We will support the development of critical thinking, media literacy and the prevention of youth radicalisation

At the beginning of June, we spent three days full of workshops and presentations with 14 selected organisations and a startup. The key activity was consultations with top experts from various fields. EDUcamp participants chose the experts in advance according to their focus and expertise. The organisations presented their projects in more detail and received feedback.

The mentors carefully listened to all the information and, together with our colleagues, selected the organisations advancing to the key activity of our Generation 3.0 programme entitled the EDUaccelerator. In our selection, we took into account the impact of the programme on teachers, pupils and students, the urgency of the issue, the experience of the organisation, the implementation team, the potential of dissemination of the programme, sustainability, and also how we can help the organisation in the accelerator.

Below, we present the participants of the EDUaccelerator:

Community Organising Centre

Project title: Schools for Democracy
The preventive education programme has been operating since 2017. It is the only one of its intensity and kind in Slovakia. It systematically, long-term and constructively focuses on the prevention of radicalisation and extremism of the youth and the strengthening of support for an open and tolerant civil society, and active citizenship.

Why we selected this project: They have a professional team that has a lot of experience in their field as well as real results of working with youth, especially in the field of extremism. They also presented an elaborate impact measurement strategy with a regional focus. The accelerator can potentially help them set up communication even beyond the borders of Banská Bystrica County.

Community Development Centre with their mentor Braňo Ondrášik (field: communication).

EMTEGRA
Project title: KOMPAS

Social and emotional skills development programme for children, teachers and schools. Its long-term goal is to improve students’ mental health, academic performance and relationships through the development of key life skills in the field of emotional and social literacy (self-awareness, empathy, self-control, relationship building, motivation, etc.) in and out of school.

Why we selected this project:

The team is well networked, it cooperates with experts in mental health. A well-developed methodology was created for the project, which has great potential. The demand from schools is greater than they can currently cover.

The organisation is now transforming from a volunteer to a professional one, and it is at this stage that the accelerator can help them significantly.

EMTEGRA during a fundraising consultation with Vanda Hlaváčková.

I AMbitious 
Project title: I AMbitious Academy

I AMbitious is an annual intensive educational programme that focuses on the development of ambitious secondary school students in the regions. It also strives to create committed communities directly in the regions. It involves not only students but also innovative companies, young professionals, individuals, non-profits and the private sector.

Why we selected this project:

The programme is well underway and has the ambition to expand to all regions. The model that supports 21^st-century skills is proven. We consider their vision of preventing brain drain from Slovakia to be important. The accelerator will also help the organisation in the phase when its founder leaves and a new leader takes over.

I AMbitious consulted their impact measurement with their mentor Romana Kanovská.

Impact Games
Project title: Gamifactory

The project is based on the knowledge that games do not only entertain but can also be an effective tool for acquiring key competencies of the 21^st century, e.g. critical thinking or problem-solving ingenuity. Gamifactory offers (educational) games for schools, practical methodologies for use in practice, and training, as well as space for research and sharing good practice in one place.

Why we selected this project:

The creative team has excellently prepared the methodologies for working with educational games. The organisation has strong innovation potential, even the possibility of scaling abroad. The accelerator could help Impact Games create impact measurement tools that will be key in their dissemination. At the same time, they will look for a sustainable business model.

Impact Games with their mentor Roman Baranovič (field: impact measurement).

Slovak Debate Association
Project title: Critical Thinking Olympiad

The programme aims to fill the gap in formal education regarding critical thinking and media literacy through these three steps:

1. Training of secondary school teachers in media literacy and the basics of critical thinking.
2. Trained teachers will use the acquired knowledge and training materials in the education of their students.
3. Organising the Olympiad which enables students to turn the acquired knowledge into skills.

Why we selected this project:

We consider the topic very important. The team is a balanced composition of long-term workers and newcomers. We also see the potential of the project in scaling to all regions and also in the involvement of (not only) active pupils.

The accelerator gives the organisation potential to develop a fundraising strategy, enabling it to cooperate with large individual funders.

Slovak Debate Association during fundraising consultation with Fero Pauliny.

Consultations with mentors and researchers, and financial support 

We will launch the EDUaccelerator in mid-September this year. Its participants will gain three months of consultations with mentors, who will be selected according to the needs of the individual organisations and their projects.

Cooperation with researchers in education is also an essential part of the accelerator. Their role is to help the organisations set a strategy for long-term impact measurement.

At the end of the EDUaccelerator, we will select one of the participating organisations that will receive support in the amount of 30,000 euros for the development and dissemination of its project.