prototyping 2017
UAE YOUTH COMMUNITY
The UAE Youth Cluster (UYC) project, initiated by INNOCO, is an innovative platform designed to nurture and empower young social entrepreneurs and facilitators. The project aligns with INNOCO's core value of 'ME=WE', emphasizing transformative relationships and fostering social good through community engagement and inclusivity.
The UYC focuses on cultivating creative confidence, collaboration among change agents, and contribution to social entrepreneurship.
Social Innovation Workshop Series from Sep 2017- Jan 2018 at Shera Innovation center in Sharjah, UAE. This program aimed to enable youth participants to become social entrepreneurs and/or community builders according to their interests and passion.
The project includes a series of workshops where youth participants develop essential skills and knowledge to become proactive social innovators. Starting with 30 youths, the series progresses through several stages, aiming to culminate in 12-15 individual or team projects. Participants are selected through an interview process, focusing on their readiness, understanding of INNOCO, and commitment to the program's goals.
Interview questions assess candidates' global citizenship perspective, leadership qualities, conflict resolution skills, and interest areas such as energy, health, and technology. The process emphasizes the importance of mindful and empathetic engagement to ensure the selection of individuals aligned with the project's ethos.
Selected participants receive an acceptance letter, confirming their membership in the UAE Youth Cluster and outlining their commitment to attend all workshops. The program promises a comprehensive learning experience, culminating in the ability to pitch project ideas and potentially becoming an INNOCO facilitator. Participants are expected to create a personal manifesto, maintain a development journal, and adhere to ethical guidelines, including respecting intellectual property rights and maintaining professional communication standards.
The UYC also emphasizes sustainability and community engagement. Participants are encouraged to adopt zero-waste behaviors and engage actively with community members and collaborators. The project guidelines stress the importance of punctuality, adherence to local cultural norms, and the cultivation of basic virtues such as respect and honesty.
Overall, the UAE Youth Cluster by INNOCO represents a holistic approach to youth development in social entrepreneurship, combining personal growth, community engagement, and innovative problem-solving to foster impactful social change.
Participants experienced ME=WE, creative confidence, sustainability, co-creating sustainable solutions in teams or individual changemaking path. They are encouraged to co-creating social innovation space which is interdisciplinary and multicultural towards building a vibrant community.
Participants chose their topics on Food Security and Sustainability; food reality in UAE, production, waste management, etc. Workshop process was integrated with design thinking and systems thinking with hands on experience starting from finding the needs with empathic approaches and serious playful brainstorming to generate new ideas which led to producing working prototypes.
UAE Youth Final Pitch
UAE Youth Workshop Workbook by Sajana
CLUSTER is a selected youth which go through the workshop & activity series leading to a self-sustaining action group and network. It aims to foster and flourish the concept of ME=WE. NYC is conceptually formed to coordinate youths of different geographical areas for the purpose of community building. Cluster is a GROUP of positive minded individuals who are committed to work together with community, resources, schools and students to improve the quality of life and learning. Cluster is committed to being responsive to the needs of our youth, cultivating and enabling them to grow within themselves, their families and communities through service and education. Team Structure includes Lead, Funding Manager, Activity Manager, Media/Production Facilitator(s), Coordinator working with other youth, collaborators, advisors/mentors, and sponsors locally and internationally
