now, giving opportunities to share the outcomes of such inspiring projects and spread the word further and further.

All these have been born through partnerships formed in the various editions of Larp Alchemy and continue along their own journeys full of impact and meaning. Antonios Triantafyllakis, coordinator of Climate for All, Zbigniew Janczukowicz, coordinator of Larp Alchemy, Jennifer Kumer, coordinator of InTention, and Anja-Lotte Kastelic, coordinator of the latest Portal, discuss their shared adventures. Could you be next? Come and see!