Impulse. Youth Designing for Society aims at developing civic attitudes, sense of agency and social competences among students of Polish vocational schools that have welcomed Ukrainian refugees, by inviting them to run socially engaged projects connected to the needs of their local communities and allowing them to use the practical skills acquired in school.
Throughout 2 school years 40 teachers from 20 vocational schools participate in in-depth training and mentorship support on: adaptive leadership, enhancing students’ participation, fostering students agency, multicultural competencies, public speaking skills, design thinking and agile methodology for project management.
Multicultural students’ teams, supported by their teachers, will be encouraged to run projects for their local communities, based on a need analysis and will also receive direct support in 5 areas we believe to be crucial for their projects’ success: problem solving, cooperation while working in multicultural teams, project management (design thinking and agile methodology), building local support and seeking allies, and public speaking. The training also contributes to a sense of empowerment, higher self-esteem and sense of responsibility for the community.
Students with our support also have a chance to establish long term cooperation with local authorities and business to promote democratic values and support working together for society.