Critical ChangeLab // Beta was an innovative interdisciplinary and cross-sector undertaking led by researchers from Trinity in conjunction with digital artist and XR educator Barry Haughey, the Digital Hub in Dublin, and the BETA festival with additional support from START: European Researchers' Night at Trinity. The seven-week programme opened up spaces for young people to imagine potential futures and reflect on the pathways that can lead to preferred tomorrows. It combined arts and humanities and STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) approaches in an immersive learner-led project to develop digital and creative skills in an out-of-school environment.
Participants actively identified and engaged with local and global challenges affecting their communities, the outputs of which were exhibited in a digital installation at the inaugural BETA festival on 2-4 November 2023 and are now also available to view in-person at the Digital Hub or in an online virtual reality space here. Highlights include innovative ideas for the future of transport and using emerging technologies (such as robots) to help the more vulnerable members of the community.
This initiative is part of the EU-funded Critical ChangeLab research project, through which Trinity researchers will examine the outcomes of this unique learning programme. Trinity’s School of Education and the Trinity Long Room Hub’s Democracy Forum are key partners in this project.
The Critical Change Lab project is now calling on educational institutions (formal and non-formal educational programmes) from 10 European Union countries to complete a survey on democratic education. Participation is anonymous and no personal data will be collected. The deadline for this survey is Wednesday 29 November 2023. Further details are available here:
Democracy Health Questionnaire for Schools
Democracy Health Questionnaire for Organisations in Non-formal Education
For more information on the Critical Change Lab project, visit: https://www.criticalchangelab.eu
Critical Changelab is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101094217. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.