General News
20 July, 2022
Social innovation leads the way
MERCY REGIONAL College (MRC) students stepped up and generated a host of ideas which make a difference in the world.
MERCY REGIONAL College (MRC) students stepped up and generated a host of ideas which make a difference in the world.
MRC teamed up with Crazy Ideas College (CIC) to provide Year 8 students with the support, tools and connections to generate and bring transformative ideas to life.
As an extension on the school’s innovative PEAK subject (Passion, Exploration, Advancement, Knowledge), the students spent two days with the CIC experts participating in the Social Innovators program.
Working in teams, the students designed programs, products and services that enrich the lives of their fellow citizens.
Across the two days of workshops, the students discovered new insights around issues they care about, generated most outstanding ideas, prototyped how those ideas can work in the community, and developed compelling pitches that inspire action.
The ideas were pitched to a panel of local community partners last Friday.
Head of O’Keeffe junior campus Emily Stephens congratulated the students on the initiative.
‘’We know that young people are wonderfully creative and brilliant at thinking about how we tackle our big challenges in new and radical ways,” she said.
“Mercy is excited that young people will be leading the way and shaping local change.”
CIC’s Zoe Burrows said it was important “we’re equipping young people with the skills and connections to thrive post school, and the community and business partners play a key role in doing that”.
The community partners provided invaluable feedback to the teams and will help connect the students with the right people and resources so their ideas can be brought to life.
The students will now have the opportunity to collaborate with community and business partners in term three to finalise their projects.
Key themes the ideas addressed included finding ways to promote care for the environment, enhance health and wellbeing, foster community connectedness and reimaging learning.
All ideas will be showcased on CICBeyond – an online platform designed specifically to share, celebrate and connect these ideas with the community.