Supporting BC Youth as International Innovators
This project also has a Changeshop where you can read more about its latest progress.
Go to Changeshop: Supporting BC Youth as International Innovators.
This project is an initiative by the International Women's Rights Project, an independent NGO based for a decade at the University of Victoria.
About You
About You
First Name
Susan
Last Name
Bazilli
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
International Women's Rights Project
Organization Website
Organization Country
Canada, BC, North Vancouver
Country where this solution is creating social impact
Canada, BC, Vancouver
Region in BC where your solution creates social impact
Vancouver, Coast and Mountains, Vancouver Island, Thompson Okanagan, Northern British Columbia, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Kootenay Rockies.
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Growth (your pilot is up and running, and starting to expand)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for more than 5 years
The Need: Describe the need for your solution and the size and characteristics of the community(ies) your solution is engaging
Legal education for youth and the laws of Canada and the law reform process is extremely important. But we need to also be teaching our youth about the role that international law is increasingly playing in our global world. We have no real mechanisms for global governance. The youth of today are going to be the leaders and participants and global citizens of tomorrow who will make those decisions, hopefully not just carrying out the ones that we make today. This project is designed for interactive learning of youth about aspects of international law and governance that will impact on their future. We propose curricula and social media focused on international legal education for youth.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
The objectives are simple: Research and develop educational material in youth friendly formats (print and web based with links to YouTube, Facebook and Podcasts) that will educate them about issues of international law and the rule of law and our obligations as Canadian citizens in a global world to implement international law at home and abroad.
By the end of this project we will have:
- A completed study guide integrated into BC high schools
- Have held focus groups with our advisory committee and high school youth
- Incorporated the recommendations from above committees into the final product
• A completed website
• A study guide adaptable to high schools that will be branded as a BC product – International Women's Right's Project; Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria; The BC Teacher’s Federation; West Coast Leaf; and The BC Law Foundation.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include the primary activities involved in your solution.
All the support required comes from the partners involved in the project. With the membership base of the BC Teacher's Federation, there is a guarantee that once the content is approved by the BC Teacher's Federation executive, having been vetted by the focus groups, the material will be used in BC schools. Making sure that the materials are also web based will meet a greater national need since these educational resources are not available. Engaging youth in the preparation of the materials as well as the mode of presentation, with a focus on local BC and Canadian case studies, will ensure greater buy-in from the constituency.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others working to address the same needs as you and indicate what sets you apart from them.
As far as we can ascertain, no one else is doing this educational work in BC high schools. There are some websites like Wikipedia that might provide some basic international legal information, but nothing that has been specifically written for the curricula and lesson plans for BC high schools. The Justice Education Society of BC does international work, but not international legal education in high schools. The Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN), in part funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario, does legal education but not international legal education, and not in BC.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
The IWRP produced a documentary film, "Constitute", on how Canadian women organized to ensure that Canada's Constitution and Charter of Rights included equality. This was the largest mobilization of Canadian women in history. We found that not only did high school students know nothing about how they came to have "equality" in their life time, they knew nothing about international law - from the story of Canadian child soldier Omar Khadr at Guantanemo to how Aboriginal women had to go to the UN to gain their rights in Canada to issues of Arctic sovereignty, what international human rights law and international law was and is - was completely absent from their learning experiences. We decided to fix this!
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve
We want this project to be integrated in learning institutions in BC in both high schools and universities, so that our youth of today will learn about the basics of international law.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
What is your projected impact over the next five years?
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Complete design of curricula and learning material in both hard copy and web based formats.
Task 2
Ensure focus groups and support from a diverse learner community.
Task 3
Resource teachers and institutions to integrate learning materials.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Develop focus groups into BC wide network of youth based on the Taking It Global model.
Task 2
Develop collaborative partnerships with a wide range of human rights organizations that are BC based.
Task 3
Identify one specific case study where BC youth can intervene at an international level (for eg. the Enbridge pipeline)
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
IWRP's partnerships in BC have primarily been with the Law Foundation of BC, the BC Teacher's Federation, the University of Victoria. Other national partnerships have been with the Law Foundation of Ontario, Heritage Canada, the National Film Board of Canada, the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, and others. International partnership details can be found on our website.
Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your solution? If so, where and why?
In addition to BC we are working with the Ontario Justice Education Network and the Manitoba Teacher's Association, to date, for this specific project.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
Innovation, creativity and passion.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
Investment is not just about $$ resources!
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| screen_shot_2012-05-14_at_7.02.16_pm.png | 267.18 KB |
 | 38 weeks ago susan bazilli updated this Competition Entry. |
| 40 weeks ago susan bazilli updated this Competition Entry. |
| 47 weeks ago Sarah Mintz said: HI Susan - I love this work. Looking forward to reading the rest of your entry. Thanks! about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 52 weeks ago susan bazilli updated this Competition Entry. |
| 52 weeks ago susan bazilli submitted this idea. |
