YSI

YSI programme at SHSS. By Annie Mccarthy

The Transition Year Young Social Innovators Class has been working hard since choosing YSI as their module. Firstly, we learned what YSI is. YSI is a non-profit organisation that empowers young people to use their talents, insights, passion and creativity to come up with innovative solutions to social

challenges. We also made an alphabetical list of social injustices, for example; Addiction, Bullying, amongst many others. After we had this extended list, as a class we began narrowing it down by voting for the injustices we felt were most important. We continued this until we had only three topics left. After this, we each chose which group we wanted to be a part of. The three groups are as follows; Family Fallouts, which is focused on the topic on abuse in families, Inner Sunshine, which is based around the topic of

mental health, and Not Just a Mom, which is focused on gender equality in workplaces. Then, we began to study key definitions related to the YSI programme, such as the definition for Social Innovations; the practice of using creativity to develop solutions which improve the wellbeing of people and society, Social

Innovators; someone who uses creativity to develop solutions to improve the wellbeing of people and society, and, finally, the definition of Sustainable Development Goals; a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

We then began looking at the individual SDGs, and as a group decided on which three SDGs were most relevant to our projects. We also looked at examples of social innovations, and what impact they have had on local communities. We also made logos for our groups. We then set up Instagram and TikTok accounts for each group. As groups, we divided up the individual roles. The roles are as follows; Chairperson, Secretary, Social Media Manager, Internal Communications, External Communications, Artist, Photographer and Researchers. We then began to research the topics, by using reputable sources to find facts that we could use to spread awareness around the different topics. Finally, we have all begun to discuss ideas for innovation. Each group has brainstormed ideas for large actions they could complete in order to spread awareness about their topic. Over the coming weeks, the groups will decide what large action they would like to complete first, and begin working on this.