Cork Students Represent Ireland at Global Be the Change Festival

A YSI team from St. Vincent’s Secondary School, Cork, will represent Ireland on a global stage today as part of the annual international ‘Be the Change Festival’ involving children from 25 countries.

The theme of this year’s festival is ‘A ONEderful World by Design’ and is a celebration of the inspiring efforts of children creating positive impact in their communities around the world. 

As part of the celebration, the YSI team will share their project entitled ‘52 Brainy Acts’, an environmental-based initiative which saw the students embark on a range of activities to aid biodiversity and make their school more pollinator-friendly. The Cork students hope to share the message that anyone can make a difference, even through small actions.

The festival coincides with the United Nations World Children’s Day and is part of the international Design for Change programme, currently adopted in over 60 countries, and of which Young Social Innovators is a country partner.

This year’s event is being hosted by Design for Change Singapore. Traditionally thousands of children would travel to the host country to take part in a series of intercultural and celebratory events however, due to Covid-19, the event will be held virtually in 2020.

YSI CEO and Co-founder, Rachel Collier, said ‘We are delighted to see one of our junior YSI teams represent Ireland at this year’s festival and we are so proud of them and their achievements. Design for Change, like Young Social Innovators, is about empowering young people with an ‘I CAN’ mindset, to recognise their own power and ability to bring about change for the world they will inherit.'

“The theme of this year’s event - a ‘ONEderful World by Design’ - is very poignant during a year in which our global interconnectedness has been highlighted more than ever by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to meet with others from around the world and to recognise that we are all part of a global family sharing one planet and one world.”

Well done to the team and to all the young people involved in the celebrations!