Three Donegal teams are among those shortlisted for the upcoming Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards 2019.
Thirty-one teams of student innovators from all over Ireland have been shortlisted to compete for the title of Young Social Innovators of the Year 2019 at a national finale to be held in Croke Park on Wednesday 15th May.
Donegal Finalists 2019:
- Rosses Community Schoool, Dungloe, Co. Donegal” – “Addicted to SMOG”
- Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal – “Friends of Conall”
- Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal – “Heart 2 Heart”
Announcing the shortlist, Rachel Collier, CEO said: “It is wonderful to see such a wide range of issues being tackled by this year’s finalists.
“This generation of young people are very aware of the issues affecting young people and local communities and they are demonstrating a real commitment to being part of the solution; this year alone, 157,000 hours in volunteering was carried out by teenagers engaged in our programmes.
Young Social Innovators gives young people an opportunity to use their insights, passion and creativity to tackle the issues they feel are important and to help contribute towards creating a better future for all of us .”
21.03.19. Sligo. Young Social Innovators Speak Out Tour 2019. Photo by Aileen O’Hagan.
The high impact innovations, developed by young people to address an identified social need, were shortlisted from over 370 initial entries.
Youth mental health, climate change, plastic pollution, sexual consent, dementia awareness, community regeneration, loneliness and isolation, and technology addiction are just some of the issues that have been tackled by this year’s finalists.
At the Young Social Innovators Awards, shortlisted teams will present their projects to judging panels and compete for awards in a number of categories as well as the coveted Gold, Silver and Bronze national titles.
Concerned about the overuse of technology and its link to anxiety among young people, the ‘Addicted to SMOG team from Rosses Community School embarked on an innovative initiative to educate children and parents.
21.03.19. Sligo. Young Social Innovators Speak Out Tour 2019. Photo by Aileen O’Hagan.
A children’s storybook for primary school students was just one of the creative responses by this shortlisted team.
Students from Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny have two teams shortlisted for the Awards. These focussed on promoting heart health in the community as well as campaigning for the educational rights of a small child named Conall who has complex medical needs.
The team are campaigning to secure a qualified nursing position in the primary school that Conall soon hopes to attend.
Over 6,000 teenagers from all over Ireland took part in Young Social Innovators this year creating and implementing innovative solutions to social issues facing communities and wider society.
