ACT as a Doughnut

"<< Background >>ACT as a Doughnut aims to engage, connect and empower youngsters to be an active citizen to co-create ""their ""thriving city. We developed educational materials; trained youth workers who trained local associated teachers in the domain of social science/citizenship. Their students created a city portrait and used the power of imagination on how their thriving city would look like. Second, based on education materials they advised as active citizens their city on the best next steps. Our societies face multiple crises; climate and environmental; increasing gaps between those who ""have and have not""; lack of (jobs) perspective, (Im-) migration, and a generic distrust in institutes especially amongst our ""Gen Z"" youngsters. We aimed to work towards an inclusive society including students from a minority background.Our primary target groups are youth workers, students in the age group of 15- 19 years, and their teachers. Our secondary target groups city representatives, and Associated Partners. All youngsters deserve a quality education and ACT to create their own future. We knew by experience and are backed by reports that we faced gaps in all five countries. << Objectives >>Our main objective is to boost the positive and active participation of youngsters to create a sustainable future in their local community based on shared (EU) values.Develop Non Formal Educational materials to; - be used by youngsters on social cohesion AND environmental challenges (add. prio); they run projects and realise their inclusive democratic participation (a key topic)- support teachers on new key competencies (additional priority), create a new curriculum and co-create transnational insights Our sub-objectives:topic 3 creating innovative curricula or courses; using creativity, arts, and culture (topic 1)b)learn about social inclusion within the boundaries of our planet (add. prio development of key competences) c) grow didactic and educational skills via blended learning (add.prio development of key competences) 2)To engage youngsters to start community projects and provide feedback as co-creator of new education formats (topic 2; inclusive democratic participation) 3) To build an ecosystem with the students as an accelerator in co creation with their community and local government for sustainable change4) To pilot the Doughnut theory in Education5) To grow the network of Arts for social change via Education<< Implementation >>Activities per Project Result: Result 1 (O1) ""engage, connect and empower""- handbook; We developed a handbook to engage, connect and empower youngsters using arts for social impact and the Doughnut Economy Theory as an innovative resource for teachers and youth workers (17 sessions vs 5 promised in the application).Result 2 (O2): online ""train the trainer"" course. We developed an innovative and up-to-date blended learning course using creativity, imagination, and methodologies to youth workers and teachers on the topics of O1 so that they gain key competencies in the domain of social science/ citizenship to engage, connect and empower youngsters in O3. Result 3 (O3): ""ACT as a Doughnut community projects"". The students ran projects in their city and had a structured dialogue with the city representatives on the ""why, how, and what"" to create a thriving city and shared this on a local and transnational level as mentioned on O4. To teachers, this was also training on the job “how to implement blended learning in social science/citizenships”. Students acted as co-creators with the teacher to evaluate the new educational materials. Moreover, this was a trigger for students to experience and become an activecitizen. To city representatives, this was a new or improved way to co-create with young citizens. Result 4 (O4) ACT Relay:We facilitated the students to organize 5 transnational relays. Via the relays youngsters in the five countries interacted, presented their projects, and provided peer-to-peer advice. Based on the feedback they finalized their structured dialogue with their city representatives. Their content was shared as prestigious ambitions of their respective cities in 05.Result 5 (O5): ACT in Education Lab (Knowledge Platform): We have built and continue developing and maintaining a knowledge platform fed constantly with learnings, and new methodologies developed as a result of implementing this project in Education and link our lessons learned and outputs with the platforms of the 2 associated partners CAN and DEAL.<< Results >>Result 1 (O1) ""engage, connect and empower"" handbook; a ready to use and scalable handbook/ with Non-Formal educational materials in 6 languages. We developed and piloted (during O3) 17 innovative creative formats vs 5 as per application.Result 2 (O2): Online ""train the trainer"" course; youth workers and teachers are trained. The course itself is scalable; available online in 6 languages. Result 3 (O3): ""ACT as a Doughnut community projects""; ca 60 students per country (intotal 300) implemented (split in 5 teams) projects in their communities and chose out of the five categories of the Doughnut theory (so per country 5, in total 25 projects); a) ""Empowered"" (focussing on the topics Peace & Justice, Social equity,Political Voice and Equality in Diversity); b) ""Connected"" (focussing on the topics connectivity, community, mobility, andculture); c) ""Enabled"" (focussing on the topics jobs, income, education, and energy) d) ""Healthy"" (focussing on the topicsof health, housing, water, and food) e) ""Local - ecological""- (the environmental dimension) The local community in their city experienced the ideas that the students put into action (via the 5 projects) Representatives of the city gained insight into the ambitions of their youngsters and learned that youngsters can become active citizens and co-create to realisethe local strategies. Result 4 (O4); ACT Relay; Students learned from their peers in other countries, deepened their understanding of the contexts in the 5 countries and their own insights into how to create a thriving city, and finalised the 25 recommendations (5 per category) to their city representatives. In total we received gross (as there were be overlaps) 125 recommendations.Result 5 (O5): ACT in Education Lab (Knowledge Platform) Our methodology, the lessons learned in general, and the 25 recommendations per city were shared on our platform that is linked with the CAN and DEAL knowledge base. 5 City portraits were also shared on this and the DEA platform The creative formats were shared on this and the CAN platform. Other results are: - The projects guided by youth workers and teachers involved ca. 300 students. Almost 50 % of students had a minority background vs 30% mentioned in the application. - The 5 multiplier events hosted 150 stakeholders to foster the ecosystem needed for the transformation - Education proved to play a responsible role as a driver of transformation in their cities. - Youth workers grew in impact as they grew their skills and quality formats for social innovation - Teachers gained didactic and personal skills and learned how to use a broader education portfolio relevant to a digital era - Students were engaged and empowered as they ran innovative projects and they embraced the role of co-creator of blended formats. - Our follow up strategy, as it is described below in this report, resulted in a unique scalability potential as we share this on a global level to NGO's in 40+ countries via the MP NL network, via the partners in their regional and national networks, and via CAN and DEAL with their global partners."