Arkki

Arkki International partnered with the Turkey Design Council to provide Arkki educational programs in the region.  The main objective of this collaboration is to bring the awarded Arkki programs from Finland to empower Turkish children with the most essential 21st-century skills – like creativity, complex problem solving, and critical thinking. The collaboration will start with Arkki’s creative workshops in Istanbul in Autumn 2020. In the coming months, Turkey Design Council aims to broaden the scope of Arkki offering and to also provide long-term programs starting from spring 2021. After Istanbul, they aim to expand to other regions in the country. “We are so excited to bring Arkki – creative education ecosystem into Turkey as its partner. Turkey Design Council has focused on design education at an early age since it was founded. As the Council, we are proud to provide platforms to support our children to develop their 21st-century skills with Arkki education programs. Design education cultivates alternative thinking and complex problem-solving capabilities which are instrumental for every discipline and occupation in the modern world. We believe this collaboration will help us foster these capabilities in the young generation which will shape the future of Turkey. “ says Mehmet Kalyoncu Board Chairman of the Turkey design council. 

The first edition of FutureU, the social innovation challenge initiated by Arkki in Vietnam, recently ended. Children presented the solutions they had designed for children’s real-world problems. In total 42 teams from 4 cities participated. 15 of the solutions reached the product testing round, 5 teams were invited to pitch at TECHFEST 2020 and 2 teams managed to commercialize their product. Future U engages students in addressing real-world challenges and nurtures their innovation & 21st-century skills.  The project involves students in initiating and leading real projects addressing social challenges from zero to commercialization. Children build an entrepreneurial mindset and develop innovations skills. The program fosters social responsibility and cultural awareness while developing self-esteem and lifelong learning skills. Tackling environmental, mental health, and sexual harassment problems among others One of the projects that made it to the commercialization phase was the book “Trash Monster Disappear”. It aims to educate children on environmental issues. “I had many exciting experiences and met great people. Let’s be a CHANGEMAKER, let’s dare to think and take action, dare to dream, and make changes! Duong Quynh Huong, P.O.P Team Leader. Grade 9, Dinh Thien Ly Secondary & Highschool FutureU 2020 AlumniOne innovation that received content and promotion support from UNICEF Vietnam and local experts was a mobile game educating children on sexual harassment and its prevention. Now it is in the testing phase to improve the user interface with teachers and students. A group of students found that it was time to address mental health awareness from a different perspective. They designed Art therapy workshops to build mental health awareness among students. The project continues in its testing phase with users and is being mentored by mental health experts. “We learned to communicate more effectively, present our ideas and get along with different personalities. It’s such a real experience working in real-life situations that none of my teammates have had before.” Nguyen Cao Nhan P.O.P Team (Grade 9)Future U 2021 registration is open  The registration will be open until October 25th in this link https://en.futureu.asia/More information about Arkki social innovations hereFUTURE-U 2020 in Numbers:» 42 Teams from 4 Cities» 20+ Fieldtrips» 300+ Interviews» 4000+ Survey Results5 Teams reaching the final phase: » US $6,500 crowd-funded » 15+ product testing rounds» 5 teams invited to pitch at TECHFEST 2020» 2 teams with commercialized products

WHAT IF WE GAVE THE CHANCE TO ALL CHILDREN TO MAKE THEIR VOICE HEARD?For 20 years, Arkki has carried out dozens of social innovation and participatory planning projects involving children. Arkki has partnered with local authorities such as the Thai Parliament,  Helsinki city, or HCMC Department of Planning and Architecture and international organizations, such as Save the Children or UNICEF among others. These projects have been recognized internationally and in 2019 Arkki’s children Social Innovation project Children Innovate won UNICEF CFCI AWARD. Children Innovate project was one of the 6 chosen initiatives out of 226 social innovation projects submitted worldwide. “Almost everywhere in the world, the design process is undertaken by adults, while the end-users are often children, such is the case in parks, public areas, and schools. Children Innovate: Smart and Child-Friendly Cities creates an environment for children to express their opinions and influence decisions that affect them, so that a safe, secure and clean environment, taking into account children’s perspectives, may be provided by urban planning experts and decision-makers” Marianne Oehlers, Chief of Programme Partnerships Office UNICEF Viet Nam.

During the COVIDcrisis, Arkki launched and adapted for home use a selection of free creative Arkki@home online hands-on projects to support curiosity, creativity, and innovation. The projects have impacted children from 43 countries and are available in 8 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Czech, Vietnamese, and Finnish.The projects designed by experts in Finland have inspired future problem solvers and innovators from Japan, China, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Thailand, Qatar… to ideate the future of their built environment. It’s fascinating to see the houses and cities children are creating for their communities, or favorite Pokémons and pets during the lockdown. Some schools and kindergartens such as Learning Live in Temuco, Chile sent us their amazing works. We want to see more projects from children around the world Arkki@home projects show a small glimpse of what Arkki creative education is about. Arkki provides creative education via architecture and design. In Arkki classes, pupils are guided by professional architects and engage hands-on in small peer groups continuously important 21st-century skills for the future. Arkki´s awarded creative education long-term program is approved by the Finnish Ministry of education and consists of c.1500 hours of education for 4 to 19-year-old children.Download the free Arkki@home projects here:www.earkki.arkki.com 

Arkki’s project in Vietnam won the UNICEF CFCI 2019 Inspire Award in the category “Meaningful Child Participation”. Children Innovate project was one of the 6 chosen initiatives out of 226 social innovation projects submitted worldwide. 300 children participated in an urban planning project carried out with Arkki Vietnam, in collaboration with Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Architecture and Saigon Innovation Hub (part of HCMC Department of Science & Technology).   From 226 submissions from all over the world, the project “Children Innovate” successfully became a Category Champion of “Meaningful Child Participation” – and was honored in CFCI Inspire Awards at the Unicef Child-Friendly Cities Summit in Cologne, Germany on 17th October 2019. The project was reviewed by 25 experts and voted by the worldwide community to rank first in the category of Meaningful Child Participation. “With this program, UNICEF is proud to demonstrate the importance of children’s participation and their ability to inform us, adults, what a smart and child-friendly city could look like when children are encouraged to express themselves,” Ms. Marianne Oehlers, Chief of Programme Partnerships Office UNICEF Viet Nam. “Children Innovate” was a participation program co-organized by Arkki Finland, Arkki Vietnam, UNICEF ​​Vietnam, Saigon Innovation Hub, and the Department of Planning and Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City. The aim of the project was to provide children with knowledge and understanding about urban planning as well as tools to express their ideas. The aim was also to promote more inclusive and participatory decision making and planning processes. “We highly appreciate this program, as it has educated on space awareness and urban planning, and supports children to experience the role and responsibility of urban planning experts through drawing and the model’ development. This creative and educational program is suitable for the Ho Chi Minh City context and should be replicated in other urban settings in Viet Nam” Mr. Nguyen Hong Van, Chief of Office, HCM City’s Department of Planning and Architecture. In the summer of 2018, 300 young people between ages 8-14 joined the 5-day summer courses with the guidance from Arkki teachers, to work in a collaboration project developing ideas, making 3D prototypes & 3D designs for a VR -Virtual Reality-platform. The participants then presented their ideas of the smart & child-friendly city model to city leaders and the public. The enthusiastic presentation of the team of Vietnamese children demonstrated their creativity and deep understanding of global problems. This achievement reminds us that children have huge potential. “This is an amazing project for children. It gives the participating children an important experience and understanding of a real-world design process, a unique experience of involvement, and inspires them to look at the built environment in a new way.” Ms. Pihla Meskanen, CEO of Arkki International. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOUXJ93wIe4&t=5s

Arkki’s Children Innovate Program is one of the TOP20 globally Meaningful Child-Participation in UNICEF's CFCI Inspire Awards 2019. The initiative was shortlisted more than 200 applications. This award celebrates good, innovative and inspiring solutions or projects that foster child rights and improve daily lives of children and youth at the local level. Get to know  VIETNAM, HO CHI MINH CITY Children Innovate project and vote here: https://childfriendlycities.org/2019-summit/vote/.

Arkki organizes Creating the Future III the that takes place every 5 years and gathers some of the most renowned experts on creative education via architecture and design around the world. Access to the newest innovations Meet and network with the most respected voices in the field Concrete examples on creative education projects from around the world Conference materials available for attendants and opportunity to submit their work Two full days of hands-on workshops and inspiring talks about the latest international innovations on architecture education with hundreds of participants. Day 1 (Nov, 10) Pedagogical workshops at Annantalo Day 2 (Nov, 11) Seminar at Biorex