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As part of BFGTOEU, you can also register for a Design for Change project to put into effect active citizenship. It is aimed at getting children to think about local issues or barriers that they would like changed. On foot of identifying local issues, children design socially conscious projects which are helpful at the local level while also connecting with the European level. The collaboration between BFGTOEU and Design For Change empowers children to see what active citizenship means in practice, at their local level but also how it resonates at the European level.
In 2022/2023, we had three schools, all in county Cork, who cleverly combined their socially active project with their engagement with European Union issues:
- 4th, 5th and 6th class in Ballinagree NS - Campaign for Village Footpaths
- 5th class from North Monastery - Boot Swap
- 5th class from St Columbas GNS - The Honesty project
On 19 June 2023, we will have a celebration of those incredible projects in UCC. The students will come and present their work. They will have the opportunity to engage with a panel of various stakeholders with whom they will interact regarding feasibility, sustainability, cost, accountability, etc.
We are delighted to be joined for this ceremony by MEP Grace O'Sullivan, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Fiona Gomez YSI, and Dr Philip Murphy who will ask and answer questions to and from the children.
The YSI: Design for Change project is a football and astro-turf boot swap. The outline of the idea is taken from the minutes which were written by the pupils.
Miriam Cotter
IDEA
The idea is to recycle and reuse football boots and astro- turf boots which are too small for any one else in the family.
We will help the planet by recycling and reusing the boots. Extra rubbish will not be sent to landfill.
We will help our parents to save money by swapping boots or buying a pair of ‘new to us’ boots for 5 euro. Make sure boots are in good condition.
PROMOTION
The best posters will be used and put up in school
Student council will spread the word
Information will be sent out on Social media
Email will be sent to politicians and invites will be sent out to interested people.
COLLECTION of BOOTS
If you have boots in good condition, that are too small which nobody is going to use, you should give them to YSI DESIGN for CHANGE.
Everyday pupils from 6th class will go around to collect boots. They will be stored in Room 20.
We will have a SWAP DAY on May 17 in the hall.
If you give us a pair of football or astros, you will get a token to pick out another pair of boots in the hall free of charge.
Otherwise, you can get a pair of boots for 5 euro. The money will go towards charity.
HONESTY PROJECT
FEEL
Challenges in our surroundings that bother us:
Climate Change
Homelessness
Animal Cruelty
Shoplifting
Racism
We decided to tackle: Honesty
After much discussion as a class we still couldn`t decide which topic to focus on.Each challenge was valid and the students felt strongly about their challenge as each affected many people in our community.
After taking a break from the discussion for a week or so, we took out our group mind maps and looked at them with fresh eyes. We decided to try to find something that connected them all. We decided on, honesty. Being true to ourselves, each other and our planet, results in a safer,more respectful, healthier and happier community.
IMAGINE
By focusing on honesty we discovered that being honest improves the health of the individual and their self esteem.
Our class believes that an honest community benefits the individual, the immediate and the wider community.
The solution our social innovators chose to encourage honesty in our community:
Open a school Honesty Shop – “Pinocchio`s”. This would sell copies,stationery and some “fun” items.
Have a one off; “Serve Yourself” – Honesty Food shop.
This would sell food grown in our new Geodome and cupcakes baked by our class.
DO
Implementing our solution
With the help of our local Men`s Shed and Douglas Community Garden Volunteers we filled the bed inside our new Geodome.
We germinated our seeds in our classroom then planted our section of the bed. We planted food crops, spring onions, various types of lettuce, rocket, beans, strawberries and potatoes.
With the help of our school caretaker, we constructed and painted our school honesty shop, “Pinocchio”.
We surveyed the rest of the school asking their opinion on our opening an honesty shop and what should be in stock.
Our Shopkeepers typed up a stock list, price list and organised rotating groups to set up shop in the morning, collect and count money and close the shop in the afternoon.
We ran our school Honesty shop for 6 months.
Result of the impact of our Honesty Work
Our class feel like leaders. They feel trusted and responsible.
Our class now know how to:
Stock take,
Set up an attractive shop counter and the importance of counting stock laid out.
Count and bag coins for the bank.
Plant and germinate seeds.
Harvest their crop carefully and prepare hygienically.
Conduct a survey.
Our school is proud of their Honesty Shop.
Students love to visit the shop alone and say they feel trusted to buy what they need and take their change.
Younger students often visit with their SNA or our Shopkeepers they have the opportunity to discuss what they need and to use money.
Good health and wellbeing
This is the Global Goal our innovators believe aligns most with our action.
Being honest fosters truthfulness, sincerity, integrity and responsibility.
Being honest improves our mental health.
Living in an honest community improves our mental health.
Learning how to grow our own food ensures interest and pride in what we eat.
Growing and sharing our food encourages us to enjoy and recognise the benefits of nutritious food.
SHARE
With the onset of our Design for Change, Social Innovator project the people who have been involved are:
McGuire`s Fifth Class (23)
The teachers and SNAs of our school (47)
Students of St.Columba`s GNS (406)
Parents,Family and Friends via regular updates on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
The methods by which our innovators shared their project was through:
Discussion
Surveys
Participation (in the Honesty Shops)
Instagram
Facebook
There has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction to our School Honesty Shop. It has been the source of much discussion and afforded the opportunity for our students to assess the importance of being an honest member of their community and the positive impact that that has. Our parents are as always very supportive of our students` initiative and proactive actions.
BUILDING VILLAGE FOOTPATHS
Step 1 - FEEL
List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.
Litter on the roadsides. Not enough equal opportunities for girls in sports Not enough children attending church. Not enough footpaths or cyclepaths in our village. Make more use out of our school astro-turf pitch by inviting other schools our school People wasting water People cutting down trees
State the problem chosen to work and why.
We choose to focus on trying to add more footpaths and cyclepaths to our village to make it safer for everyone living in the village to get around and for children coming and going to the village playground and school.
Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?
Primary school children want to have a safe way of walking or cycling to school and of going from school to the village playground.
Step 2 - IMAGINE
List ALL the different solutions you came up with.
We thought of making out a petition for parents and pupils to sign that we would then send to the local council along with a letter stating what we were looking for. We designed posters to encourage parents to visit the school to sign our petition and we wrote to parents as well. We wanted to compose a song to raise awareness of our campaign fo new footpaths.
Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?
We wrote to parents, designed posters and hada petition signing day. We sent off our letter tot he local County Council along with our petition.
Step 3 - DO
Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).
We designed posters, wrote to parents and the local council. We drew what it would be like with and without a footpaths and highlighted the safety aspect of having footpaths in our village.
What was the result or impact of your project?
We are waiting on the County Council to get back to us at the moment.
How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?
100
What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:
We haven't benefited from our work yet so we cannot provide quotes.
What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?
We had to learn to use Canva to design our posters and we needed to find out who is responsible for footpaths in the local COuncil.
How long did it take to implement your solution?
7-15 Days
Which global goals does your story align with?
Sustainable cities and communities
Please explain briefly why do you think so?
Our village would be much safer if we had more footpaths and cycle paths. Then more people might like to live here.
Step 4 - SHARE
How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?
We shared it with the school community through a letter explaining what we were trying to achieve, through an article in our school blog and through our poster campaign and petition signing day. People responded very positively to our project.
Approximately how many people did you share your story of change with?
20-50
Briefly share your plan to sustain the impact of your project?
We plan to get back onto the local Council and invite them to talk to pupils in the school.
We have a great village play park but we can't get there without the car because the road has no footpaths.
