GCD basics

"So, what is the Global Children’s Designathon?" As a host, you will undoubtedly be asked this question many times. See it as an opportunity to introduce someone new to the vision and mission of Designation Works. You could be speaking to a potential volunteer, sponsor, or parent. Let them know that our vision is a world where children's creativity is cultivated to design a better future using new technologies. Explain that we believe that all children and young people can contribute to designing a better world, now and in the future. By learning the art of design and invention, children gain future ready skills, while employing their unique creativity and natural empathy to make the world a better place. To get the world acquainted with this new perspective on children and creative education and to unleash children’s creativity around the world, we have developed the Global Children’s Designathon! On **[insert date]** groups of **550+** children in Amsterdam, Chennai, Clearwater, Daar es Salaam, Dubai, Dublin, Duisburg, Johannesburg, London, Milan, Montreal, Nairobi, Panjim, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Tunis, Vancouver and Zagreb will work in parallel to design and develop innovative concepts around water theme, build prototypes and present them to each other via a live connection, to the panel of experts, to the public and with our help in the media. Let them know why you're putting on your event; discuss the theme, tell a story about the process, let them know who's part of the community. Ask if they'd like to get involved. Designathon Works Designathon Works envisions a world, where children’s creativity and technological know‐how is cultivated to design a sustainable world for people and planet. Our mission is two-fold. Firstly, to teach 1 million children globally to become designers for change. We do this using the unique Designathon methodology in school programs and an annual global event. Secondly, to influence the dominant thinking about children and childhood, to appreciate children’s imagination, ability and engagement of children for creating a better world. Designathon Works is a non-profit entity based in Amsterdam, and comprises three people; Emer Beamer, Ina Conkic and Anne Sallaerts. They are assisted by Neil Simmons. Further there is a network of designers, facilitators and thinkers who collaborate regularly.

• Emer Beamer, inspired by children and their capacity to imagine better futures, founded the organization in January 2014. Emer is a social designer and educator. She is an Ashoka fellow and a LEGO re-imagining learning fellow. Prior to Designathon Works she co-founded Butterfly Works, a co-creation studio for a better world, working in 16 countries and NairoBits, a digital design college for young people from slum areas of Nairobi, and now active in 6 other African countries.
• Ina Conkic is a designer, R&D and partner at the Designathon Works. While working together with Emer on a designathon project for Het Dolhuys Museum in Haarlem (yr 2015), Ina got deeply moved by the creativity and natural empathy of children and in particular by a 7 year old Aisha, who despite her limitations (Cerebral Palsy) successfully designed a solution to help her overcome her own challenges. Soon after that encounter Ina left her carrier in the fashion industry (visual communication) and joined Emer as a partner at the Designathon Works. Ina is also a passionate photographer.
• Anne Sallaerts, partner, is driven to contribute to a better world through preparing children for jobs of the future and a fulfilling life. To reach her goal, she uses her 15 years of experience as a leader & design-thinker in both the corporate and NGO world, mainly focused on business development, creative concepting and innovation.

GCD Rules to Live By

Our method is a specially developed design thinking method for children, which incorporates thinking and making with technologies. In order to maintain quality globally, we need all of our hosts to stay true to the rules. Please follow all of them and you’ll be off to a great start:

1. You must have a signed participation agreement in order to organize a Global Children’s Designathon. You may not use the Global Children’s Designathon and/or Designathon Works brand or trademark without this license.
2. GCD event can only be 1-day in length.
3. GCD 2017 event must be held on **November 11th, 2017 update!**, 10 am to 6 pm local time.
4. GCD event names must be city-based. Like for instance Global Children Designation Amsterdam. Names co-branded with organizations are not allowed.
5. GCD event must stand alone, and cannot be co-branded or associated with another organization. Companies can only interact with GCD events as sponsors.
6. Designathon Works will deliver a complete logo set to licensed host for use during the term of the license, for use only in conjunction with your event. (Logos are not to be designed by event hosts.) GCD host must follow GCD identity guidelines. Designed collateral is subject to review and approval.

Rough timeline

September

• Make sure to put your team together and go through the Designathon process with your team.
• Arrange the venue. Visit the venue before coming to an agreement, to make sure it fits all the requirements. Talk to them about the equipment that you need for the event.
• Finalise arrangements with your sponsors for the event.
• Start inviting children, and reach out to children from diverse backgrounds.
• Select a panel of experts and VIP guests.
• Start using Social Media to announce the event and the theme water.

Write your biography

Could you please write a short biography, explaining:

• Who you are
• Why you participate in the GCD
• Anything special you could share, for example the types of children that will participate (for example from an underpriviliged background) and the boys - girls ratio you are striving for
• Add a nice photo of yourself

Maker kit shipping

The shipping of maker kit, especially to non-European countries turned out to be quite expensive and the costs unpredictable. So if you know anyone travelling to your location from Amsterdam any time before the GCD takes place, it'd be great if you could, with our help, arrange for that person to take the maker kit with her/him. If that doesn't work out, then please give us all your details so that we can ship it using UPS. We need:

• Your full name
• The address to which it should be shipped
• Your email address

Sponsorship

We see our sponsors as partners who are getting involved with a project. Because of this, it is important to take the time to educate them about the both the philosophy and value of Designation Works. Look for businesses and organizations that aim to make the world better through technology, education, design, science, arts, food, media and collaboration. Let sponsors know that working with GCD provides an opportunity to do something different within their own communities. Rules

1. We strictly forbid sponsorship by companies or organizations who deal in: Tobacco/cigarettes, adult-oriented products/services, weapons/ammunition
2. GCD event must stand alone, and cannot be co-branded or associated with another organization. Companies can only interact with GCD events as sponsors.
3. GCD event names must be city-based. Like for instance Global Children Designation Amsterdam. Names co-branded with organizations are not allowed.
4. Sponsors cannot influence content. Sponsors may have no editorial control or veto power over your program.
5. Hosts must find their own sponsors.
6. GCD events may not be used as fundraisers. GCD events should not be used to raise money for any causes or charities. If the event is run through an existing nonprofit, the event can’t be used as a fundraiser for that nonprofit. All money must go into production costs of the GCD event itself.
7. Submit a summary of your event sponsorship to Designation Works. Include a list of sponsors, what they sponsored, and how much they contributed.

Venue

Selecting your Venue

• Strive for spacious: Make sure the room is spacious in room and light. Open spaces give open minds! The venue should be able to fit at least 8 big working tables or the equivalent in smaller tables, children can work on the ground too, material bench and tool bench
• Prioritize comfort and safety: The venue should be able to handle making. Think of your event as a maker’s party for children.
• Keep it simple: Remember that the venue will set your event’s tone and can dictate overall complexity.
• The venue should have: electricity, internet, the ability to project and watch videos, alocation for food and beverage setup, conveniently located bathrooms
• Transportation: If possible, choosing a venue that’s accessible by public transportation is preferable. This makes your event easily reachable and helps keep the environmental impact as low as possible.

Inviting children and making a selection

Selecting, inviting and preparing children is one of the most important things you and your team will do for the event. This is your chance to empower and unleash children’s creativity in your community while exposing the global audience of their ability to contribute to design a better world! Rules

1. The event shouldn’t be longer then 6 hours, including breaks. See time schedule.
2. Parents must sign a quitclaim beforehand. (Allowing their children’s photo / video to be made and used)

Team: Roles and facilitators

Recruiting your team

The first step for any GCD host should be assembling your team. Putting together a trust of committed individuals who will help make the whole thing happen. You are the host, but GCD is definitely a group effort! Choosing the right volunteers can be one of the toughest parts of the GCD experience, but can yield some of the greatest rewards. Favor organized, self-managed and hard-working individuals. Look for people who have both the skills needed and the bandwidth.
Facilitators
Facilitators carry the spirit of the event. They are the guidance and a friend to a child, and an evangelist with a mission to empower and promote children’s creativity and innovative thinking to make a better world. Rules

1. Facilitators should have an affinity for working with children and appreciating the child’s perspective.
2. Facilitators should be open to new ideas.
3. Have fun!

Training

Make sure to follow a GCD training with your whole team. Set up the date & time early on in the process, you can arrange this with **Ina [update to 2018]**. The training is meant to prepare you as a facilitator to run a GCD. We prepare a video in which Emer explains all about facilitating a GCD. She guides you through the Designathon steps and explains what roles the facilitator can take. **Here's the link to the video**. Logistics

• Make sure you set a time and date for the training, and make sure your whole team is there
• Watch the video with the team
• Discuss the video with the team, and write down some questions you have
• Call **Ina [update to 2018]** and connect with her and one or two other cities for a Q&A

Pizza evening

This year's theme is: [fill out theme]. To prepare your team, so that they know everything about the theme as well as the maker kit, we'd like you to organize a "Pizza Evening" with your whole team. (We, the Amsterdam team, call this our pizza night, because we order pizza and play around all evening :)) What you can do on that evening:

1. Run through the slideshow of the theme and theme guidelines. You find these files in the Designathon folder in your Shared Google Drive.
2. Watch the maker videos! You can find them on our Designathon Works website. [update to 2018 - are there videos?]**
3. Play around with the maker kit! The maker kit is a lot of fun, not only for children but for adults as well. From our experience, it is a lot easier to help children out when you already played around with the maker kit yourself. Watch our maker kit video tutorials, they are fun to watch and handy.

Theme

Insert text

Artworks

Designathon artworks not only add a brand but also add the fun! You find all artworks in three files types: illustrator files (.ai), keynote and powerpoint. You can translate the artworks and add your own logos. A very important note: DON'T REMOVE THE EXISTING LOGOS! Those are the logos from the global sponsors. Here are some important guidelines as to the use of the artworks.

1. We have to make sure that these **4 logos are always on each artwork: [update to 2018]**. You can move them around but please don't remove them. Thanks!
2. Big Banner: you can translate the banner and add your own logos (next to the 4 that are already there)
3. Facebook cover: you can translate the facebook cover and add your own logos (next to the 4 that are already there)
4. Certificates: Replace the 'Xxxx' for the name of your city, insert the name of the child where it says 'Sara Hamming' at the moment, add a signature of yourself or of a VIP guest, add the logo of your main sponsor (if you have one)
5. Flyer: you can translate the front and the back side of the flyer and add your own logos (next to the 4 that are already there)
6. T shirts: you can add your own logos on the sleeves if you wish to do so.
7. You can use the animated GIF and the stickers as they are, you don't have to adjust anything.

Maker kit and materials

Uitleg + links

Day script for the GCD

Schedule the day You can make your own specific day script. These are the points you should bare in mind when making a day schedule:

• Run tech rehearsal
• Short introduction: The host provides a short introduction about the Designation Works, the venue, special guests, program time.
• Start with the game
• Follow the Designathon cycle steps. A typical Designathon Works session is 5 to 6 hours broken in smaller steps of a Designathon Cycle.
• Plan multiple breaks. Children need time to rest and stretch and eat and drink. A full day should be broken up by multiple brakes.
• Live connection. We want to connect the children during the day with the other locations. So a good internet connection is needed and a laptop with internal camera. We may use Skype, Google Hangout or something else to connect with each other.
• Provide food and drinks
• Manage media
• Keep track of time

Expert panel

Presentation part of the designathon process is the moment when children proudly share their work with the rest of the group and with the audience of the GCD. During the GCD 2017 in Amsterdam we invited 5 experts in the field of water, technical innovation, education, design and one child (the child director of the Amsterdam public library) to take place at the table and give the children feedback about their inventions. Tasks of the expert panel

1. To give encouraging feedback on the designs of the children
2. To indicate which designs qualify for an 'excellence'
3. To give brief interviews / response to possible press and / or video maker

Taking the presentation to the next level

If you are ready to take the next step, you could invite people to the presentation. Not only parents, but also sponsors, potential sponsors, people you'd like to work with in the future. This is not a mandatory part of organizing a GCD but it is optional.

Research and evaluation

Media

Team: Coordinating your team

Coordinating your team

• Engage your team: You shouldn’t be the only evangelist of GCD on your team. Help your team understand the essence of what they’re trying to create by exposing them to our method.