Most important in changing the world for better are actions. During this workshop participants create their own social project, possible to implement in their own community.
Author and translation: Anna Książek
Proofreading: Andrea Pucci
Main objectives:
Planning social projects answering the needs of the local community.
During the workshop the participants will:
Learn how to notice social problems, work in group, creatively look for solutions, create a vision, plan a project step by step.
Get inspired and motivated to take real actions.
Task before the meeting:
In the previous meeting the participants should have received one task to be fulfilled in small teams and one to be done individually.
Participants divided in small groups of 4-6 people choose one changemaker’s story from Asia (https://www.exchangetheworld.info/changemakers-1) or another story about a changemaking action (from the world, your county or the local community). Their task is to read the story and prepare a presentation about it in a form of choice (e.g. story, drama, comics, movie), to show it to the others.
Every participant observes carefully the local reality and thinks what challenges it faces.
1. Changemakers’ stories (presentations)
Groups share the stories they prepared. The stories are meant to be introduction and inspiration for taking our own actions.
2. Define the problem (work in groups)
Participants, in small groups of 4-6 people, decide which social problem they want to work on. During a discussion they exchange their observations about the challenges faced by their community, which they noticed before the meeting. Once they have chosen together the issue they will work on, they discuss shortly trying to understand its different aspects.
Examples of problems: streets full of rubbish; children spending time in front of the computer; some of the students from the school nearby are migrants and they don’t speak fluently the national language; lack of relation between neighbors, etc.
3. Wanted future (work in groups)
The situation is diagnosed, now let’s check how we want it to be. Discuss in groups how it is the future you want, the situation which will satisfy you. Create a vision where the problem is solved and write it down or paint it in a piece of paper.
Examples of wanted future: clean streets; more trees; neighbors know each other, speak together, help when needed; migrant students from nearby school have basic skills in the language of the hosting country, they integrate with others.
4. Looking for solutions (brainstorm)
The groups write down all the possible ways to go from the actual situation to the future they envisioned. Depending on the creativity of the group you can use a standard brainstorm technique or a more structured version (for example brainstorm 5/3/6).
Examples of solutions: cleaning streets action; organizing a Neighbors Day; regular language classes for migrant students; Plant a Tree campaign.
5. Choose the solution
Each group chooses one solution to work on. It can be one of the solutions they have come up with during the brainstorming or a mixture of them. Maybe the solution will not solve the whole problem yet, but it should be a significant step forward.
Example of chosen solution: organizing language classes once a week for migrant students from the nearby school.
6. Small steps
The groups plan how to put the solution into practice. Which small steps they need to take? Write down each step on a separate post-it or a piece of paper and put them on the floor in chronological order. Each step should have a specific deadline. Write down also who is responsible for it.
Example of steps: create a schedule (who and when can lead the class), contact the school, prepare a poster with information about the action, speak with the director, speak with parents and students, plan the first class.
7. Presentation
The groups present the plan of their projects. Other people can give them feedback, they can also declare their help.
Young people service for nature, done in their own surroundings, has also a global meaning.
Additional tasks for group:
Put your projects into action!
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