History Co:Lab

🇵🇹 E se jovens e adultos se sentassem à mesa para criar um jogo onde todas as vozes têm o mesmo valor? No dia 13 de outubro, a MyPolis organizou o pré-evento Co-Design & Play, no âmbito do NECE – Festival Europeu de Educação para a Cidadania. Convidámos três jovens da Escola Básica 2,3 das Piscinas dos Olivais para se juntarem a especialistas em game design: Steven Stegers, da EuroClio - European Association of History Educators, e Fernande Raine, do History Co:Lab. O desafio? Co-criar jogos de tabuleiro que dessem voz a todas as pessoas na sala, independentemente da idade ou experiência. Divididos em dois grupos, os participantes desenvolveram duas propostas distintas: 🎲 Um jogo colaborativo, onde os participantes tinham de descobrir os talentos e qualidades dos restantes elementos do grupo. O que valorizava as competências que cada um podia trazer à equipa. 💬 Um jogo de reflexão filosófica, onde os participantes respondiam a questões como «O que é o amor?». As respostas eram depois votadas anonimamente, sem que ninguém soubesse se tinham sido escritas por jovens ou adultos. Todas as perspetivas tinham a mesma oportunidade de ser consideradas. Mais do que desenhar jogos, foi um exercício de escuta, criatividade e colaboração intergeracional. Afinal, a participação democrática também se aprende quando criamos espaços onde as ideias são valorizadas pelo seu conteúdo, e não pela idade de quem as partilha. --- 🇬🇧 What if young people and adults sat at the same table to design a game, with every voice having the same value? On 13 October, MyPolis hosted the pre-event Co-Design & Play, as part of NECE – European Festival of Citizenship Education. We invited three young people from Escola Básica 2,3 Piscinas dos Olivais to join game design specialists Steven Stegers, from EuroClio - European Association of History Educators, and Fernande Raine, from History Co:Lab. The challenge? To co-create board games that would give everyone in the room a voice, regardless of age or experience. Working in two groups, participants developed two different game concepts: 🎲 A collaborative game, in which participants had to identify the talents and strengths of the other group members, recognising individual skills and what each person could bring to the team. 💬 A philosophical reflection game, where participants answered questions such as "What is love?". Their answers were then voted on anonymously, without anyone knowing whether they had been written by a young person or an adult. Every perspective had an equal opportunity to be considered. More than designing games, this was an exercise in listening, creativity and intergenerational collaboration. After all, democratic participation is also learned by creating spaces where ideas are valued for their content, rather than the age of the person sharing them. #MyPolis #NECEFestival #TheCIVICSInnovationHub #CoDesign #YouthParticipation #IntergenerationalCollaboration #CitizenshipEducation #Democracy

#4 in our Civic Thriving series: What happens when young people discover the power of their own creativity? There's a young person somewhere who hasn't discovered what they're capable of yet. Maybe they haven't found the thing that makes them come alive, or maybe nobody has given them the space to explore it. That's why we want you to meet Kara May, founding principal and co-founder of Art In Motion Chicago. Kara talks about creativity as a way for young people to understand themselves, find their voice, and recognize their place in the world. We love that she sees a connection between discovering who you are and realizing you have something to contribute to the people around you. One of the things that stayed with us was her belief that when young people understand they're part of a larger community, they begin to care differently about what happens to others. Think about that for a moment. A school where creativity helps teens discover themselves AND see how much they matter to their communities. We really want you to read this one. Kara gives us a lot to think about, especially what schools could become if we made more room for young people to explore, create, and contribute. Read Creativity Unlocks Agency: https://lnkd.in/gzEy_tXy Fernande Raine | Susan Rivers | Jenny Anderson | idris brewster | Beverly Leon | Armando banchs | John Dugan | LearnerStudio | Erin Offord | Josh Schachter | Nerel Winter | Janet Oh | Karen J. Pittman | Ty Lewis | Caroline Klibanoff | Rachel Humphries | David Bobb | Zachary Coté | Aylon Samouha

#3 in our series: What does it look like to advance civic thriving? We love seeing what happens when teens get to do real work for real people, especially when they begin to recognize just how much they’re capable of. This week, we’re excited to introduce you to Armando banchs, formerly from Big Thought. He shares a story about seven young people who created and pitched a magazine for a real audience. Imagine everything those teens learned about themselves in the process. They had to share their ideas, listen to one another, work through challenges, and figure out how to bring something they imagined into the world. Those experiences build confidence, creativity, communication, and problem-solving skills that will serve them long after the project ends. What we especially appreciate what Armando and his colleagues from Big Thought embody is their belief that adults have to make room for young people to lead. Adults can offer support, encouragement, and accountability while still trusting teens to make decisions, take ownership, and discover their own strengths. We hope you’ll read Armando’s story, masterfully told by Jenny Anderson, because it’s a wonderful reminder of what becomes possible when young people have meaningful opportunities to contribute. Civic thriving is when every teen can experience that feeling of being trusted, capable, and proud of something they’ve created. Read this story about how „Contribution Builds Confidence“ at https://lnkd.in/gEAmcmzk Erin Offord | Jenny Anderson | Fernande Raine | Susan Rivers | John Dugan | Kara May | LearnerStudio | Beverly Leon | Janet Oh | Caroline Klibanoff | Rachel Humphries | David Bobb | Zachary Coté |Aylon Samouha | idris brewster

#2 in our series: What does it look like to advance civic thriving? Answer: making hidden stories seen. Think about the stories you grew up hearing about your neighborhood. The people who lived there, the places that brought everyone together, and the history that made your community what it is today. Those stories help us understand where we come from and why we belong. Too many of those stories, especially in Black and Brown communities, have been overlooked or erased. We love how idris brewster and Kinfolk Tech are approaching this. They're using augmented reality to help communities tell their own stories, preserve their histories, and make sure future generations know the people and places that came before them. There's a real sense of care in this work. It reminds us that our communities have always held knowledge, history, and wisdom worth honoring. Everyone deserves to see that reflected in the places they call home. Read Identity Is the Root of Belonging at  https://lnkd.in/g_V9Bga5. It’s one of the case studies award winning journalist Jenny Anderson compiled for our report on civic thriving. Keep watching for more 🎉 Jenny Anderson | LearnerStudio | Fernande Raine | Susan Rivers | Kara May | John Dugan | Emily Liebtag | Local Civics | Adam Strom | Woven Foundation | Dr. Jonah Schenker

We believe every young person is magnificent and carries extraordinary potential, but believing that is the easy part. The harder question is whether we’ve built schools and communities that allow young people to discover that potential, use it, and know that what they contribute matters. That was at the heart of our recent Civic Thriving Lunch + Learn with LearnerStudio. We talked about a future where young people feel seen and believed in, where school and community aren’t separate worlds, and where teens have real opportunities to discover their gifts, build relationships, contribute to something they care about, and imagine the future alongside the adults in their lives. That is what we mean by civic thriving: young people flourishing and democracy becoming stronger because they do. What gives us hope is that people across the country are already building pieces of this future. Over the next several weeks, we’re going to share 12 of their stories because we think there is something important to learn when we put them next to one another and begin to see the connections. We’re starting with Beverly Leon and Local Civics. Beverly’s work has us thinking about all of the learning that happens when a young person steps outside the traditional boundaries of school and into the life of their community. When teens listen to people with different experiences, wrestle with a community challenge, work with others to solve a problem, or figure out how to make an idea real, they’re learning about themselves, other people, and what it means to participate in a community. But too often, that learning disappears because our systems don’t know how to see it. Through PathLink, Local Civics is working to change that by helping schools document and recognize learning wherever it happens. We love what that makes possible because recognition sends a message to a young person: what you did mattered. What you learned here matters. What you bring to your community matters. Maybe civic learning doesn’t have to begin with teaching teens about democracy. Maybe it can begin by giving them meaningful opportunities to belong, contribute, work alongside other people, and discover for themselves that they have the ability to shape the world around them. If you missed our Lunch + Learn, we hope you’ll spend some time with the recording and then stay with us for the other 11 stories. No one organization holds the answer, but together they are helping us see what a different kind of learning ecosystem could look like. And that gives us a lot of hope. Watch the Lunch + Learn: https://lnkd.in/g8DkM9tC Meet Beverly Leon + Local Civics: https://lnkd.in/gdwYJp7n John Dugan | Fernande Raine | Susan Rivers | Jenny Anderson | Kara May | Dr. Jonah Schenker

🚀 Co-Design & Play: How can we design the future of citizenship WITH young people, and not just FOR them? How can we truly involve children and youth in decision-making processes within our communities? At MyPolis, we believe the answer lies in co-creation, game-based learning, and active participation. As a pre-event to the NECE Festival (European Citizenship Education Festival), promoted by THE CIVICS Innovation Hub, we are thrilled to invite our network to Co-Design & Play! This interactive game design workshop is dedicated to co-creating civic participation tools with children and youth. It’s a space where young people and civic leaders come together to experiment, exchange ideas, and explore innovative approaches to learning and active citizenship. 📅 Date: October 13, 2026 🕒 Time: 4:30 PM (16:30) 📍 Location: Casa do Impacto, Lisbon (Bairro Alto) 🎟️ Access: Unique invitation / Limited capacity ✨ Event Co-Hosts: • Fernande (Leader of History Co:Lab, former Ashoka Fellow, Harvard & McKinsey alumna) • Steve (Leader of EuroClio - European Association of History Educators) • MyPolis (Non-partisan organization promoting participatory democracy among youth and children) If you are a young person, educator, researcher, or professional in citizenship and social impact, join us for this hands-on, transformative session! 📍 Google Maps location: https://lnkd.in/e6pqwUaH 🌐 Learn more about the main NECE Festival (Oct 14–16 at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation): https://lnkd.in/eqV66NEV Feel free to share this post and invite the young people, colleagues, and communities around you! 🙌🏼✨ #ParticipatoryDemocracy #CivicEngagement #CoDesign #SocialInnovation #CivicEducation #MyPolis #NECEFestival #CasaDoImpacto #YouthEmpowerment

What needs to change about school so youth can unfold their sense of self and agency? Share our game-based-survey to gather data that matters! The story: earlier this year, young Europeans wrote their Manifesto for a European democracy in 2049. They were very clear: education needs to change. “Too often we are treated as a problem to manage rather than a democratic force to trust." Education, they said, needs to be age-appropriate and experiential. What else? We're asking them directly. EuroClio - European Association of History Educators and History Co:LabCo:Lab have teamed up with Play Verto to ask teens across Europe, whether they're in school now or have recently left, the question: what does school give you for your agency, and what's missing? Their answers will go straight to education ministers across Europe. The more voices we reach, the harder they are to ignore. Do you have networks of teens in Europe? Pass along! It takes 3 minutes: 👉 https://lnkd.in/gb6F23hV If you're a teacher, a parent, or you work with young people, please pass it on. And if you're a teen yourself: Europe should hear what you think school should be. #YouthVoice #Education #Democracy #CivicEducation #Europe Bo Stjerne Thomsen Ulrik Juul Christensen Marius Eckert Anne Kjær Bathel (She) Matthias Scheffelmeier Anthony Owosekun Konstanze Frischen Jürgen Griesbeck Judit Costa Kalypso Nicolaidis Matthias Graf von Kielmansegg Christoph Holle Ross Hall Christoph Greitemann Christoph Schmitz Arnaud Mourot Rado Pittner Clara Kallich Patrick Hoffmann Dr. Babette Claas Paul G. Niklas Greitemann Ludwig Schede Kaleb Rashad, Ed.D. Emily Liebtag

We are celebrating at the Co:Lab! Kansas City is our home hub, where we first started designing community-connected, real-world history projects with the region's schools and museums. 🎉 It is only fitting, therefore, that we have two new members of our team building out our hub in and from the Heartland. Please join us in welcoming them to the team! ✨ Shawnee has been part of building our community from the start. She is guided by the conviction that young people already carry insights and power our systems need, and that the work of adults is to build the conditions for that power to grow. She's lived that conviction out in Kansas City her whole life, first as a Director of Career and Technical Education, then through Real World Learning and her time as Partner, Advocacy at Getting Smart. In that journey, she has always been chasing the same thing: learning that gives students real work with real stakes, not a watered-down version of it. Wherever she is, youth are authors. Now, as Catalyst Lead at History Co:Lab, Shawnee is on the ground in Kansas City, building KC Co:Lab alongside schools, museums, libraries, and youth organizations. She carries that work out to the rest of the country through storytelling and journalism that shapes how the field thinks about civic thriving. Rashawn Peterson-Caruthers, Ed. S ✨ MiKaela "Mikki" believes the best community work happens because someone cares enough to hold all the details together, and that's what she brings to History Co:Lab as Program Coordinator. Mikki comes to us from the The Regnier Family Wonderscope Children's Museum of Kansas City, where she kept programs, finances, and a whole community of volunteers running smoothly. She's since sharpened her craft through Nonprofit Connect's Volunteer Management Institute. At History Co:Lab, Mikki is the connective tissue for our Kansas City ecosystem and for our national weaving work. She supports crafting relationships and collaborations with schools, museums and scaling partners, organizing events that bring our community together, and keeping everything organized so the work never loses momentum. Mikki's love for youth programming and mentorship is what drew her here, and she's driven by the belief that young people deserve adults who help them grow into their power. MiKaela Edgar In true Co:Lab fashion, their first formal day on the team had them in full action. We are thrilled for what lies ahead.💪 #CivicEducation #ExperientialLearning #KansasCity #HistoryCoLab #TeamGrowth #YouthVoice

“Young people have phenomenal ideas on what the future of the ‘civic square’ could be..." Fernande Raine, History Co:Lab "“For me, going around the country listening to young people who are already civically active themselves about how they envision a future that they want to be part of — how they can envision a space where they are heard and where ideas have value — that’s a good investment." Jonathan Holloway, Henry Luce Foundation Inc Remake Learning | SLB Radio | World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh | Kidsburgh.org https://lnkd.in/gtYuXp6Z

We are over the 🌖 to share that we are one of the awardees of a National Moonshot Grant from Remake Learning! 🚀 In partnership with Pittsburgh Public Schools and Smithsonian Institution, we will lead an effort to engage students with museum-connected, teen-centered civic formation experiences. Building on our „18 by 18 learning journeys“, and leveraging the assets and expertise of Pittsburgh’s museums, we will co-create opportunities with and for teens to matter and contribute. While our times are unsettling, we are also appreciating this historic moment of seismic shifts, for the cracks in the old systems are letting in light to imagine new futures more boldly than ever. Here’s to an era of accelerated collaborative action towards a new horizon! https://lnkd.in/gg5XBVer #RemakeLearning #HistoryColab #teencenteredcivics #youthagency #MoonshotGrants #FutureOfLearning