DESIGN FOR CHANGE Global Movement

Design for Change (DFC) catalysed by founder Kiran’s Bir Sethi’s TED Talk in 2010 cultivates the ‘I CAN’ mindset in every child empowering them to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action.

It is a winner of numerous education accolades and present in 70 countries. DFC was born out of the conviction that children are not helpless, that change is possible and belief that they can drive it. Through a simple design process of Feel-Imagine-Do-Share ( FIDS for KIDS) children are designing solutions for some of the worlds greatest challenges!

Since the inception of Design for Change in 2009, here is our collective global impact.

DFC GLOBAL
IMPACT

74

COUNTRIES &
REGIONS

40000

SOLUTIONS OF
CHANGE

2

MILLION CHILDREN
PARTICIPATED

30552

SCHOOLS
PARTICIPATED

111897

teachers
PARTICIPATED

DFC NORTHERN IRELAND (NI)

DFC Northern Ireland was founded by Juanita Rea in 2022. We have spearheaded Art For Change, empowering youth to address issues affecting their mental health, through a chosen art medium and to share stories of change and their art work publicly to drive social change.

Since 2023 we have empowered 65 youth to be artivists and worked with 15 socially engaged artists. Youth have joined us through our collaboration in 2023 with Beyond Skin, ALGOCHAK, Cairde Community Choir, the Sudanese Youth Group, Horn of Africa People’s Aid, the Northern Ireland Indian Community and the Oh Yeah Music Centre. See 2023 projects here https://www.edusoil.com/artforchange2023.html

In 2024 we partnered with Diverse Youths, Anaka Women's Collective, Northern Ireland Indian Community, African & Caribbean Support Organisation NI [ACSONI], Franziska Schroeder, QUB School of Arts, English and Languages and the Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Directorate. See 2024 projects here. https://sites.google.com/edusoil.com/afc24virtualshowcase.

Our funding is managed by our parent organisation, eduSOIL CIC ( NI686055). www.edusoil.com

Our lead funders have been Department for Communities (ArtWork) Arts Council Northern Ireland (Young People and Wellbeing, Project Funding) and QUB Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility Directorate. Youth participants, educators, parents and mentors have represented NI at DFC global celebrations in India and Dubai.

Be inspired by past DFC NI projects!

Select Northern Ireland or any other country in our network for more inspiration!

2022 > present

NI IMPACT

20

SCHOOLS/
ORGANISATIONS

11

STORIES OF
CHANGE

65

YOUTH
EMPOWERED

21

TEACHERS/
VOLUNTEERS TRAINED

310

TOTAL
IMPACTED

FIDS
Design Thinking Framework

Powered by the principles of design thinking, Design for Change offers a simple 4 step framework FIDS (Feel-Imagine-Do-Share)- to unleash the I CAN superpower in every child.

Using this framework, children are encouraged to 'FEEL' (observe and identify any situation that bothers them), 'IMAGINE' (brainstorm a way to make it better), 'DO' (work in teams to implement their solution) and finally, 'SHARE' (their solution of change with the world) to inspire others to say, 'I CAN'!

ART FOR CHANGE Nurturing Youth Mental Health

Art For Change uses the FIDS framework to enable youth to identify issues affecting their mental health and to take action on the issue through a chosen art medium.

The Art For Change pilot in the summer of 2023 was sponsored by Arts Council Northern Ireland. Here is a story of change that was shared at the I CAN Children’s Global Summit hosted by DFC in India, December 2023.

BE THE CHANGE
CELEBRATION

Organized annually, the ‘Be The Change’ (BTC)

celebration provides our young superheroes from across the world a platform to showcase their stories of change.

Youth who participate in Art For Change 2025 OR join the I CAN Challenge 2025 and submit a story of change will be considered as NI representatives at the 2025 Be The Change Global Celebration in Japan this November*

STUDENT COUNCIL

Last year one of our Art For Change participants, Karma Vyas wrote a song with his group about Cyberbullying and went on to represent Northern Ireland at the annual global DFC celebration which took place in India and was thereafter nominated to join the DFC Student Council.

Design for Change Global's Student Council acts as a platform for children to voice their thoughts and opinions, and allows these viewpoints to be incorporated into the international I CAN movement.

DFC NI, SOUTH AFRICA AND SUDAN FOUNDER/COUNTRY PARTNER

Juanita Rea is an Indian South African artivist, social entrepreneur and educator with many passions. She has a background in primary education (BPrim.Ed, M.Ed) and has worked as school teacher in government and private schools in SA, England, S.Korea, the Philippines, Sudan since 2000.

She is the founder of eduSOIL, an award-winning, international, arts, wellbeing and education social enterprise addressing the global mental health crisis through trauma-informed, intercultural community arts, youth leadership, yoga and mindfulness programmes and products. Since 2011, her global team has nurtured the innate creativity, compassion and resilience of 16,000 primarily black, asian and underserved people in 12 countries. Juanita has been a DFC Country Partner since 2010, launching DFC Philippines which she ran until 2020. She launched DFC SA in 2015, DFC Sudan in 2018 and DFC NI in 2022.

She resides in Belfast through a Global Talent endorsement through the Arts Council, is a Visiting Scholar at Queen’s University Belfast at the School of Arts, English and Languages and has received numerous awards from Arts Council NI for her interdisciplinary creative practice.

Collectively the eduSOIL NI and SA chapters have received funding/donations and has delivered programmes in the Philippines, India, Nepal, South Africa, Sudan, NI, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Juanita’s qualifications and certifications include BrimEd (Art & Design), M.Ed Educational Leadership and Administration, PGCert Sustainability Education, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Cognitive Therapy, Children’s and Adult Yoga (Yoga Alliance) and a range of TES courses on Special Educational Needs, Safeguarding, Mental Health and Trauma-informed approaches.

Juanita has received numerous social impact awards for her work. Spark Changemaker (2015) LifeCo Enterprizer (2016), Lioness of Africa (2017) in SA; Minority Ethnic Awards, NI (2021- 2023) in NI, Changemaker Award (2023) in India. Through her work with the DFC global movement she has contributed to the global impact and innovation awards and accolades it has received.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanitarea/

DFC NI LEAD ORGANISATION

DFC NI IMPACT PARTNERS

DFC GLOBAL AWARDS

DFC GLOBAL PARTNERS