Скопје 16.12.2019 година: Викендов, се одржаа тридневни design thinking работилници на кои педесетина млади иноватори од нашата земја работеа на нивните дигитални решенија за премостување на бариерите со кои децата и младите со попреченост се соочуваат во образованието и секојдневниот живот. Овој младински предизвик е дел од партнерството на Фондацијата Телеком за Македонија и УНИЦЕФ за намалување на дигиталниот јаз и користење на технологијата за еднаква вклученост на децата и лицата со попреченост во дигиталното општество.

 „Истражувањата покажуваат дека децата со попреченост имаат подобар образовен и социјален успех кога учат рамо до рамо со своите врсници во редовните училишта. Исто така, истражувањата велат дека вклучувањето на децата со попреченост им помага на сите деца во училницата да научат што е емпатија, праведност, соработка и солидарност, а дека, пак, со овие вредности, се подобруваат оценките и училишните резултати“, изјави Патриција Ди Џовани, претставничка на УНИЦЕФ.

Тимовите на возраст од 14 до 24 години, креираа иновативни решенија како: бионичка рака и паметна инвалидска количка, па сѐ до мобилни апликации за подобра комуникација и учење. Беа избрани пет тима кои добија финансиски средства и дополнителна менторска поддршка за развивање на своите идеи.

„Најголемиот предизвик на нашето време не е како да изградиме дигитално општество, туку како да изградиме фер дигитално општество, каде ќе има место за сите, без исклучок. Најдобриот начин да направиме чекор напред е да ги поттикнеме младите да креираат решенија и да ја користат технологијата како алатка која треба да им служи на луѓето. Сите тимови кои беа дел од овој младински предизвик покажаа дека само треба да им се даде ‘ветер в грб’ на младите за да можат да ги поместат границите“ – изјави Никола Љушев, главен извршен директор на Македонски Телеком.

Во јуни 2020 г., две финални решенија од земјата ќе конкурираат на светско ниво. Овие решенија ќе имаат шанса за дополнителни средства во износ до 20.000 долари, заедно со глобална програма за инкубација од партнерите на Generation Unlimited. „Младинскиот предизвик – дигитална инклузија“ на УНИЦЕФ и Фондацијата Телеком за Македонија се реализира со Smart Up со поддршка од Македонскиот извиднички сојуз.

Повеќе за тимовите и нивните идеи:

1. Bionic Team (Бионички тим): Роботска рака со достапна цена која ги чита мускулните сензори и им помага на луѓето без екстремитети во секојдневниот живот; развиен со отворен код и 3Д-печатач, моделот чини меѓу 150 и 200 долари.
2. Mind Benders (Распаметувачи): Дигитално ресторанско мени инклузивно и достапно за сите, развиено со помош на принципите за универзален дизајн. Во апликацијата се собрани менија од ресторани, при што се претставени во различни формати, прилагодени за различни  нарушувања на видот, слухот, дислексија, интелектуална попреченост. Употребената технологија може да се користи за подобрување на достапноста на информациите во други сектори, вклучувајќи ги образованието и здравството.
3. Zero to Hero (Од ништо до нешто): Паметна инвалидска количка, која се управува со контрола на очите и има сензори за следење на физичката состојба на корисникот, како и сензори за детектирање предмети.
4. PortComSign (ПортКомСајн): Апликација која го претвора говорниот јазик во знаковен и обратно.
5. Something Unordinary (Нешто необично): Мобилна апликација Еден + Еден која поврзува волонтери со семејствата на деца и млади со интелектуална попреченост. Преку оваа апликација семејствата ќе можат да најдат волонтер да организираат социјални активности за своите деца.

Повеќе за Generation Unlimited

Глобалниот младински предизвик Generation Unlimited 2019/2020 – година се одвива во 40 земји во светот, меѓу кои е и нашата: https://genunlimited.innovationlab.mk/. Отворениот повик ги повикува младите да креираат решенија со кои ќе се поддржат трите главни столба на Generation Unlimited: средно образование; вештини за учење, вработување и работа и работно оспособување. Во земјава, младите беа поканети да понудат иновативни одговори на прашањето „Како може дигиталната технологија да придонесе кон поактивно вклучување на децата и младите во образованието и во секојдневниот живот?“

Оваа вест е преземена од УНИЦЕФ МК и истата е достапна на следниов линк.

Трансформацијата на едни навидум обични идеи во реални и видниви прототип решенија на тема #дигитална #инклузија во склоп на овогодинешниот предизвик за млади Generation Unlimited беше реализирана на главната три-дневна работилница за ко-креирање – Bootcamp, која се одржа на 13, 14 и 15 декемри.

Десетте тимови учесници кои претходно на пред-работилниците се запознаа со методот на работа design thinking и во текот на следните две недели изготвија теренско истражување за да ги поткрепат своите идејни решенија, на главната работилница успеаја со помош од фасилитаторот и менторите на предизвикот да оформат прототип кој го претставија пред жири комисијата со цел да бидат одбрани како едни од 5те тимови кои ќе продолжат во процесот на инкубација на нивното решение.

Над 40 млади го поминаа својот викенд во просториите на Македонски Телеком и напорно работеа да дизајнираат решенија кои ќе ги адресираат потребите на децата и младите со попреченост, се со цел да обезбедат нивно самостојно, еднакво и самоуверено учество во општествените активности. Така, тие дојдоа до најразлични концепти: паметна инвалидска количка, бионичка рака која може секој поединец сам да ја испечати со помош на 3Д печатач, бројни апликации за помош при секојдневното учество во образовните институции, движење низ јавниот простор и платформи кои допринесуваат кон целосно инклузивно општество за сите!

На 24 и 25 октомври, во Magenta Room (Телеком Македонија) се одржаа инфо-денови каде присуствуваа инспиративни млади иноватори со цел да дознаат повеќе за овогодинешниот предизвик. Присутните слушнаа детални и мотивирачки презентации на темата дигитална инклузија од страна на Софија Богева, специјалист за иновации, Марија Велиновска, дефектолог од „Отвори ги прозорците”и проф. Иван Чорбев, декан на ФИНКИ.

Најпрво зборувавме повеќе за активностите на предизвикот како и значењето, по што слушнавме повеќе за тоа што е инкузија и кои видови на попреченост постојат, а на самиот крај се фокусиравме на асистивната технологија и отворените можности за нови иновативни решенија.

Присутните имаа можност да ги постават своите прашања, да се впуштат во дискусија и да ги споделат своите мислења и искуства на темата.

За сите оние кои за жал ги пропуштија инфо-деновите, презентациите можат да ги погледнат на овој линк.

Следете ги настаните на нашиот facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/562820347794865/

As you probably already know from our previous blog, Generation Unlimited — Youth Challenge is an inclusive designing process which in Macedonia this year calls on all you, the young people to actively engage as “decision-makers” and design innovative solutions in order to end violence against and among children.

The challenge is structured in three main steps:

1. Application of the teams and pre-workshops

2. The Bootcamp: Main three-day workshop for co-creationand

3. Further Development through a mentoring period of 3 months.

At the end of the three month period of incubation, the countries best and most promising two solutions will receive financing and mentorship and the top 5 solutions globally will receive additional financing and specifically designed support from the Generation Unlimited partners.

The Bootcamp: Making magic happen

The main workshop for co-creating innovative solutions to #ENDviolence began on the chilly Friday morning of 16th of November and already the halls of the library were buzzing with positive energy!

We welcomed the young innovators and delved right into our agenda by starting the day off with words of encouragement from the main facilitator, our teammate, Sofija Bogeva who then gave the spotlight to Mr. Benjamin Perks, Representative of UNICEF. As the inspiring words of Mr. Perks’ opening statement filled the room with smiles, we then took the time to get to know each other. Both the industry mentors as well as the technical mentors and the UNICEF staff consisted of Simona Ristoska and Vera Kondikj Mitkovska told us a little bit about themselves and their background, after which the teams got to reflect on the work they had done so far.

It was an exceptional honor to also hear from Dr. Rebekah Granger-Ellis, a specialist in NeuroEducation, Socioaffective Development, and Pervasive Behavior Disorders who shared her findings and gave her valued opinion on how to approach the challenge of violence against and among children in the best way possible.

We kept the energy going with a couple of energizers which brought the whole room together and created an amazing and creative workspace. In order to develop their ideas into applicable solutions, the 9 teams devoted their first day to design the specifics of the challenges they want to build their solution around. This included analyzing the target group, the stakeholders involved and the “persona” for which they designed their solutions. As our planned agenda for the day exceeded the predicted time, to our great surprise we noticed that the teams had made themselves at home and insisted on staying for the entirety of the evening!

It was a day well spent, but there were two more days of hard work yet to come!

The busy bees started day two by brainstorming and with the assistance of the mentors they started designing their solutions and building a concrete concept for them.

“I’m really happy to be here! When I woke up this morning I couldn’t wait to get here. It’s really an amazing space where I can get inspired and focused, but it’s even more enjoyable because I get to spend my time with fellow young and amazing people! I’m not exaggerating I swear. :)” – Katerina Stavreska, Team “Young Initiators”

After the teams made the decision on what part of their solution to develop into a prototype, they then got the opportunity to get together, hear out all of the teams’ ideas and get feedback from everyone, getting insight on how to better their solutions for the next days’ final presentation! We ended the day reflecting on what we had accomplished so far and wished the innovators a peaceful night of much-needed rest before the big day.

The best part of competition is that through it we discover what we are capable of — and how much more we can actually do than we ever believed possible!

The last day of the Bootcamp of Generation Unlimited — Youth Challenge was before us. The teams arrived early in order to have a bit more time to put on the finishing touches on their presentations and work on their pitch. As they gathered up the final pieces of advice from their mentors, the teams were counting down the last minutes.

Showtime!

The teams took their places awaiting to present their innovative solution to end violence against and among children before a panel of judges consisted of Ms. Suzie Papas, Communication Specialist at UNICEF, Mr. Ilija Gospodinov, COO at Endava and Ms. Natasha Jankovska, from the Ministry of education and science. By a random draft, team “Zero” presented their solutions first followed by “TiMi”, “Violence Fighters”, “Interconnecting solutions”, “You are your change!”, “Young Initiators”, “Spes”, “AndroMeta” and last but not least “Violence no more!”

It is amazing to see how much these young people managed to accomplish in so little time!

By the end of these three days, inspired and motivated by their own journeys as well as the stories of others, these young minds managed to boggle up 9 amazing solutions!

Meet the winning teams of Generation Unlimited- Youth Challenge!

“Violence Fighters”

A team consisting of 5 femme fatale (as they dub themselves) consider that the solution to the problem should be directly connected to educating and engaging kids, especially in the younger ages and generations to come. This is so that children can know and expect how they should be treated as well as to be able to recognize violence so that they can report violence and continue growing as fruitful as possible. Their idea was developed into a prototype mobile application, a game for children that tells an interactive story. The trick? You choose what happens next. The game enables players to experience as they say “how it is to be in someone else’s skin” and to clearly see the possible results of certain actions. Based on your choices, the player will both gain points that will unlock new hidden “Anti Bully Fighters”; one block or better put, one story at a time. Additionally, players will get information about statistics and data related to the question and the topic of violence and will receive a final scoreboard post each story that will outline the way players choose, what’s right and what’s wrong etc. The interactive model of the game and its built-in gamification systems combined with an interesting outreach campaign will invite and retain users.

“Spes” (Latin for “Hope”)

“We believe it is very important and good for our society to built a single sustainable system for support, with which through the power of art violence victims can connect and bond”. As a tool to put an #EndToViolence, the team sees the solution of creating a movement which through art would increase the awareness about violence amongst younger generations. In an advanced selected part of the city, artist-volunteers would create thematic graffiti which will be a crowdsourced effort to remind bypassers of the important topic at hand, creating beauty in their city via art but also serving a higher purpose, to raise awareness about the problem and involve target groups in the making/workshop process.

“Interconnecting Solutions”

“Our highest goal is to educate through a tool that will allow kids to identify bullying, help understand the type of bullying, its possible consequences but also dig deeper into the reasons why someone bullies others.” says the “Interconnecting solutions” team. They have developed the mobile game/app called “SuperPako” which consists of interactive stories which a related to real life. Recognizable by their unique mascot, a Lama, the game provides educative materials on the topic of youth violence (bullying amongst students) as well as the opportunity to reach out to other institutions, whether that be governmental or nongovernmental (that are working on the topic) in a fast, easy and youthful manner.

“Zero”

“Behind the face and emotions of bullies/violent people, there hides an image and the face of a victim itself. A person that fears whether they will fit in, that feels insecure in their own abilities and one which isn’t good at showing their emotions and needs in the right way.” Addressing the issue via this approach, the team dubbed “Nula (Zero on Macedonian)” wants to create a website which will allow visitors to browse and watch short documentary movies/videos which tell real stories on the topic of intergenerational violence. The platform will also enable users to submit their personal story, to view already told/uploaded testimonials as well as sign up for activities. The team, besides creating the website, has already created their first video based on a real testimony and have developed a curriculum implementation plan so that their website and the program can be included in the primary and high schools around the country, as to directly confront and talk about the issue. Additionally, they plan to use volunteer amateur actors and an interactive campaign to increase their reach and production quality.

“AndroMeta”

In their search for a solution to #EndViolence, the team “AndroMeta” conducted an incredibly successful and extensive research in a 24-hour timeframe, with the goal of developing the idea of creating a platform on which violence victims can connect with people/volunteers and trained staff that can aid and assist them. The platform, developed as a high-fidelity prototype by the team allows anonymity, communication, sharing and creating a community with the purpose of supporting victims and raising awareness around the issue of violence on and amongst children. The application offers educative content, advice and personal narratives and stories.

In the following three months, the winning teams are going to further develop their solutions in order to submit one of the 5 solutions in the global competition process in the spring of 2019. The global election process will then differentiate the most influential 5 projects which will receive additional financing and specifically designed support from the Generation Unlimited partners in order to make a meaningful impact for the youth worldwide!

Generation Unlimited — Youth Challenge is here to inspire!

“I strongly believe there should be more of this type of initiatives. Bringing young people together has proven to be beneficial for our society many times. Every young person has their own unique set of skills and talents as well as interests. Therefore, their unity in order to tackle challenges like this one is what I believe to be the best way to introduce a positive change in society.” -Ms. Natasha Jankovska, member of the judging panel

The Dream Team

None of this would have been possible without the guidance from the main facilitator Sofija Bogeva accompanied by Vedran Dizdarevic as a co-facilitator, the UNICEF Staff: Vera Kondikj Mitkovska and Simona Ristoska and the amazing team of industry mentors who offered their expertise on various topics: Ardita Zekiri, Bozanka Vitanova, Aleksandar Mitanoski, Gorazd Smilevski, Perica Sardzoski, Blagica Petrova and Dimitar Trajanov as well as the technical mentors: Angela Zafirovska, Aleksandar Kolov, Jasmina Glavince, Aleksandra Bendevska, Dimitar Kitanovski,Filip Spasovski and Snezana Davitkova. Special thank you also goes to Prof. Dimitrinka Jordanova Peshevska and Mr. Vlado Karaev.

A huge shoutout goes out to our organizing team: Aleksandar Lazovski, Nikolcho Goshev, Ena Utevska, Jana Neshkovikj, Gabriela Doneva & Derya Atasoy

The adventure begins!

Wondering what Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge is?

Generation Unlimited is a global partnership that aims to ensure that every young person is in education, learning, training or employment by 2030. It is based on the expertise of young people, government representatives, multilateral organisations, the private sector and the civil community in order to initiate immediate investment in education, trainings and provide the right skills to the rapidly increasing global population of adolescents and youngsters (between the ages of 10 to 24) which is predicted to reach 2 billion people in 2030.

The youth challenge aims to free the creativity and ideas of young people around the world.

It is an inclusive designing process which in Macedonia is calling all you, the young people to actively engage as “decision-makers” and design innovative solutions in order to put an end to violence against and among children. This is the first challenge of its kind, taking place in 16 countries around the world. Each countries best and most promising solutions will receive financing and mentorship and the top 5 solutions globally will receive additional financing and specifically designed support from the Generation Unlimited partners.

Why did we decide on “How can we end violence against and among children?” as a topic of the youth challenge in Macedonia?

Children should feel safe at home, in school and in their communities. But it is in these places that most violence against children happens — often at the hands of the people they see every day. For many children, violence wears a familiar face. Violence may be closer to home than you think.

In our country, half of the children aged 2–14 experience physical punishment in the home. 8 in 10 parents report using violent methods (psychological or physical punishment) to raise children. Violence among peers is also happening every day. As many as 42% of thirteen to fifteen-year-old boys and girls report being bullied at school and/or having been involved in a physical fight. Bullying is also happening online, where the perpetrators remain anonymous, but the consequences devastating.

“I am not ashamed to admit it, I have been both the aggressor and the victim of violence against and among children, at home, at school and on the streets. I just want the violence to finally stop.” — Participant, 17.

It is time to take action and make a change!

No child should grow up with fear. Fear limits generations from believing in themselves. Fear limits generations from building healthy relationships. Fear limits generations from realising their potential. And all this limits generations from growing up into productive citizens.

So, what have we been up to so far?

As we are counting down the hours until the beginning of the main, three-day workshop for Generation Unlimited — Youth Challenge let us take a look of the activities that took place these couple of weeks!

We met the ten amazing teams of young, innovative, and inspired people at the Introductory Workshop for the challenge on the 9th of November at the National and University Library “St. Clement of Ohrid” in Skopje, where they had the opportunity to get to know each other and get much needed advice on how to go about developing their solutions to the challenge: How can we end violence against and among children?

The Introductory Workshop was opened with the welcoming words from our teammate, the Main Facilitator of the challenge Sofija Bogeva and the Executive Assistant and Innovation Focal Point at UNICEF Simona Ristoska, who encouraged and motivated the teams and expressed their excitement to be a part of such an initiative.

As the teams gathered around their working stations, we then engaged into a discussion about the values and expectations of the challenge. After that, the teams got insight into the methodology of design thinking, a tool which will provide guidance in the process of developing their innovative solutions. The teams were also able to be proactive and worked on the big picture of their solution, mapping out stakeholders and the needs of the community. As the end of our agenda for the day was approaching, final instructions were given to the teams on how to continue their preparations at home.

Last night, we gathered together with all of the participants to watch the film Hördur — Zwischen den Welten (Hördur — Between Worlds), provided to us by the Goethe-Institut Skopje and Cinematheque of Macedonia. We cozy-ed up and started the screening. The film told a moving story of peer violence, the consequences it leaves in young people’s lives and the difficult journey of one young woman overcoming the trauma and initiating change.

The film left a truly strong impression on everyone, so we took the time to reflect and discuss on the topics which the film covered, deepening our understanding on violence against and among children.

And as they say, it’s always better to go an adventure together rather than alone!

On the 13th of November we had the pleasure to be accompanied by miss Hana Sahatqija from the UNICEF Innovations Lab Kosovo who facilitated an extremely helpful “Training the Trainers” session focused on the successful implementation of Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge into our local community. Her training and advice gave us, as a team and the mentors of the main workshop, great direction and we believe guidance like this is crucial in developing good events and long-lasting initiatives which will benefit our community.

And the adventure continues!

This weekend, the 10 teams participating in the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge, with the help of the mentors, will be developing their ideas into MVPs (minimum viable products) — solutions to specific and targeted issues within the scope of one of the three main challenges:

1. How can we create support system, platforms, connect role models, for victims that will make it easier for them to report and seek help from professionals and peers?
2. How can we reduce bullying, cyberbullying and violence among young people in and around schools including public spaces and public transport?
3. How can we change perceptions and attitudes among adults (e.g. parents, teachers, etc.) towards meaningful engagement of adolescents and young people in their communities?

So, follow us along the adventure that is Generation Unlimited — Youth challenge through our social media outlets and stay tuned for our next blog, where we get to see the amazing work of the 45 young innovators inspired to make a change!