Announced at the HundrED Innovation Summit 2023 in Helsinki on Tuesday, 31 October, The B!G Idea was chosen from more than 3,000 innovations which were reviewed by 183 global education experts in 73 countries.
The B!G Idea is a free, multi-award-winning, creative thinking initiative which is teaching the world’s most in-demand skills to 15 to 19 year olds across Ireland through Youthreach, Community Training Centres, Leaving Certificate Applied, Transition Year and Northern Ireland schools.
“The issues our youth are facing today are huge and deeply challenging,” says Founder and CEO of The B!G Idea, Kim Mackenzie-Doyle.
“They are contending with an uncertain future and we know that they don’t feel fully prepared for the weight of responsibilities that lie ahead.”
“As their guardians and leaders, it’s our responsibility to recognise this pivotal moment and to act now to improve their outcomes,” she says, explaining that creative thinking is a future skill our young people need.
Launched in 2021, The B!G Idea has reached 6,500 students from across 23 counties, with the support of 750 diverse industry mentors from every sector, over 250 progressive companies, and many third level institutions across Ireland.
This year, 4,000 students developed curiosity, empathy, critical thinking and problem-solving skills in an active learning environment, co-creating solutions within teams to tackle social issues such as mental health, displaced people, hidden poverty, diversity and inclusion and climate change, all lined up with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Creative thinking has this year ranked highest as the world’s most in-demand skill, topping Big Data, tech literacy and other hard skills, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023.
“Creative or lateral thinking is a skill that can be taught and one that our next generation needs as they will face challenges we can’t yet imagine.
“In a world grappling with critical issues, our approach stands as a dynamic intervention, backed by industry and academia,” Kim says.
“We are honoured to be selected by HundrED this year. It was a big year for us as we also won the international Think Global Education Award, and the Diversity in Tech Social Impact Award here in Ireland.”
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also highlighted The B!G Idea this year as a best practice example of creative thinking skills application in mainstream education in Ireland.
Kim says that while global recognition is reassuring, Ireland must consolidate its efforts to improve outcomes for young people and to prepare future workforces with the skills industry and society needs.
“If Ireland does not invest in changing the way the next generation thinks, through creative thinking, we will fall well behind where we can and should be.”
Accelerating Student Ideas
The creative thinking initiative has just wrapped up its post programme accelerator for the top teams on the 2023 programme.
Around 35 students and learners attended the B!G Student Accelerator at Autodesk in Dublin on Thursday (26 October), where they worked with The B!G Idea team and industry experts from partner companies and sponsoring organisations such as Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, Netwatch, Local Enterprise Office, Rethink Ireland and MSD Ireland. The event was also supported by ESB Generations and Síol Foundation, with a host of mentors from top companies across Ireland.
The TY students were from schools in Carlow and Longford, with LCA students from Cork, and Youthreach and Community Training Centre learners from Kilkenny and Offaly.
The solutions included a community hub promoted by a drink’s coaster with a QR code to help support younger men with their mental health; an augmented reality concept to educate about climate change; an app to support people living in hidden poverty in Ireland and a wildflower garden at their school as a safe space for students and to support our vital bee population.
One team from Carlow developed their idea for a comprehensive multi-lingual website to support refugees to Ireland, which offered information on education, housing and employment, as well as a guide to help displaced people settle in.
The exciting new accelerator offered students and learners the chance to engage with partners and mentors and develop their ideas even further. It also gave them an opportunity to explore a range of innovative career prospects, apply their new creative thinking skills and experience innovation across different sectors.
The B!G Idea successfully brings together some of the leading companies in Ireland with the next generation of global citizens and employees around the skills and issues that matter the most.
The B!G Idea is currently recruiting 450 mentors to help bridge the gap between education and industry for the 4,000 students who will participate in the free programmes nationwide from January 2024.
It is inviting companies to get involved as Programme Partners to help keep the vital skills programme free and accessible to students from all backgrounds across Ireland.
Connect with us to get involved.
