EDGES: Transferring an Empowerment-Based Gambling Harm Model to Southern Europe
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Gambling harm is a serious and easily hidden problem across Europe. It affects not only the person who gambles but also their loved ones, their finances and their relationships. Starting a conversation about gambling problem often feels difficult, and professionals too need support in recognising gambling problems and asking about them.
This is the starting point for EDGES (Empower Dialogue: Transferring an Empowerment-Based Gambling Harm Model to Southern Europe), an Erasmus+ project coordinated by Sosped Foundation. Together with our Greek partner Tria Prima, we are testing whether the empowerment-based model developed in the Pelirajaton (Limitless Gambling) programme can work in an entirely different culture and service system. And if it can, what that takes.
The project is coordinated by Sosped Foundation with Tria Prima from Greece as partner. It is co-funded by the European Union and runs from September 2026 to August 2027.
The same phenomenon, two different countries
In Finland, around four per cent of adults gamble at a risk level or problematically, and the harms are concentrated among young adults in particular. In Greece, people are gambling and spending more money on gambling than ever before. Finland regulates gambling and monitors its harms more closely than most European countries, and a wide range of support is currently available for gambling problems.
In Greece the gambling market is growing fast, and help-seeking is held back by shame and a lack of services. Many adults experiencing gambling harm do not seek help from a specialist. Instead, they may be sitting in an adult education class, visiting a social services office or taking part in an NGO’s activities. EDGES is built on the idea that something decisive can happen in exactly those encounters, when the professional doing the face-to-face work has the skills to recognise and address gambling problem.
EDGES takes Pelirajaton methods to Greece
EDGES is not about transferring the Pelirajaton model, which works well in Finland, to Greece as it is. The project starts from working out together what in the Pelirajaton approach could work in the Greek context, what needs to be adapted to local realities, and how to do that responsibly.
The project runs in three phases. First we map gambling harms, support services, attitudes and help-seeking in both Finland and Greece. At the same time, Sosped writes out the core principles of its own approach: encounters free of blame, strengthening agency, and experiential expertise. These form the project’s framework.
The second phase is training. A two-day training is held in Greece for adult educators and group facilitators. The topics include recognising gambling harm, working with shame and resistance, facilitating conversation, and knowing when and how to refer someone onward.
In the third phase we move into practice. The trained facilitators run pilot groups in Greece for adults whose lives have been affected by gambling. Participation is voluntary, confidential and free of charge. Participants are not objects of treatment but active contributors whose experiences and feedback shape the outcome.
What the project leaves behind
The project will produce a comparative review, a shared framework, a training package and a facilitator’s handbook. The final result is an openly available toolkit with ready-made session outlines, ethical ground rules and a checklist for getting activities started. The results will be presented in Athens in 2027 and shared freely, so that other organisations in Europe, particularly in the south, can take the model into use in their own communities.
Sosped coordinates the project, describes the Pelirajaton model and is responsible for developing the toolkit. Sosped also supports the facilitation of the pilot groups and brings in experts by experience. Tria Prima is responsible for mapping the situation in Greece, for the training and pilot groups, and for disseminating the results.
The project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Finnish National Agency for Education. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.