The Changemaker Education Campaign is a program designed for young people aged 12 to 18 in a school setting. The campaign consists of two complementary elements: an illustrated handbook, and the Changemaker workshops. Based on the testimony of fellow young changemakers, the students are invited to analyse a real challenge and develop their own local project. Successfully implemented in several cities in Switzerland, the initiative also developed two branches in Hungary and Norway through university exchanges.
Changemaker Education Campaign
Country(ies)
Switzerland, Hungary, Norway
Organisation(s)
ArborMundi & Swiss Youth for Climate
Year(s)
2023 – (ongoing)
The Changemaker Education Campaign is a program designed for youngsters, by youngsters and shaped to be integrated into classrooms (from secondary school to high school – that is, from 12 to 18 years old). First developed by ArborMundi, the campaign is now being implemented in collaboration with Swiss Youth for Climate (SYFC).
In order to understand the intention of the campaign, we must first take a detour through the history of ArborMundi.
ArborMundi is a not-for-profit organization that was created by four young people (Leonhard Kick, Tobias Lippuner, Vivien Laurer and Mohammed El-Haj) during their first year in the University of Sankt Gallen, emerging out of the start-up FruchtX that Leonhard and Tobias had created two years before (at age 16). The start-up was dedicated to the production of dried fruits, rooted in a reflection on the topics of sustainability, biodiversity and food. Their side activity was to plant endangered species of trees.
Leonhard and his friends learned so much during this experience that they wanted to share it with other people at school. Their testimony was so empowering for others that they decided to convert it into a handbook and workshop program, whose mission is to guide young people in the development of their own project. Also, their experience was proof that you are never too young to start to act.
“It is necessary to have young generations who will commit to creating a more sustainable, fairer future, the one they envision should be.” – Leonhard Kick
The Changemaker Handbook
The Changemaker Handbook is an illustrated book to guide young people on their journey to bring some change to the world.
The main characters, Alex and Kaya, embark on a reflection about the issues and the challenges of the world.
Step by step, they envision the possibility for change, discover inspiring stories and feel ready to act themselves. Then they learn about the process of analysing a problem, they develop personal “changemaker” skills, and they take action by developing an idea into a concrete project, finding allies, funding and long-term motivation.
“Have you ever had the feeling that it’s our destiny to stand up for a better world? After all, we younger generations are the ones who will feel the effects of the climate crisis first hand, as will our children and grandchildren.”
The Changemaker Workshops
The handbook is combined with a 1 to 3-hour workshop to empower young people to become changemakers themselves “with knowledge, courage, and concrete project ideas”.
The first part alternates between quizzes, testimony and presentation of some famous (or not so famous) young changemakers of the world.
The main part of the session is intended to tackle an issue, chosen in relation to the local context and the age of the participants. The intent is to step away from the individual scale which tends to make people feel guilty, in order to talk about broader subjects such as education, political culture, economic systems, but also about specific issues (fast fashion, mental health, waste management or use of resources). Here are a few examples: how can you create a healthier and more sustainable food system in your school? How can you improve your friends’ political engagement in school?
To reflect on the issue and imagine a project to tackle it, the participants are invited to follow the “magic 7” method
- Iceberg
They carry out a systematic analysis of the problem, using the metaphor of the iceberg (what we see above the surface, and what we don’t see in the depths, the root causes of the problem).
- Define
They define in a few words: the name of the project, its mission, its vision for the future and the strategy to get there.
- SDGs
They explain how the project is connected to one or several Sustainable Development Goals.
- Goals
They list a few achievable goals they aim for (on an appropriate / local scale).
- Finances
They compose a budget with income and expenditure.
- Stakeholder model
They identify 7 key potential stakeholders and partners involved in their proposed solution.
- Public relations
They determine their main channels for public relations (website, shop, social media, office, etc.)
This method, alternating between analyzing the causes, envisioning the future, building a concrete infrastructure for a solution, and participating in broader movements, enables the students to describe the solutions in a very concrete way.
The final step of the workshop is to prepare an “elevator pitch” of the idea they developed and to present it to the rest of the class.
According to Leonard Kick, who granted us an interview, what happens for the young participants during the workshop is not only that they design a solution to a problem. The intention behind setting up the workshop is to offer a first step in a much longer journey. If they are able to imagine something good in one hour, they can certainly have great impacts by investing more time.
“It is central to conveying the meaning and the idea that we can influence the future and that it is not predetermined – to gain the mindset of a Changemaker.” – Leonhard Kick
Today, the Changemaker Education Campaign is supported by autonomous teams in 4 different Swiss regions as well as in Hungary and Norway. The network consists of approximately 50 young people capable of facilitating the workshops.
The “Changemaker Workshops” can be combined with other educational workshops to deepen the participants’ understanding of the ecological crisis, such as the Climate Fresk (based on the IPCC reports), the Biodiversity Collage (based on the IPBES report) or the 2tonnes workshop (based on the Paris Agreement’s commitment).
But these options are not always necessary since young people (as a group) already know a lot about biodiversity and climate science. However, there are also big differences between young people who know almost nothing and young people who are experts.
What are the key takeaways from these workshops?
What is striking, according to Leonhard, is that, even if the facilitators try to give positive energy, there’s often a sense of doom and gloom among young people; they feel things are bad. They often talk about collapse, the end of humanity. What they hear and what they pass on is rather negative.
Concerning the design of their projects, they often imagine educational initiatives, frequently linked to social media. It shows that they are aware of the power of the media. For them it’s the place to raise awareness among their friends.
They also like to tackle biodiversity issues and create a local garden for example.
One last interesting insight is that the Changemaker Workshop is an opportunity for the students to change their mind on certain subjects. For example, young boys might get to work on the issue of nutrition. At first they frown upon vegetarianism, and in the end, they propose vegan dishes in the cafeteria.
“They are ready, at least in the simulation, to base their solutions on the information they learn and to be radical and ambitious.” – Leonhard Kick