The pupils of Ballymore National School, Dunfanaghy, last week unveiled their BFGTOEU (Big Friendly Guide to the EU) and Young Social Innovators Design for Change project.
They made their presentation to a panel which included former MEP and friend of the school, Pat the Cope Gallagher, as well as Philip Murphy (University College Cork) and Angela Holohan of Young Social Innovators (YSI).
YSI empowers young people to reimagine the world into one that is more caring, equal and fair, and to come together to bring their ideas to life. Through engagement in YSI and, through research and advocacy, young people are given a voice and agency on the issues that matter to them.
Using the YSI framework, the pupils developed a project that centred around the need for every individual to take personal responsibility to reduce the pollution impacting the local beaches and coastal waters. As part of their work, they organised beach clean-ups, wrote to local councillors asking for additional bins and signage to be placed at beaches in the Dunfanaghy and surrounding areas. They also shared their thoughts with the wider community through newsletter and newspaper articles. The children used the presentation day as an opportunity to ask Pat the Cope Gallagher many burning questions they had about the life of an MEP and issues they felt needed addressing – climate change, pollution, homelessness and the current education system.
“As a small school we are delighted to see that the work going on in our classrooms and local community, here in Dunfanaghy, is being recognised and seen on a national level,” said Cáit Ní Chuireáin, Principal.
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