Young Social Innovators
Founded | Ireland 2002 |
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Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
Website | www.youngsocialinnovators.ie |
Young Social Innovators (YSI) is Ireland's largest social awareness and active citizenship and education programme for 15- to 18-year-old teens. Its main goal is to get young people (15-18yrs) involved in action which helps improve the lives of others in their community. YSI involves thousands of young people in Ireland each year in hundreds of projects and social enterprises which are youth-led, team-based and action-focused. Each year, each YSI team is invited to present their project at the YSI Speak Out Regional fora. A national Showcase of Young Social Innovators takes place in May each year where thousands of young social innovators come together and showcase their projects. Set up by Rachel Collier and Stansilaus Kennedy in 2001
How YSI works
Young people come up with and develop ideas to change the world for good. They work in a team, decide what they want to do and how they can respond in new ways to problems of importance to them. YSI has a well tested social innovation education framework which is in brief: CARE, CO-OPERATE, CHANGE AND COMMUNICATE! An effective way to work on any social innovation. YSI believes that the more you practice social innovation, the better you are at it! Once you make a difference by doing a YSI project, you can put your skills to action and take on many other social issues. Young Social Innovators is based on human rights.
Main Initiatives
The YSI framework can be used on youthled projects concerned with any social issue! Projects on topics such as the following have been done -
- Public Health
- Personal well-being (Bullying, Mental Health etc.)
- Road safety
- Anti-social Behaviour
- Suicide prevention
- Animal Cruelty (Fur Farming)
One world Health and Well being Our Community Mental health
Winners to date
- 2002 - Saint Leos College, Carlow - Teenage Motherhood in our Community
- 2003 - East Glendalough School, Wicklow Town - Next train 2020
- 2004 - Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin - Mosney - a Home from Home? Changing attitudes to asylum seekers and refugees in Ireland
- 2005 - Moyne Community School, Moyne, Co. Longford - Don't Drink 'Til You Drop - Think and Stop
- 2006 - St. Vincent's CBS, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 - Can Roses Grow from Concrete?
- 2007 - John the Baptist Community School, Limerick - Dead is Easy, Belt Up and Be Safe
- 2008 - Cólaiste Mhuire, Ennis, Co. Clare - Stomp Out Bullying
- 2009 - Cólaiste Bhríde, Carnew, Co.Wicklow - The Butterfly Effect
- 2010 - Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork - The Mill Street Cafe project