About this course

In this course you will reflect about the possibilities of becoming a change maker and contribute to “save the world”, one step at a time, in the scope of your work/profession. You will meet concepts and processes such as social innovation, volunteering for a cause, project management, and access significant resources and learning tools that will help you shape your ideas and projects related to positive social change.

If you had never thought that you could choose saving the world as a work/professional option, or even by exploring volunteering opportunities, this course will

Do we have to be superheroes to save the world?

When we think about changing the world, it might feel too much of an overwhelming endeavour. How do we do it? Are we even capable of imagining ourselves as changemakers? What do we need to learn, what skills do we have to possess? Is it even possible?

Yes, it is! We can save the world bit by bit – a small change in our community can bring about significant positive impact when it answers to people’s and nature’s needs.  And even though we might not be superheroes, the job is challenging: we need to think about redesigning the human existence from a global perspective, understanding that we’re just a tiny part of a bigger puzzle, connecting with people and lobbying for positive transformation of communities and systems, working with passionate and inspiring minds, and fostering creativity. This is the field of social innovation and collaborative economies.

A lot of young people like you have pushed away their insecurities and fears and started to make these small changes that turned into positive social transformation, addressing diverse problems, contexts, and people. But this takes a little bit of work, of course. You have to define your focus, gather your partners, learn about sustainable businesses and be bold, as there will probably be some obstacles and drawbacks along the way.

There is a lot of information available online and offline that will help you plan the journey into becoming a changemaker. Here are a few little steps that can assist you to start off:

1. Write a mission statement.
2. Research the field.
3. Conceptualize your unique offering.
4. Reach out to family and friends for feedback and support.
5. Develop your business model.
6. Search for possible funding sources.
7. Write an action plan (and stick to it)

Learn how to become a social entrepreneur!

Self reflection

Had you ever thought about working in the field of social innovation?

What would be your drive, and what would be your focus?

Meet some inspiring social innovators!

Changemakers are out there working together to save the world, already. Sometimes you just have to meet someone who challenges you to do something that will have a positive impact in your community. Social innovators work hard, think creatively, and dare to act differently. Here you will meet some of those people and projects, and have access to various resources that might help you start off with your own ideas.

Social innovation asks you to think globally and act locally, to listen carefully to the things that are important and needed, to be curious and develop your creativity. It also urges for a deeper understanding of your surroundings and being aware of the need to work with others to promote change and pave the way for a better future. 

Explore the ongoing actions of the European Commission in the field of social innovation!

Young social entrepreneurs are already changing the world while you are reading this. Their focus is broad, some of their actions are locally based, and others are international. As an example, you can search about social enterprises that:

• Upcycle non-biodegradable waste into fashion accessories;
• Develop shoes for kids that adjust and expand five sizes and last up to five years;
• Combat climate change and food insecurity;
• Make healthcare more accessible;
• Empower women to become leaders in their communities;
• Bring healthy food to food deserts.

If you want to get inspired and develop your own focus, you should look at these bright examples, as they might be the trigger you need to find your uniqueness and possibilities as a social changemaker.

Know more about these and other young social entrepreneurs!

Self reflection

From all the projects you have just got acquainted with, which is the one you relate more to? Would you see yourself involved in a similar project in the future?

Can we learn how to become social innovators?

Yes, we can. We can learn how to think, explore ideas, develop the appropriate mindset. We can develop the core skills, knowledge and competences to become social innovators. By reading the case study of Kaospilot, an entrepreneurship and design school located in Aarhus, Denmark, you can understand how certain education pathways build changemakers.

Will you dare to read the full article? 

You can choose where to start by doing a bit of solo work, by following the previous steps suggested in this module, doing research, and writing down your action plan. This would be the informal approach to the learning process. 

But if you feel the need to enrol in a more structured learning path, you can choose to register to online courses, webinars, or other programmes that can provide you different types of information on sustainability, technology, management, etc. Most of them will address the following issues and contents:

1. Defining the problem

Working in social innovation means dealing with complex systems, issues, and relationships. As such, you need to fully engage with the system, in order to understand its elements and the way they interact with each other, as well as derive new connections – which is the starting point for innovation to happen.

2. Developing a strength-based mindset

Instead of looking at the problems searching for the gaps and failures, social innovation calls for a resource-based view. This positive shift in the way we look at our surroundings allows us to develop creativity and find new assets that weren’t visible before. These resources can be people, organizations, or things, which are present in the community, and are valuable elements that are often invisible.

3. Manage the differences

Being a social innovator invites you to leave your comfort zone, as it implies working together with diverse people, resources and organizations. As such, you need to learn how to manage the discomfort that arises from different opinions, strategies, and even politics. Courage and resilience are two fundamental characteristics of a changemaker.

4. Design thinking

There are several methodologies which have originally been developed for businesses and have been imported to the field of social innovation regarding human-centred design. The design thinking process is one of them, and it allows you to develop your project, but it also contributes to the generation of new processes, services and user experience. Through iteration and prototyping, it works from a human-centred perspective, which allows the development of sustainable and relevant solutions in the field of social innovation.

5. What does it mean to change the system?

Social innovation works within systems in order to create solutions, which means that, at some point, it can question the systems themselves – because social innovation is changing the rules of how they work. It is important that you reflect about the rules and how your project might challenge them, in order to manage the apprehension that could arise due to the changemaking process

6. Scaling up

If your project is successful, which in the field of social innovation means that it has a positive impact, the natural course is to increase its impact by scaling it. There are several ways to do this, beyond the traditional labelling of the organizations as non-profit/for-profit, and according to their goals, structure and impact assessment.

Here are some examples of free online courses and tools you might want to explore to help you learn more about these topics:

Becoming a changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation

​The Unravel Tomorrow Learning Journey (MOOC)

Social innovation is not just a trendy field of action. It´s a perspective, a call for action that demands a clear set of values, attitudes and a strong commitment from those who choose to follow this pathway. If you choose to commit with social innovation, you choose to commit with humankind and the Earth. You choose to commit with the future. You choose to become responsible and act on behalf of the sustainability of people and of the planet. 

Self reflection

Do you know any social innovation projects in your country or region which inspire you and you could know more about? We suggest that you try to schedule a visit or a talk with a responsible person, so you can dive deeper in your exploration.

What if I want to change the world by becoming a volunteer?

Becoming a volunteer by helping people in need, getting enrolled in relevant causes, or contributing to the community is a time-consuming activity, but the benefits of it outnumber the drawbacks. Scientific studies suggest “that diverse, successful volunteer programs for adolescents, along with school-based support, are related to improvements in both the academic and social arenas. Specifically, volunteering relates to reduced rates of course failure, suspension from school, and school dropout, and improvement in reading grades; to a reduction in teen pregnancy; and to improved self-concept and attitudes toward society”. Read more about this review:

The impacts of volunteering in the young volunteers

There is also this great TEDxChennai talk by Trishya Screwvala, about the reasons why volunteering is such a transformative experience.

How Volunteering can help Change the World

One very important aspect of volunteering is the match between the volunteer and the conditions under which the volunteering occurs, so it’s very important that you know how to find the right opportunity for you: it will help you to meet new friends, relate to communities, develop new skills and competencies, and possibly even enhance your career.

In order to do this, you should start by exploring your interests and goals, and ask yourself some questions that are very helpful to prioritize your search for volunteering opportunities:

• Who would you like to work with? (e.g. adults, children, animals, humanitarian organizations,  …)
• Would you rather work with a team or alone?
• Are you better behind the scenes or do you prefer to take a more visible role?
• How much time would you be willing to volunteer?
• What skills do you think you have that could be relevant to a volunteer job?
• What are the most relevant causes to you?

Find the right opportunity to volunteer!

Self reflection

Do you know any volunteering opportunities/organisations? Do you know anyone who volunteers? Try to get in contact with them, after you have made a list of all the relevant topics you would like to explore. Know more about it!

And how do I manage my projects?

Project management is a practice that aims to successfully attain the project requirements and goals by applying knowledge of the process, skills, tools, outputs, and techniques involved. 

The project – a series of tasks/activities that need to be accomplished to reach a certain objective or outcome, which are simple or complex – can be found at work or in our everyday life (e.g. respectively, preparing a research report about a specific subject, or planning a vacation), and requires management. Depending on the level of complexity, it can be managed by one person or more.

There are four stages in project management:

1. Set Goals and Chart Progress

Begin by clearly stating what are the goals of your project, what is it that you want to achieve. Ideally, you should have a clear picture of what the goal will look like when the project ends. This clear vision helps you to keep motivated while knowing where you are heading and what you are doing to get there. 

2. Break Down Tasks and Set Deadlines

After setting your goals, you will be able to break down the tasks and define clear (and realistic!) deadlines. At this point, you will also need to describe the time, resources, and concrete actions allocated to each task and subtask – which is a critical action in project management. By the end of this phase, you should be able to compile an action plan, which includes the selected resources (and team members, in case it is a collaborative project). If you are working with other stakeholders, you should also delegate roles, activities and responsibilities between them.

3. Choose and Implement Strategies

Now is the time to choose specific strategies for attaining the goals of the project, by completing the tasks. This is mainly a time for research, using different planning tools, sharing ideas and documents, and effectively implementing the selected strategies.

4. Monitor, Adjust, and Problem-Solve

Even the best strategy in the world might fail, so project managers must be ready to act in case things don’t go as planned. It is important then, that you monitor your results and deadlines frequently, to guarantee that the outcomes are being produced on time and with high quality. Problem-solving and critical thinking are fundamental in these moments and might imply the revision of the original goals. 

Watch this short video by John Spencer about the four stages of project management!

In order to be an effective project manager, you need to follow the availability of new tools and resources available, which are constantly being made available to project managers, as well as stay informed about the updates in your industry. 

Check out these guides, tools and resources!

One very specific approach to project management which might be useful to you, is the AGILE approach. The AGILE process refers to a repetitive way of managing a project, frequently used in software development projects to promote velocity and adaptability.

The difference between AGILE and the “traditional” approaches to project management is that it allows for systematic adjustment of the strategies and processes during the whole project. The main principles of the AGILE philosophy include:

• Relying on qualified people and the collaboration between them and the costumer;
• Breaking the process of project management into small bits, which allow for prioritization;
• Systematic adjustment to the goals of the project, according to the customer’s assessment of the outputs;
• Integrating planning and execution, which allows for the development of an organizational mindset that promotes quality enhancement.

Explore the AGILE approach even further! 

There are lots of resources!

Self reflection

We invite you to do the following exercise: think of one of your everyday life projects and break it down into the stages of project management. Can you see the relevance and/or the application of those stages in a professional project?