I was honoured to once again design and co-deliver IDEA’s Innovation Lab with my colleague Claire Faithorn. This time the Lab was a gorgeous residential event in the beautiful Blackstairs Eco-Lodge, which concluded with participants feeling genuinely inspired, supported, and nourished (see feedback below). Hosted by the Irish Development Education Association (IDEA), this two-day event brought together Global Citizenship Education (GCE) practitioners and organisations to innovate and collaborate on transformative projects and strategies.

Anya Sparynska from IDEA captured the spirit of the event perfectly: "We were really energised after day one in an inspiring setting with brilliant facilitators. What a way to spark our creativity! Day two then saw participants rapidly refining their ideas, translating them into detailed storyboards and timelines. The intense yet rewarding process culminated in the creation of innovative project frameworks, ready to drive impactful change when we get back to our desks."

IDEA is a national network dedicated to promoting development education across Ireland. Through GCE, IDEA aims to empower individuals to understand and address global injustices, fostering a more equitable and sustainable world. This year's IDEA Lab, following the design stage, which included co-design sessions with each of the participating organisations, was co-delivered with my colleague Claire Faithhorn, jointly providing a fertile ground for fun, creativity, and experimentation.

The Lab featured organisations like STAND, Educate Together, Sanctuary Schools, Friends of Africa, and Irish Girl Guides, all eager to refine their early-stage projects or build on their existing strategies. Through our expert guidance and peer exchange, participants delved into critical deconstruction of needs, cause and effect analysis, ideation, stakeholder mapping, and project storyboarding. Utilising liberating structures and TheoryU methodologies like ‘wise crowds,’ 9 Whys, as well as creative and drama-based activities like blind drawing, empathy mapping, physical embodiment, and visualisation, we created a safe and brave space to both support and challenge.

One participant said: I felt surprisingly connected and close to everyone despite the short time frame; so often at these things I get tired and jaded. At this not at all, surprised at how energetic I feel… perhaps a mix if facilitation style, group, location, good timings and movement. (More feedback from the rest of the group below)

In one discussion, many of the participants expressed a significant risk of overwhelm and burnout due to working in a sector that aims to tackle significant global challenges, this emphasised the importance of creating space like this IDEA Lab to not only be a catalyst for innovation in GCE, but also reinforce the importance of finding time away from the desks for wellbeing, collaboration, network support, and experiential learning.

We look forward to staying in touch with the organisations and seeing the incredible projects emerge from this year’s Lab.

Feedback from the group

Head (what it made me think / I learnt)

Learnt a lot about project planning and creative organisation.
Learnt new activities and templates, like empathy mapping and doodle thinking.
Learnt processes and frameworks, particularly design thinking.
Leant - The process of moving from a scattering of wants to a clear idea that has a very neat ‘why’ and purpose
Realised the importance of taking time to think and plan.
Learnt so much, it's hard to know where to start: emotion piece, values, principles, and considering ‘what prevents us’.
Learnt – not to hold on too tightly or be too rigid on an idea.
Evaluate what to keep doing and what to drop.
Learnt - You can never have enough post-its.

Feel (how it made me feel)

Mentally refreshed.
Felt included, heard, relaxed, clear, and energized.
Supported by facilitators and fellow participants.
Felt solidarity.
Made new friends; one can never have too many friends.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed but supported, not alone, inspired, and amazed by others projects.
Happy about the two days and meeting nice people.
Felt surprisingly connected and close to everyone despite the short time frame; so often at these things I get tired and jaded. At this not at all, surprised at how energetic I feel… perhaps a mix if facilitation style, group, location, good timings and movement.
Felt very supported and encouraged.
Felt connected and well-supported.

Handbag (new tools and skills)

Visual planning as a tool for planning and brainstorming.
Valuable physical resources, especially empathy mapping and Know, feel, do.
How to build relationships with potential funders.
Enjoyed the grounding exercises and cheese game.
Gained project clarity, project ideas, basic plans, and frameworks.
Emphasised the importance of physical embodiment.
Learnt new facilitation activities, especially drawing.
Achieved a clearer project idea.
Appreciated the good flow with lots of breaks and a mix of art, writing, movement, and chat.
Gained methodologies, networking opportunities, and new activities and ideas.
Recognised the importance of taking breaks, sketching, {intention}going to walk to work to help me work more efficiently.
Acquired new ideas, positivity, and energy; learnt a lot about setting and implementing ideas.
Enjoyed meeting new people in a new place.
Loved the space, accommodation, food, people, and vibes.
Gained lots of learning and tools for work and volunteer projects.