The KEYSTONE project is a participatory action research pilot project that is intended to help ‘marginalised’ young people to become active participants in bringing about change in their own lives and communities. At the core of KEYSTONE’s approach is the idea of a ‘community lab’ – these are safe spaces for young people to experiment, learn and develop their creativity, applying that creativity to their own lives and communities through developing and implementing pilot social actions (social innovations): “What’s broken and how do WE fix it?”
KEYSTONE is an EU Erasmus+ funded project
It works in five EU countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK.
It aims to help marginalised young people become social innovators.
It does this by running a ‘Collaborative Support Programme’ for young people.
This support programme combines face to face mentoring, experiental learning and workshops, with an on-line Gaming App and on-line Learning Resources (the ‘K.E.Y. platform) to help young people develop their creativity and learn new skills.
Young people participating in the Collaborative Support Programme then get the opportunity to apply their skills and creativity in KEYSTONE’s ‘Community Labs’.
Based in four cities – Athens, Lisbon, London and Perugia – the Community Labs provide spaces in which young people work with experts, entrepreneurs, creatives and youth services to co-design and deliver ‘social innovations’ in their communities.
These social innovations aim to solve real problems that affect young people’s lives and their life opportunities.
The Community Labs give a voice to young people who are normally not listened to.
Some examples from around the World of similar ideas may be found below, and many more examples, toolkits, information and material of interest can be found in other posts on this ‘KEY Tool’ platform. Please feel free to browse and to register with the programme, become a part of the wider KEYSTONE Knowledge Community (Stakeholders, Young People, Youth Service Providers, Researchers and anyone with an interest in Youth led change, Creativity, Innovation, Sustainability and participatory programme development).
Greta Thunberg and her contribution to climate change activism: https://vimeo.com/314089179
The BUKE and CALÓ YouthBuild project in LA, USA: https://vimeo.com/98352014
Gangs to Gardens Kenya: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/gangs-to-gardens-kenyan-youth-shun-crime-to-create-green-spaces/
“Rivers of Light” a campaign to convince FARC guerillas in Colombia to demobilise: https://vimeo.com/64146522
Temi Mwale and the 4Front project, one of several in the UK addressing serious youth violence issues, systemic structural concerns, engagement and empowerment through support and development: https://vimeo.com/335233350
An inspirational video on innovation, networking and FUN from Induct: https://vimeo.com/32147922
