Icarus

29/09/2026

We are proud to announce that Icarus is the winner of EITA - European Innovation Teaching Award for Italy, in the field of Adult Education!!
We thank the Agenzia nazionale Erasmus+ INDIRE for choosing our project for this prestigious award.
We would also like to thank FIDE - International Chess Federation and FIDE Social Commission for their support to the project.
You can have a look at the reasons behind the assigned award on the European Commission website: https://innovative-teaching-award.ec.europa.eu/projects/icarus-including-chess-re-education-skilling-tool_en

With Skill Up Srl, UniChess, Indepcie, Club de Ajedrez Magic Extremadura, Centre for Education and Innovation Research, Latvian Chess Federation.

ICARUS – Including Chess As a Re-education Up-Skilling tool

09/06/2026

Would you like to know more about ICARUS project? Read this brand new article written by Antonia Castellani for Erasmus+ INDIRE.
We are grateful for all the attention our project received. 🙏🏻

Il progetto Erasmus+ ICARUS è nato dall’incontro di Skill Up con il mondo degli scacchi, attraverso la collaborazione con UniChess – L’Università degli di scacchi. Skill Up e UniChess avevano l’obiettivo comune di insegnare competenze emotive e sociali ai detenuti, attraver...

17/05/2026

Tomorrow, Antonia Castellani will be one of the key-note speakers at the Workshop “European Chess for Freedom”, where she will present the ICARUS project, written and managed by Skill Up Srl, with UniChess, Indepcie, Club de Ajedrez Magic Extremadura, Centre for Education and Innovation Research and the Latvian Chess Federation, thanks to funding from Erasmus+ INDIRE.
We are grateful to the Federazione Scacchistica Italiana for this prestigious invitation, and to the FIDE - International Chess Federation Social Commission for their continued interest in this project.

15/04/2026

On the 25th March, Rodrigo Barbeito from Club de Ajedrez Magic Extremadura was featured in article about his work with chess in inclusive environments for the newspaper La Voz de Galicia, quoting our project as their most recent piloting in prison.
La Voz de Galicia is the 3rd paper in Spain, with 100,000 copies printed every day and ca. 400,000 daily readers.
We are very glad that ICARUS keeps living after its conclusion!
With Erasmus+ INDIRE, Skill Up Srl, Indepcie, Latvian Chess Federation, Centre for Education and Innovation Research.

11/03/2026

We are proud to communicate that ICARUS project has been selected by the Agenzia nazionale Erasmus+ INDIRE to be a Good Practice!

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to the success of this project, especially to the partners Skill Up Srl, UniChess, Indepcie, Club de Ajedrez Magic Extremadura, CEIR - Centre for Education and Innovation Research, Latvian Chess Federation.

A very warm thank you also to FIDE - International Chess Federation and to FIDE Social Commission, for their precious help in giving this project high relevance and real impact.

26/01/2026

Check out the presentation of our project in the brand new Skill Up Srl's website! you will find it in the European Projects section.

WELCOME TO OUR SITE! SKILL Your LifeUp! Empowering the future through skills Get in Touch Learning & DevelopmentExperiential, digital, and customized training for people and organizations.Learn More Strategic ConsultingTailored support to face complex challenges and innovate effectively. Explore Ser...

31/10/2025

♟️ ICARUS – WP4: Self-Development Handbook
The journey of ICARUS doesn’t end on the chessboard.
After exploring the educational power of chess in the Toolkit and testing it with educators and inmates, the project now reaches its fourth result: the Self-Development Handbook.
📘 This handbook is a practical and reflective guide that gathers methods, activities, and tools to foster soft skills through chess — with a special focus on adult education and social reintegration contexts.
It’s not just a book to read, but a journey to experience — designed for trainers, educators, prison staff, and learning professionals who want to turn the game into a path of personal and emotional growth.

From critical thinking to dealing with mistakes, from empathy to cooperation, each chapter offers concrete ways to bring the pedagogy of chess into real learning environments and life situations.

👉 Discover and freely download the ICARUS Self-Development Handbook on the official project website:
🌐 www.icarusproject.eu

31/10/2025

♟️✨ ICARUS – When a game becomes a bridge
What happens when you bring a chessboard inside a prison?
You don’t just play — you rebuild trust, focus, and emotional awareness.
Over two years of collaboration, the ICARUS partners have explored how the game of chess can become a tool for self-development and social reintegration.
The result is a journey made of reflection, learning, and humanity — and our final video tells that story.

🎬 Watch the video to discover how education, empathy, and strategy met behind bars, turning a simple game into a path toward freedom.

📍 Funded by Erasmus+ KA220-ADU

30/10/2025

🎥 A visual journey that tells the story of ICARUS — how chess, education and empathy came together to inspire change.

Over the past two years, the ICARUS partnership explored how chess can become a tool for self-development, emotional awareness and social reintegration, especially within adult and prison education.

From Rome to Riga, from the chessboard to the classroom, ICARUS has shown that learning, when based on empathy and reflection, can truly change lives.

👉 Watch the video and make your next move with us!

25/10/2025

And after our last meeting, hosted by CEIR, a very nice Latvian lunch!
Thank you, Jelena Zascerinska, for the great organisation of the meeting!