The fourth edition of the Global Children’s Designathon took place on Saturday 3 November, where 1 000 children across 30 cities around the world worked in parallel to design creative solutions to combat global deforestation, part of the Sustainable Development Goal No 15: Life on Land.
This year, Microsoft South Africa partnered with Designathon Works Johannesburg to host the South African leg of this global initiative at Microsoft’s offices in Johannesburg.
Global Designathon provides children from underprivileged communities with the opportunity to engage with technology and provide them with fun ways to introduce them to the skills needed for the future today. This year children between ages of 8 and 12 from Wot-If Trust Community Centre in Diepsloot in Tembisa participated in the Designathon.
“We were very excited to hear that Johannesburg was taking part in this year’s Global Children’s Designathon and we jumped at the opportunity to get involved,” says Asif Valley, cloud development lead at Microsoft. “Our participation speaks true to our mission to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. We believe that technology is a powerful tool in solving the world’s most challenging issues, and we saw it fit to be part of this solution orientated initiative.”
Children started the day researching the theme of deforestation in relation to their city, and in specific to the consequences of it such as air pollution, endangered species and loss of habitat. Next step was ideation and sketching ideas, and finally children built prototypes of their ideas using glue guns, mini-motors, micro:bits, LED-lights, sensors and recycled materials.
Through an online connection, the children were in contact with the teams in Amsterdam and at the end of the day, presented their inventions to a panel of experts, parents and the public.
The process follows the steps of the Designathon method, a unique future ready education method which teaches children around the world to use their creativity and design future while using new technologies. The method combines Design Thinking and Maker Education, both approaches which are gaining ground in education systems.
Children around the world are concerned about society and the future of the earth. The innovative ideas of children around these themes are valuable and focus on the future. Sometimes so valuable that they are adopted by companies and, in consultation with the young designer, can be developed into a product or service.
“This partnership with a technology giant like Microsoft means a lot. It talks to what the programmes aim to achieve, preparing our children to prosper in a rapidly changing, increasingly technological and complex world,” says Phuti Manguba, MD of Designathon Works South Africa.